The Pyramid

My son is doing a challenge for school for the next two months. It is called "Schools On The Move". You may have heard about it. When I saw the tracking log for it, I thought he would not want to do it. But he surprised me when he said he wanted to. He wants to earn a t-shirt. That is his motivation for it. It basically is a calendar for February and for March. Each day there are two boxes to check off. One is to do 60 minutes a day of physical activity, which they have to write down what their activities are. They cannot include P.E. or recess activities. It basically has to be outside of school time. In February the second box is to have 5 servings a day of fruit and vegetables. In March the second box is to have only 2 hours a day of screen time, which is computer, video games, and t.v. time. If they have a minimum of 60 boxes checked off between the two months, they get a t-shirt. They can win other prizes individually and for the school. So it's kind of a big deal.

So, we hung up the calendars on the refrigerator and each day Anthony, with our help, is working toward hitting the goal everyday. I knew he could do the 5 servings a day of fruit and vegetables. He has always loved to eat fruit, even when he was a baby. The activity part seems to be a little more challenging so far. He does swim lessons, but only twice a week. And since the weather has been snowy and chilly outside, I haven't really wanted him to spend 60 minutes out there freezing. March will be very challenging as well with only 2 hours of screen time a day. He loves to play video games and he can sit in front of the t.v. for hours watching Spongebob. Thank you Comcast for On Demand! Of course, a lot of that is our fault for letting him. Those things can be so convenient for us. Anthony can entertain himself while we do things around the house. I don't think all of that is bad. He is a genius at the video games he plays.

Anyway, this challenge did get me thinking a lot about the food pyramid. Remember the food pyramid we grew up with?

Now here's the new one:

It's pretty much the same concept. Eat healthier, limit fats, vary foods, use portion control, exercise, have a good balance with food. I wanted to research it more to see if we are eating the way the pyramid tells us we should. I'm guessing no. When I looked it up I couldn't believe how different it is from what I grew up thinking. Did you know there is a food pyramid for different types of cultures and diets? And even different pyramids for kids, teens, adults, and Moms-to-be? It will even break it down for boys, girls, men, women and age groups. I didn't realize it had gotten so specific. Pretty cool, if you ask me. This totally makes sense now! We are different! We're not all the same! And as we get older, our eating habits change...should change anyway.

I think it is so interesting that I am now realizing that it had changed. I guess it's because I am paying more attention these days to my health and my family's health. I have never really cared about my actual weight or clothes size. As long as I feel good about myself, I'm okay with it.

In general for adults, daily we should eat 3 oz of grains, 2 1/2 cups of vegetables, 2 cups of fruit, 3 cups of milk products, 5 1/2 oz from the meat and beans group (of course lean versions are recommended), and only 6-7 tsp of the oil group. we should get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day, and of course be discretionary about our calorie intake.

Well, I know I am not following all these guidelines. I do try to eat healthy. I try to be conscious about calories. I'm all about whole grains, fruits and vegetables. But, I'm not a stickler for the milk group. I'm sure we are eating more than 5 1/2 oz from the meat and bean group, and I'm pretty sure it's more meat than bean. And I really need to do more physical activity myself. I'll just say 30 minutes a day is a struggle most days. That's terrible! I hate even admitting it. I'm pretty sure I could change that. It just has to be a choice of doing it, and then sticking to it. Some commitments are so hard to do. They all sound so great at first. But after a couple days, weeks, whatever...

I think with Anthony's challenge, it will be easier for me to do this pyramid challenge. So, I'm going to try it. There are websites with materials to print out, which I'm going to do. I will follow this for the next 2 months and see how it goes. I'll probably do some kind of tracking with it, but I haven't figured that out yet. I'm just hoping to feel even better with what I eat, not necessarily lose weight. No high expectations here with that. But if it comes with the program...fine. I'm not sure how I want to measure this. But, I'm sure I'll figure that out as I go along.