I was glancing through a book yesterday, a book that I'm supposed to be studying from to write the exam for my Food Handler's Certificate. In it, I was immediately attracted to the bright rainbow of colours that makes up Canada's Food Guide. Although somewhat familiar with the guide, I took a good look at it, and at what I, as a 44-year old woman, should be eating.
I should be eating a lot more, apparently.
Seven to eight servings of vegetables and fruit. Six to seven servings of grain products. Two servings of milk and alternatives, and two servings of meat and alternatives.
The meat and milk aren't a problem for me, and the veg and fruit category, although possibly posing a bit of a struggle some days, is mostly doable. But six to seven servings of grain, to someone who has spent the past decade or so avoiding bread like the plague, just seems to me, well,
wrong.
But then again...if I'm eating that amount of food, particularly all those grains and veggies, it stands to reason that I won't have room for any of the Six Dreaded C's, namely Chocolate, Cookies, Cake, Candy, Chips, and...Crap. So perhaps, in the long hours that stretch between my work-assigned 11:45 lunchtime and family-assigned 5:30 suppertime, I'll snack on 300 calories worth of grains, milk, and fruit, say, instead of the same caloric intake of cookies. Maybe I won't even
crave those sweets, having carbs in the form of whole grains and veggies in my system to satisfy those cravings before they even begin.
I wouldn't go so far as to say I've struggled with my weight; I'm usually within the healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) range, hovering between the middle of this range and the top. I enjoy food, plain and simple, and have little time or energy for strenuous exercise (I'm on my feet from 5:30 am to 5:30 pm, with little more than an hour total sit-down time in between). However, few women are ever one-hundred percent satisfied with their weight, unfortunately, and it's no secret that a lot of the blame for this falls on how famous women and models are perceived in the public eye. One can't stand in the grocery-store checkout line without being bombarded by magazine covers featuring toned torsos and whittled waists. I actually read a fact the other day from Fact Hive on Twitter, saying that the average Victoria's Secret model is 5'8" and 112 lbs. Although I am 5'8", I think my left
leg weighs 112 lbs. The lowest I've weighed in my adult life is 128 lbs, and I didn't feel well at all. I think I may have even fainted at one point.
A funny yet I suppose rather poignant thing happened to my two friends and I while on vacation in Myrtle Beach, once upon a time, a long time ago. We were about twenty, and going for a stroll down the beach. We were by no means overweight, yet we didn't have stick-thin aerobic-instructor bodies either. We were curvy, slim, and strong. A couple of cute guys were approaching us, and just as they passed us one of them said "Well you girls look
healthy".
 |
| Still "healthy"...last February, hiding behind my book. |
"Healthy??? How
dare they say we look healthy!! What on earth is
that supposed to mean, anyway?" We were, all three, pretty indignant. Healthy. How dare they. Now, if they had said "You girls look so thin and frail that I expect a stiff breeze could come along at any second and blow you away", well, then we would have been flattered.
Anyway, enough lecturing about what's wrong with society, that's not the purpose of this blog.
What I'm going to do is this: I'm going to follow Canada's Food Guide and see what happens. I'll see how I feel, how I look, if my weight changes, if I have more energy. My suspicions are that I'll probably gain weight, at least at first. My body just isn't used to that much food, especially the grains, and years of yo-yo dieting have probably slowed down my metabolism. But I'm also wondering if (and hoping that), after a period of adjustment, maybe my body will respond by becoming stronger, more resilient, and maybe (not that it matters, I swear it doesn't matter...) just a little more trim.
So here are the rules:
1) Follow the food guide, having the minimum portions when a range is given i.e. 7-8 servings of fruit and veggies, I'll have seven. For the 6-7 servings of grains, I'll have six.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/food-guide-aliment/view_eatwell_vue_bienmang-eng.pdf
2) For milk products, although for my age group it states 2 servings, I have been diagnosed with borderline osteoporosis (osteopenia), and my mother most definitely suffers from osteoporosis, so I will follow the milk allowance for ages 51+, which is 3 servings daily.
3) I will, whenever possible, choose whole grains over white, processed grains. I usually do this anyway, preferring the taste of whole grains.
4) According to the guide, at least one veg has to be a dark green leafy, and at least one has to be orange. I googled orange vegetables, and there are only a few (pumpkin, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes). This is because of beta-carotene, which is also found in tomatoes, broccoli, peaches, cantaloupe, and apricots. I'll try and include at least one of these beta-carotene containing foods each day.
5) I'm allowed a couple of tablespoons of healthy, unsaturated oil per day according to the guide, and I'm also allowing myself minimal amounts of sugar (i.e. to sweeten tea, perhaps some jam on toast). I'm not on a diet, after all; I'm just following the food guide.
6) I will continue to take the following supplements daily: wild salmon oil, garlic, vitamin D, and a B-complex vitamin. I probably won't need much in the way of vitamins, but as flu season is approaching I am a firm believer in not getting the flu vaccine, but instead taking mega-doses of vitamin D and garlic. It's worked for me very well in the past few years (touch wood).
7) Almost forgot...fish. Two servings a week. I'll have to go with canned salmon and tuna, for the most part, as fish isn't a favourite in my family. They'll tolerate it maybe once a month or so, but weekly? Probably not. I usually try and order it when I go out for dinner. Note: I had THE. BEST. fish tacos at a little beach bar in Roatan, Honduras this past February. I'm almost afraid to have them anywhere else, because I know they won't compare. This little lady liked sharing them with me, too:
I've done Weight Watchers, with some success, in the past. I haven't been to meetings, but have done it online. Although I think it offers the most freedom regarding food choices compared to other diets, I have often wondered how it compares to Canada's Food Guide. Although all fruits and most vegetables are free on Weight Watchers, I wonder how the points add up with the rest of the food choices. So, as a matter of interest, I'm going to keep track of points also, using the 26-point a day system with 49 weekly 'free' points to use up.
I'll try and report daily, or every few days if I get busy, and keep you posted on my stats (probably once a week). I weighed myself this morning, and here's the damage...I can't believe I'm publishing this:
Weight: 164.4 lbs
Body Fat: 30% According to this chart, I'm at the top end of average:
http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/
Water Content: 51.1% Not too bad, but not great. This link explains why this number is important:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art13909.asp
Bone Density: 5.9% I'm not really sure what this is supposed to mean.
BMI: 24.9 (based on my weight, and height of 5'8") Again, I'm right at the top end of the acceptable BMI range, which is 18 to 25.
The scales I use are probably not very scientific, and in fact I can step on them twice within thirty seconds and get two different readings. But they're all I have and I'll at least have an idea if things are changing or not over the coming weeks.
Bon appetit!
