Are You Eating Right for Your Age?
You've probably seen the food pyramid a few couple of times - or perhaps a lot of times already. But do you know what kinds of food go on top and what stays at the bottom? Do you know that while the food pyramid has suggested servings per food group, these servings should also be tailored according to your specific needs?
This is because we are all different individuals with varying levels of health. Healthy for you may not be considered healthy for someone else. With this, we then have have different nutritional needs, and these nutritional needs account for our caloric consumption.
The average person needs at least an hour of exercise, around two to four servings of fruit, at least three to five servings of vegetables, six to eleven servings of grain, two to three servings of protein meat, two to three of milk and 8 glasses of water each day to be healthy.
But who is the average person? This suggested formula can for a fifty year old woman, or an eight year old child. This suggested calorie intake is in fact just as generalized and as vague as the food pyramid itself. This is where the problem lies because this general guide may not work for everybody.
While there is a general nutritional guideline, it does not mean that this should be the only one exclusively followed. It is still up to the individual person to determine a food regimen that is unique to his own, and that can meet his caloric needs and keep him at his or her healthiest level.
The guides that have been published by the USDA explain that differing age groups have varying calorie needs. The question now is how to determine the calorie needs unique to your own.
The first thing that you should do is to weigh yourself everyday and note it down. Try it for a month and check any differences. If you do not gain weight within the whole month, the you're getting the right level of calories to maintain the weight that you currently have. With that information on hand, visit a nutritionist and ask about your recommended daily allowances of minerals and vitamins.
Then, with these two pieces of information, check with the food pyramid and make your own daily or weekly food plan that can meet and match your recommended daily allowance of calories, vitamins and minerals. All you need then is your imagination, and you can now create your own individualized healthy eating plan that's enjoyable as well.
When you begin to understand the importance of the food plan, then you can easily incorporate it into your daily life - and the lives of your family members as well. All that you need to do now is to simply memorize the benefits and incorporate those into your daily food intake. This may seem difficult or confusing at first - but do remember that if you've learned something as foreign as the multiplication table, then you can easily learn something as common and as constant as food and eating.
At the same time, while you are incorporating what you have learned into your daily life, do remember that exercise is also as necessary as eating as well.
Whatever you choose to eat will then depend on your own unique plan. This personalized plan won't work for your kid or your mother - but with your own knowledge, you can help them create your own plans as well. With that, you can also incorporate all your plans for a common daily or weekly menu as a family.
These things have not been incorporated in school as of the moment. But even so, it is still our task to learn these. At the same time, it is all the more our responsibility to teach our children about these things. Start your own plan and make it a habit, and get your children into it as well. Along with education, this can be one of the greatest legacies that you can pass on to them - a healthy life head.
This is because we are all different individuals with varying levels of health. Healthy for you may not be considered healthy for someone else. With this, we then have have different nutritional needs, and these nutritional needs account for our caloric consumption.
The average person needs at least an hour of exercise, around two to four servings of fruit, at least three to five servings of vegetables, six to eleven servings of grain, two to three servings of protein meat, two to three of milk and 8 glasses of water each day to be healthy.
But who is the average person? This suggested formula can for a fifty year old woman, or an eight year old child. This suggested calorie intake is in fact just as generalized and as vague as the food pyramid itself. This is where the problem lies because this general guide may not work for everybody.
While there is a general nutritional guideline, it does not mean that this should be the only one exclusively followed. It is still up to the individual person to determine a food regimen that is unique to his own, and that can meet his caloric needs and keep him at his or her healthiest level.
The guides that have been published by the USDA explain that differing age groups have varying calorie needs. The question now is how to determine the calorie needs unique to your own.
The first thing that you should do is to weigh yourself everyday and note it down. Try it for a month and check any differences. If you do not gain weight within the whole month, the you're getting the right level of calories to maintain the weight that you currently have. With that information on hand, visit a nutritionist and ask about your recommended daily allowances of minerals and vitamins.
Then, with these two pieces of information, check with the food pyramid and make your own daily or weekly food plan that can meet and match your recommended daily allowance of calories, vitamins and minerals. All you need then is your imagination, and you can now create your own individualized healthy eating plan that's enjoyable as well.
When you begin to understand the importance of the food plan, then you can easily incorporate it into your daily life - and the lives of your family members as well. All that you need to do now is to simply memorize the benefits and incorporate those into your daily food intake. This may seem difficult or confusing at first - but do remember that if you've learned something as foreign as the multiplication table, then you can easily learn something as common and as constant as food and eating.
At the same time, while you are incorporating what you have learned into your daily life, do remember that exercise is also as necessary as eating as well.
Whatever you choose to eat will then depend on your own unique plan. This personalized plan won't work for your kid or your mother - but with your own knowledge, you can help them create your own plans as well. With that, you can also incorporate all your plans for a common daily or weekly menu as a family.
These things have not been incorporated in school as of the moment. But even so, it is still our task to learn these. At the same time, it is all the more our responsibility to teach our children about these things. Start your own plan and make it a habit, and get your children into it as well. Along with education, this can be one of the greatest legacies that you can pass on to them - a healthy life head.
