The USDA has setup seven Dietary Guidelines for Americans

• Eat a Variety of foods
• Balance the food you eat with physical activity- maintain or improve your weight
• Choose a diet w/ plenty of grain products, vegetables, and fruits
• Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol
• Choose a diet moderate in sugars
• Choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium
• If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation

Then this weekend I remembered from my childhood about that good 'Ol Food Pyramid which was developed by the USDA.

So on Sunday I did my best to match the Recommended Dietary Guidelines for the Moderate (2200 calorie diet level). I knew that 2200 was more calories than I usually eat, but I was still going to try for the group servings.

Groups
Grain: 9
Vegetables: 4
Fruit: 3
Milk: 2-3
Meat: 6

I know I should also take into consideration fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium as well. But my first experiment here was just to see if I could get the servings in.

Sunday- “The write down everything you consume day”

Breakfast
After a morning run, I sat down to east I had a bowl of Banana Nut Crunch, with milk, and a two egg omelets w/ cheese. A monster glass of Orange juice was used to wash everything down.

Quick tally yielded me 3 grains (for 3 ounces of cereal), 1 milk (for the milk in the cereal), 1 meat (for the two eggs), another serving for the lode of cheese in the omelet, and 4 servings of fruit (3/4 of a cup= 1 serving)
10:00a Totals
Grains: 3
Vegetables: 0
Fruit: 4
Milk: 2
Meat: 1

After cleaning up I took the crossword puzzle and headed down to the Starbucks. I grabbed a Venti Skim Latte. I count this steamed milk as a serving.
12:00p Totals
Grains: 3
Vegetables: 0
Fruit: 4
Milk: 3
Meat: 1

Midday Snacking at the Park
Having the desire to spend the glorious day outside, I pack a lunch and head to Green Lake to soak up the sunshine. During my time at the Park, I managed to eat two plums, a nectarine and a cup and a half of mixed nuts. Since the plums were small, I’ll add to Fruits and two meat (2/3 cup of nuts = 1 serving)
4:00p Totals
Grains: 3
Vegetables: 0
Fruit: 6
Milk: 3
Meat: 3

It was around this point where I realized that my vegetable intake for the day was low. Quite low… err actually non-existent. I went for a quick bike ride to Safeway and got some carrots and celery.

Time for Dinner
When dinner time came, tuna fish was on the menu. In an effort to start my veggie eating I loaded up the tunafish w/ celery and onions. I figured I would get some more servings from the milk group by turning these into tuna melts. Instead of the usual serving of chips I would eat I cut up some carrots and nibbled on those.

A quick tally for dinner would yield 2 servings of meat for the tunafish, 4 servings of grain for the fours slices of bread. 1 serving for the slices of cheese on the sandwiches. 3 servings of veggies (1 for the celery and 2 for the carrots). And two more fruit servings from the orange juice to wash everything down.
7:30p Totals
Grains: 7
Vegetables: 3
Fruit: 8
Milk: 4
Meat: 5

To be honest, this was the most food I have eaten in a long time. I would come up short in my goal of matching the prescribed food servings… but it wasn’t even 8pm yet!

Need to Meet the Daily Requirements…
As it was Sunday night, I was heading to a nearby bar for trivia. On my drive out to the bar I nibbled on 2 carrots and a piece of celery. Bingo! 2 more servings of vegetable.

After trivia, I came home. Feeling zero sense of hunger. However, I went into the kitchen to meet my grain serving quote for the day. I grabbed two slices of whole wheat bread, washed it down with some water.

11:50p
Grains: 9
Vegetables: 5
Fruit: 6
Milk: 4
Meat: 5

Well… I was able to meet the goal of 9 servings of Grain and 5 servings of vegetables (after a late start). I exceeded the Fruit group with ease which I knew would be easy. The inclusion of cheese in the milk group made me surpass those required servings as well. Unfortunately, I did come up short on the Meat side. Oh well. I guess I need to eat some more peanut butter or chicken or meat to get those necessary proteins.