If you are looking for a guide to a healthier you, get yourself a food pyramid that will provide you with a formatted list of nutrition facts about healthy eating. There are certain things that you consume on a daily basis that should be taken in moderation, things such as fat, calories and sugar. A food pyramid will not only guide you on what foods to eat, but also the quantity; this is done through its serving size suggestions. The diverse groups of food will be categorized on the pyramid in order of what to consume and which ones to consume more or less. The bottom of the pyramid being the widest will represent more and as it goes to the top it gets less. The items at the extreme bottom are those that contain whole grains, which are a good source of fibre and because they go through less processing, they retain more of their natural minerals and vitamins than processed foods.
Fruits and vegetables are on the second rung going up and these are also in the wider part of the pyramid because they are a good source of nutrients that include vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and also a good amount of fibre. In addition, fruits and vegetables are low in fat and sodium so they provide good dieting values. The daily servings that are suggested by the food pyramid are 3-5 servings for vegetables and 2-4 servings for fruits. Stay away from sodas and fruit drinks as these contain high volumes of sugar and very little real juice if any at all. Meat poultry and fish is up next on the agenda because the aim is to get a balanced healthy meal. While the meat is necessary for the protein and iron, you should consume it moderately and according to the recommended serving size, which is 2-3 servings daily of no more than 2-3 ounces at each time. Peas and beans also fall into this category so feel free to add them to the meal.
Several people rejoice at the sound of dairy, because they immediately draw for the ice cream and the fatty cheese, but the servings of dairy that are recommended should be more skim milk or non fat milk rather than the by-products, if you must indulge however, try to eat yogurt instead of ice-cream and eat cheese that are made from skim milk as it contains less fat. The serving size that is recommended for dairy is 2 servings per day for the average person and 3 servings for pregnant or lactating women and teenagers and young adults. The apex of the pyramid is where most people reside today, but it is not healthy, you should live at the bottom and visit the top occasionally, but the top is where all the goodies are and it is a chore to just simply leave them alone. The top is where the cookies and the sweet biscuits, the desserts the candy the sodas, the butter and other such delights are stored. But we have to understand that the level of sugar and fat in these items are very high and we have already consumed enough natural sugars in the other items coming up the pyramid to complete our diet. Furthermore those other items that are at the bottom of the pyramid provide essential nutrients that cannot be derived from these items at the top.
Once you have gotten your food pyramid, you should also consider getting a BMI calculator, what this does is to help you to decide if you need to gain or lose a few pounds or to simply maintain your current weight, it does this by allowing you to input your height measurement and your current weight, then it calculates your body mass index and tells you whether or not you are over/under weight or if you are normal.