MyPlate Day#8: A first week rundown
Weight change: +1 pound
Total cost of groceries: $38 (I ate several meals with friends, but I have groceries left over too)
Average daily intakes (7 days):
- Total calories (goal=2,000): 2102
- Net calories (after subtracting exercise): 1790
- Carbohydrates (goal=45-65% calories): 258 g (49% calories)
- Protein (goal=10-35% calories): 82 g (16% calories)
- Total fat (goal=20-35% calories): 80 g (34% calories)
- Saturated fat (goal=less than 10% calories): 25 g (11% calories)
- Sodium (goal=2300 mg or less): 2620 mg
- Fiber (goal=more than 25 g): 28 g
# of days food group guidelines were met: NONE! Can you believe that? Even while following the meal plan provided by the USDA. In fact, I was closer to meeting the guidelines on the days I traveled and ate on the fly.
The good: This diet is not drastically different from the way I normally eat (kudos to my mom for teaching me to always eat something from each food group for every meal!). I’ve definitely upped my veggie intake and discovered several more delicious recipes. I don’t feel particularly different.
The bad: Following the meal plan isn’t cutting it, for a couple of reasons. I’m clearly going to have to pay more attention to getting all of the food groups in. Also, the meal plan did not allow for eating leftovers. I am a big leftovers-for-lunch kind of gal, so the plan made for extra prep time and some unused groceries.
The ugly: My digestive system has been a little more, um…frisky since I have been eating so many veggies. We’ll just leave it at that.
On to week #2!
Te he he, yeah those veggies will get ya : ) Could you explain more about the bad? What food groups were left out? Did you add anything?
Sure! While I was following the meal plan (The first four days or so) I was eating some from every food group each day. The problem is that there was not usually enough from all of the groups to meet the plan guidelines (most often this problem was with vegetables, sometimes with whole grains). When I was traveling, I ate what Abbie made as well as some extras I brought with me to try to round it out. She has diet restrictions of her own (including dairy and grains) so I brought some whole wheat English muffins and yogurt with me, but that didn’t end up being quite enough to meet the guidelines for those areas.
Otherwise, the diet itself and my discretionary calories have been adequate to prevent me from feeling deprived. I was able to have ice cream with my fiance and go out for a drink with Abbie’s friends last weekend without exceeding my calorie limit.