LynleyShimat Lys -Main Website

I made a new food pyramid. I think the standard gov't ones are misleading, because they're not particularly easy to read and don't explain in an obvious way how much you're actually supposed to eat of anything.

My pyramid is based on staple foods that you eat more of on the bottom & foods that you need but should eat less of closer to the top.

The basic idea, as far as I'm concerned, is that you want each meal to be like a salad - the main part should be leafy greens and other vegetables, there should be a couple of servings of grains (1 cup rice is three servings), and there should be a little protein involved, and some seasonings. Also, you do actually need fat, but you need it in the form of omega - 3, 6, 9 fatty acids, found primarily in flax and in fish.

Each meal should also have a fruit component - I've read that fruit is better digested by itself, and it also makes a good dessert. My theory is that you need a dessert component of every meal - the main part should be berries or other fruit, and then if you need some chocolate or other dessert type of thing, you can add it to the fruit in small quantities.

Try to avoid sugars, except for the sugars that occur naturally in fat free milk and in fruit. Try to avoid oils and fats, except for omega fatty acids. Use spray oils. Oils are actually good for you, but you don't need more than the oil spray will give you.

Exercise is good for you. Even half an hour a day can make a big difference. Theoretically, you can probably exercise off all the fat and sugar instead of eating a balanced diet, but unless you want to be in the gym or outside exercising several hours a day, it's better to eat well and exercise. I used to exercise four hours or more a day, between my cardio, walking, weight lifting and stretching, but it's hard to have time for other things when you exercise that much!

I've lost another couple of pounds. It seems as though I managed not to gain any weight in New Zealand with all the full fat cheese and the million Korean bi bim bap vegi rice bowls I ate. They did have things like diet soda and various weight watchers foods there, including muffins at a bakery cafe chain.

Since I got back I have been living on lean cuisine mushroom & spinach pizzas, which I really like, hence the living on them part. Also I eat lettuce with small amounts of low fat shredded cheese from trader joe's and spray salad dressing. I also eat lots of trader joes' frozen fruit and frozen berries.

I eat sushi for the fish protein & omega acids (the good kind of fat apparently). Also they come in such small sizes that if you get one or two rolls, you're getting just the right serving sizes of fish and rice / starch and you can't end up eating too much rice like you can with rice bowl type dishes. I find that the small sizes of the pieces of sushi somehow makes me concentrate more on eating and enjoy it more. If I have a bowl of berries and a chocolate flavor diet soda around, I feel like I've eaten enough too and don't get weird cravings for other things.

I love plum wine - especially the kind that's made from fermented plums (as opposed to wine with plum flavor). My favorite local sushi restaurant in Brooklyn (Tamari on 5th ave x union/berkeley) has mixed drinks like sake and chocolate or sake and plum wine, so I started mixing the sake & plum wine I get at trader joes. I put it in 2oz starbucks shot glasses that I inherited when a former roommate moved out. That way I know exactly how much I've had, and I tend to pay more attention and enjoy it more while I'm drinking it. I just have to make sure that the shots don't start to add up!

Once, the vet told me that my bunnies were supposed to have 1/8 cup of pellets each, twice a day, not whatever fit in the bottom half of a former hummus container. The main part of their diet is supposed to be green leafy vegetables and low fat straw in any case. Aside from the straw, I think the stuff I've been eating is pretty similar to what the bunjies eat. I've been buying twice as much green leafy things and splitting them with the bunnies. Except I eat mine with low fat cheese (I've found that Cabot brand makes cheese with almost no fat that tastes like cheese and not like plastic or other inedible substances - I've had bad experiences before with soy cheese and low fat cheeses, but this stuff is actually good).

I've been trying to stay away from having too much artificial sweetener, but I think I like the taste of it better than sugar (its sweeter) and I noticed that when your soda fizzes over while you're opening it, your hands don't get all sticky and disgusting like they do with drinks that have real sugar in them. (What that says about the sweetener, I don't know, but it seems cool to me).

One Serving Examples:

Breads, Cereals, Rice, and Pasta
One serving equals 1 slice of bread; 1/2 cup of cooked rice, pasta, or cereal; or 1 ounce of cold cereal. All of these serving sizes are known as "ounce equivalents" in MyPyramid-speak.

As a general rule of thumb,
1 serving size/ounce equivalent of bread = plastic CD case
2 servings/ounce equivalents of cooked brown rice = a tennis ball

Vegetables
Unlike the Breads, Cereals, Rice, and Pasta group described above, cup size matters when it comes to vegetables. That is, vegetables servings are measured in cups rather than ounces. One serving equals 1/2 cup of raw or cooked vegetables or vegetable juice or 1 cup of leafy raw vegetables.

1 serving size = 1/2 cup of broccoli = a light bulb
1 serving size = 1/2 cup of potato = a computer mouse

Fruits
Like the vegetable group, cup size matters here, too. One serving equals 1 cup of fruit or 100 percent fruit juice, or 1/2 cup of dried fruit. Because fruits come in so many different shapes and sizes, it's hard to say how many pieces of fruit count as a serving.

Generally, 1 serving size of whole fruit = 1 tennis ball
1 serving size of cut fruit = 7 cotton balls

Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese
One serving equals 1 cup of milk or yogurt, 1.5 to 2 ounces of cheese, and even 1.5 cups of ice cream. Choose low-fat options from this group whenever possible.

1 serving size of cheese = 2 9-volt batteries

Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts
Like the Bread, Cereals, Rice, and Pasta group, serving sizes are also measured in ounce equivalents. One serving or ounce equivalent equals 1 ounce of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish; 1/4 cup dried beans, after cooking; 1 egg; 1 tablespoon of peanut butter; or 1/2 ounce of nuts or seeds.

3 servings/ounce equivalents of fish = 1 checkbook
3 servings/ounce equivalents of meat or poultry = 1 deck of cards
2 servings/ounce equivalents of peanut butter = 1 roll of 35 mm film or 1 ping-pong ball

Oils
MyPyramid.gov measures serving sizes in teaspoons.

1 serving/teaspoon of margarine and spreads = 1 dice
2 serving/teaspoons of salad dressing = 1 thumb tip

Because these oils are found in many of the foods we eat, there may not be a need to add this group to your diet. For example, half of a medium avocado or 2 tablespoons of peanut butter provide 3 and 4 teaspoons or servings of oil respectively, while also counting towards your vegetable or nuts allowance.

Remember, also, that most portions in the U.S. are oversized and contain several servings of the recommended categories. Ideally you want most of your food to be whole grains, plenty of fruits and vegetables, low-fat calcium fortified foods (such as milk and cottage cheese), and lean sources of protein (such as fish, turkey, and chicken).

Time    Type of Food            Quantity        Example
                
9am    Protein                        1                 4oz Milk
9am    Starch                         2                 Mini Potato
9am    Fruit/Veggie                 1+               1/2 cup berries
9am    Water                         8oz              8 oz Water
                
11am    Protein                       1                2 oz ff mozzarella
11am    Starch                        2                4 mini pitas
11am    Fruit/Veggie                1+            1/2 cup berries
11am    Water                        8 oz            8 oz water
                
3pm    Fruit/Veggie                  1+            1/2 cup berries
3pm    Water                            8 oz        8 oz water
                
530pm    Protein                        1        1/4 cup chickpeas
530pm    Starch                        3        1 cup couscous
530pm    Fruit/Veggie                1+        1 cup snap peas
530pm    Water                        8 oz        8 oz water
                
9pm    Fruit/Veggie                    1+        1 carrot
9pm    Water                            8 oz        8 oz Water
                
11pm    Fruit/Veggie                    1        1/2 cup berries
11pm    Water                            1+        8 oz water
                
                
                
Protein:    Starch:    Fruit/Veg        Water:
    3            7            6+                8 oz x 6

I went to see a nutritionist for the first time yesterday. My doctor advised me to see one because my last blood test said I had high levels of triglycerides & fats, which can be a side effect of one of the medications I take.

Anyway, so I have a whole new dietary plan to follow (or at least try out).

I'm supposed to eat basically no fats or sugars. I have to drink non fat milk and try low fat cheese (doesn't sound so appetizing, but whatever), and eat non fat yogurt with no sugar.

Everything I look at seems to have sugar or fat in it now that I think about it. I also have to eat a certain number of proteins, starches, vegetables, fruits. And I have to keep writing down everything I eat. I think I was eating way more than I needed to because I had no idea what a portion size was and I didn't want to be malnourished or anything. For example, 1 cup of rice is three servings of starches. One avocado is eight servings of fat.

I have to say that I'm not so convinced that meat proteins are more nutritious than beans or nuts, or that nut fat is bad for you in the same way as animal fats, but anyway.

The nutritionist said I should eat two servings of fish a week (which I think is about equivalent to a can of tuna, no mayo or no fat mayo) and eggs. I'm also supposed to drink diet sodas. She said that synthetic sugars have never been proven to cause health problems, while real sugars quite obviously do cause health problems. I still don't want to drink nutrasweet or diet sodas though. Perhaps water and occasionally non fat milk. I suppose non sweetened tea and coffee are ok. Hmm...

I'm a little skeptical about the animal protein thing - having been a vegan for four years and vegetarian for many more, but I figure I can always try it and then modify it if I decide to later.

It does look like I can still be mostly raw vegan (no cooked foods,  non-animal foods) - the main things I can eat as much as I want of are vegetables, and fruits I can eat in fairly large amounts.

I can also eat a bunch of small meals rather than just three big meals, which should help with the hypoglycemia (I get nauseous if I don't eat at certain times of day). The nutritionist said it may just be lack of protein at certain times.