Worksheet 54

	Your Daily Diet Versus the Food Guide Pyramid

Keep a food record: Keep a record of everything you eat on a typical day (see Wellness Worksheet 53).

Compare your servings to the Food Guide Pyramid. Complete the chart below using your food record. Your portion sizes may have been smaller or larger than the serving sizes given in the Pyramid; be sure to translate your intake into actual Pyramid servings as you complete the chart. For example, if you consumed 1-1/2 cups of spaghetti, you would count it as three servings from the grain group. To determine the recommended number of servings for your calorie intake, refer to the following table.

Food Guide Pyramid Recommendations: Number of Servings at Three Calorie Levels

	1600 calories per day	2200 calories per day	2800 calories per day
	(sedentary women, older adults)	(children, teenage girls, active women, sedentary men)	(teenage boys, active men, very active women)
Grain group (servings)	6	9	11
Vegetable group (servings)	3	4	5
Fruit group (servings)	2	3	4
Dairy group (servings) ^a	2-3	2-3	2-3
Meat group (ounces) ^b	5	6	7

^a Women who are pregnant or lactating, teenagers, and young adults to age 24 need 3 servings.
^b The Pyramid recommends 2-3 servings per day, the equivalent of 5-7 ounces of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish.

Food Group	Pyramid Serving Sizes	Recommended Servings	Actual Servings
Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta	1 slice bread 1 oz ready-to-eat cereal 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice, or pasta
Vegetable	1 cup raw leafy vegetables 1/2 cup other cooked or raw vegetables 3/4 cup vegetable juice
Fruit	1 medium apple, banana, or orange 1/2 cup fresh, chopped, cooked, or canned fruit 3/4 cup fruit juice
Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese	1 cup milk or yogurt 1-1/2 oz natural cheese 2 oz processed cheese
Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts	2-3 oz cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish 1 oz meat = 1/2 cup cooked dry beans, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 1/4 cup seeds, or 1/3 cup nuts

Below, list the foods you consumed that don't fit into the major food groups (fats such as mayonnaise, butter, margarine, salad dressings, and sour cream; added sugars such as candy, jam, and regular soda; and alcoholic beverages).

Evaluate your food choices within the groups: Some choices within each food group are particularly healthy, while others should be eaten only in moderation. To further evaluate your current diet, indicate the number of servings you consumed of the following foods.

Foods to emphasize:
whole grains
dark-green leafy vegetables
orange fruits and vegetables
legumes
citrus, melon, berries
cruciferous vegetables
low-fat or nonfat dairy products
fish (baked, broiled, or steamed)

Food to limit:
processed, sweetened grains
high-fat meats, poultry skin
deep-fried foods
full-fat dairy products
regular soda, sweetened tea, fruit drink/punch
foods from the Pyramid tip (fats, added sugars)
alcoholic beverages

Make healthy changes: Bring your diet in line with the Pyramid by adding servings of food groups for which you fall short of the recommendations. To maintain a healthy weight, you may need to balance these additions with reductions in other areas--by eliminating some of the fats, oils, sweets, and alcohol you consume, by cutting extra servings from food groups for which your intake is more than adequate; or by making healthier choices within the foods groups. Make a list of foods to add and a list of foods to limit or eliminate:

Foods to add:
Foods to limit or eliminate:

INTERNET ACTIVITY

Find out how your eating habits compare with the Dietary Guidelines, Food Guide Pyramid, and recommended nutrient intakes by completing the Interactive Healthy Eating Index at the Web site for the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (http://www.usda.gov/cnpp; click on Interactive Healthy Eating Index).

Healthy Eating Index (HEI): Total score:

Dietary components needing attention (not rated with a happy face):

Three tips for improving your intake of one of these components (click on the face):

Your HEI score compared to the national average (click on "Compare to National Average"):
Components scoring above national average:

Components scoring below national average:

Nutrient Intake: List nutrients for which your intake is below 100% of the RDA:

Food Guide Pyramid: How does the pyramid for your daily diet compare to the recommended pyramid?

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