How Many Servings of Grains Do You Eat Each Day?

On the site http://www.pyramid.gov/ you can research your age group and activity level in order to find out how many grains it suggests you incorporate into your daily eating plan. The site states that based on my age bracket, gender and activity level I should be eating 6 servings of grains each day. That's great but I strongly feel this is the area I had to watch closely when I was in weight loss mode. This is also the area I cut back on if I want to drop a couple of pounds in maintenance. Here's why. The site at http://www.pyramid.gov/ states that a woman my age should eat the following intake of foods each day.



Grains 6 servings. (1/2 cup of rice or pasta, 1 piece of toast)

Dairy 3 cups

Vegetables 2.5 cups

Fruits 1.5 cups

Oil 6 teaspoons

Meat & Beans 5 oz.

Plus a certain amount of discretionary calories


It's pretty obvious that the first place I am going to cut would be the grains, dairy and discretionary calorie areas. Vegetables are low cal and are great fillers. The fruit area creates a balance and also provides me with something sweet yet natural. I must restrict my oils which include my all natural peanut butter, whipped butter and olive oil. I don't reduce much from 6 teaspoons because I know these measly 6 teaspoons are a fraction of what I ate when I wasn't eating in a healthful manner and I don't believe it has to be an all or nothing type change. I did measure consistently in weight loss mode in order to stay on track and remain accountable within my daily intake. This is an easy area in which to overestimate.


I take supplements for the calcium and I do eat yogurt, cottage cheese and skim milk but not always three cups. I like to eat 5 oz. of meat or beans because of the protein but I can also cut back there if need be.


Still, in my opinion the area of grains would be a great area to cut back on in order to lose weight. The site tells me that with my established exercise patterns I should be eating up to six ounces of grains each day. Without exercising I should be at five. The site also tells me that I need a minimum of three each day.


I like to cut back to three servings of grains in order to balance out my intake when I want to lose weight. Since I set up my healthy eating pattern I have switched over to whole wheat products and brown rice. It's funny but now my entire family loves whole wheat breads, pastas and brown rice.


Please take a look at what your body requires based on your age and activity level:

http://www.pyramid.gov/pyramid/grains.html


Here are some of the whole wheat products and grains I buy and have on hand in my home to pull from on a daily basis.

100 % Whole Wheat Bread by Arnold (Pepperidge Farms is another)

100 % Whole Wheat English Muffins by Thomas

100% Whole Wheat Hot Dog Buns by Natures Own

100% Pepperidge Farms Hamburger Buns

Whole Wheat Blend Spaghetti by Ronzoni Healthy Harvest

Whole Wheat Blend Linguine by Ronzoni Healthy Harvest

Whole Wheat Blend Rotini by Ronzoni Healthy Harvest

Mahatma Brown Rice Natural Whole Grain

Instant Brown Rice by Mahatma

All Bran Complete Wheat Flakes Cereal

Of course, there are many other whole wheat products that are of equal values. It's a matter of choice. These are products I am most familiar with and products that I use on a daily and weekly basis.


When I first set up a healthy eating plan, I went to this site and wrote down the products from each part of the food pyramid. If you're interested in setting up a healthy pattern this is a great way to create a shopping list while pulling from each category. This way you are choosing the foods you like from each category in order to set up your overall healthy eating plan for life. I will present each category of the food pyramid on my blog so that you can see how you can check out your areas of interests.


Have a great day!