Putting It All Together: Basic Daily Food Plans

Putting It All Together: Creating Basic Daily Food Plans

Please note: This is not to be considered medical advice. I am merely passing on information that I have accumulated over the years. Everyone is unique and has their own personal experience. For any questions or concerns, I recommend consulting your health care provider.

In my previous post, I described all the various food exchanges for each food group. Now, I am going to try and describe how to take that information, and turn it into an individualized food plan.

Please keep in mind, however, that “one size does not fit all.” A food plan depends on each person’s unique circumstances.

Depending on age, body size, activity level and metabolism, a person might need more food to sustain their energy level and to avoid physical hunger. Another person, given their unique circumstances, might need less food.

There also needs to be some flexibility. For some people, on days when they are more physically active, they might need to adjust their food intake accordingly. There are so many options! It is a live-and-learn process.

Based on my previous post on food exchanges, this is my summary of daily serving ranges for the various food groups:

Now, taking the summary of daily recommendations, this is my summary of a rough outline of making a personalized food plan:

 

From this, it becomes possible to make your own personal food plan.

If anyone would like to create their own food plan, I created this picture to help keep track of the necessary food groups:

For an individual meal, I created this picture to write your food plan:

I hesitate to make a more concrete example for a food plan, since everyone is so unique, and has their own needs. But, for the sake of clarity, for someone who is trying to lose weight, a food plan could be:

Breakfast: 2 oz. nuts, 1/4 cup uncooked cereal, 6 oz. yogurt and 1 medium fruit.

Lunch: 3/4 cup cooked beans, 1 cup salad, 1 cup cooked vegetables and 1 tablespoon oil.

Dinner:   4 oz. chicken, 1/2 cup cooked rice, 1 cup salad, 1 cup cooked vegetables and 1 tablespoon oil.

There is an art and a science to determine the correct amount of food one requires. This is a flexible and fluid process. It depends on so many factors!

I have known people to eat 2 cups of salad for lunch and dinner as well. So, I recommend having a reasonable amount of food and then monitoring your weight on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis. Based on your progress, you can add or deduct food to your daily regime according to your results.

Writing about healthy eating for the time challenged has proven to be a daunting task!

I have a few more subtopics connected to this subject, but writing about recipes and cooking is really much more fun!

Please note: This is not to be considered medical advice. I am merely passing on information that I have accumulated over the years. Everyone is unique and has their own personal experience. For any questions or concerns, I recommend consulting your health care provider.

Here is a PDF of all the pictures and charts of this topic so far:

Cooking For The Time Challenged food plans

References: The list is endless!  I just hope that I didn’t forget anything!

eat-well-bien-manger-eng

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USDAFoodPatternsSummaryTable

revisedfoodsmart

FGPPamphlet

ld90772_dailymealplanguide

calreqtips

intake

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Food_Choices_and_Serving_Sizes_AMD

FoodLists

FoodMood

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healthyportions