The 5 Food Groups

There are 5 food groups that you need to select your meals and snacks from.  Choosing from these 5 food groups will not directly lead to weight loss - eating less than you burn does that.  But eating from these groups will insure that though you are eating fewer calories and less food each day, you are still getting the nutrition your body needs to stay healthy, lower your cholesterol, lower your risk for many types of cancer, and have shiny and silky hair.  Well...maybe not the last one, but I hear a can of Alpo each day can help with that.

Make it a goal of yours to eat from at least 3 of the 5 food groups at every meal.  Mixing it up each meal is going to help you get all your servings each day.  I'm not going to say too much about servings at this point, but just want you to start to change your eating habits to include the 5 food groups each day, and work to the point where you are only eating from the 5 food groups for most of your meals.  We can worry about correct portions later.  For now you want to try to start replacing foods in your pantry and fridge with healthier foods.

I think that it's okay if you want to finish the foods that you already have in your house if you want.  I'm not looking to force anyone to throw out any food you have spent hard earned money on.  But if you get the urge to go cold turkey and throw out some of the food you have and replace it with healthier choices, don't let me stop you.  Go for it!

You will soon see that you don't have to get any special supplements or make any trips to Whole Foods Market.  All you need to eat healthy can be found at your local HEB.  Or Kroger, but why would you want to shop at Kroger if you have a HEB nearby?  HEB rocks....

Group #1
The first group is whole grains.  Whole grains include wheat, oats, barely, brown rice, quinoa, rye, popcorn, and maize.  Why whole grains over refined grains like white bread and white rice?  Thanks for asking.  Fiber is important to helping you feel full longer as well as lowering your cholesterol.  Whole grains are also better providers of other micro nutrients such as potassium.  Finally, whole grains contain more protein.  As an example a slice of white bread has 66 calories, 1.9 grams of protein, and .6 grams of fiber.  A slice of whole-wheat bread has 69 calories, 3.6 grams of protein, and 1.9 grams of fiber.  Double that for 2 slices on a sandwich and it is easy to see which is the winner in the protein and fiber department.  In our house we get our whole grains by eating oatmeal for breakfast, whole wheat bread for sandwiches and for toast, whole wheat bagels and muffins for snacks, whole wheat pita bread, whole wheat pasta with our spaghetti, brown rice for stir fried rice and Mexican rice, and Triscuits and Goldfish for snacks.  No one misses the white bread.

A word of caution about buying whole wheat products.  Just because a package says wheat on it does not mean it has an abundance of whole wheat.  First, you want to look specifically for products that say "whole wheat" on the package, not just "wheat".  Second, and more importantly, look at the food label.  The first listed ingredient should be whole wheat.  If something other than whole wheat is listed first on the ingredient list, then look for another product.

Group #2
The second group is lean protein.  Lean is the important clarifying word.  What you want to avoid is saturated fat.  We will look at healthy fats later, but you won't be finding saturated fat on that list.  In my opinion, you should avoid these fats to the verge of paranoia.  Saturated fats are the main dietary cause of high LDL cholesterol levels.  Remember that LDL cholesterol is the bad cholesterol (think of the L as "lousy" and the H in HDL as "healthy").  Of course you already know that high LDL levels increase your risk for heart disease.  In our house we get our lean protein from skim milk, lean turkey and lean beef, chicken breast, beans, and whole grains.  Note about turkey that it is not lean just because it is turkey.  Some pre-packaged ground turkey has as much saturated fat as ground chuck beef.  You should be looking for beef and turkey that is at least 93% lean.  The packaging may say something like 93/7 on it.  That means that the package includes 93% beef or turkey, and 7% fat.  An even better choice would be 99/1 meat.  But I'll warn you ahead of time that the meat comes out much dryer than fattier meat, and takes some practice to cook.  Generally I have found it helpful when browning 99/1 turkey meat for tacos or spaghetti to cook it at a lower temperature.  Adding a little chicken broth to it can moisten it without adding any fat to it.  I also add canned black, navy, or great northern beans to salads, soups, and fish dishes.  And fat free refried beans go great with all your Mexican dishes.  Keep this in mind… a gram of protein has 4 calories, a gram of fat has 9 calories.  That is more than twice as many calories in fat as protein.  So not only is lean healthier, it is also better for weight loss.

Group #3
The third group is fat-free and low-fat dairy.
The milk industry has done a great job of educating us to the benefits to our bones from dairy products.  As we age, eating dairy becomes more important.  When you are younger and your bones are growing, calcium helps strengthen you bones and increase bone density.  Your bones essentially become a calcium storehouse for our bodies.  As we age, the body stops adding calcium to the bones.  But, if your body needs calcium and doesn't find it in your diet, it has no problem taking the calcium it needs that is stored in your bones.  Over time, having a calcium deficiency in your diet will lead to weak and brittle bones as your body siphons from your bones the calcium it needs.  This is not just a problem for women, but for men also.  It is often seen as older people fall and easily break bones that would not have broken from a similar fall when they were younger.  So having the calcium that dairy provides is important.  Dairy also provides us with several other minerals and vitamins that lead to healthier bodies.

But we don't want to get the benefits from the dairy and have to take the calories that come from the fat as well.  That is why I recommend low-fat or no-fat products.  Again, fat has 9 calories per gram.  So just a little fat goes a long way against your daily calorie count.

In our house we have skim-milk(you get used to it pretty fast), no fat cheese slices for sandwiches, no fat shredded cheddar and mozzarella for tacos, spaghetti, etc, low fat yogurt, and low fat sour cream(I'll admit I can't stand the taste of the no-fat kind).

I have read from several sources that the best post-workout drink you can have is chocolate skim milk.  It has the protein and carbohydrates your body needs to recover after a strenuous workout.

Group #4
The fourth group is fruit.  Normally I would encourage you to eat 5 servings a day from this group, but during your weight loss, I would limit it to 1 or 2 servings.  The reason is that the sugar in fruits has the same amount of calories as a spoonful of refined cane sugar.  Where weight loss is concerned, there is no healthier type of sugar.  Not brown sugar, not molasses, not honey.  The calories are all the same.  Still, there are the benefits from fruits such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals.  These benefits are enough that you should include some in your diet as you lose weight, just be sure to find out how many calories the fruit has and include them in your daily count.  Since different fruits contain different micro nutrients, try to have a variety every day.  I usually have a banana with my breakfast and another with as a mid morning or mid-afternoon snack.  I also eat an apple most days.  Other than that, I mix up whatever is in season.  My favorites are strawberries(berries of any kind are a great food to include in your daily diet), watermelon, kiwi, grapefruit, and mandarin oranges.

Group #5
The fifth group is vegetables.  Nearly everything I said about fruits applies to vegetables.  Except that the calorie content in this group is generally so low that you can eat as much as you like.  Add them to meals, or snack on them throughout the day.  Again, a variety is important to get all the benefits of the different micro nutrients that are supplied in this group.  The experts say to focus on having a variety of color.  So you want to look at green such as spinach, yellow such as squash, white such as cauliflower, the orange in carrots, etc.  One thing I would point out about the green group is that I do not include iceberg lettuce in this group, or in any of my meals for that matter.  The nutrition provided by this type of lettuce is so small as to be insignificant.  A slightly better choice for salads is Romaine lettuce, but either spinach or kale wins the nutrition contest for salad.  My salads usually include a mix of Romaine and spinach.

My favorite homemade salad has spinach, romaine lettuce, radishes, cucumber, carrots, mushrooms, no-fat shredded cheese, some canned beans and some canned chicken breast or left-over chicken fajita meat. As a dressing, I recommend Kraft Light Parmesan Asaigo Basalmic Vinaigrette.  It only has 40 calories in 2 tablespoons. This is a very low fat, low calorie meal with a full day's vegetable servings.  It also follows the rule of 3 food groups in a meal.  It has vegetables, lean protein from the chicken or beans, and low fat dairy from the cheese.

One caution about eating lots of vegetables is that they are high in fiber.  While that will do good helping you lower your cholesterol and giving you a longer feeling of fullness, it can also cause stomach problems if you increase your fiber consumption too fast.  So if you haven't been eating lots of ruffage  previously, I recommend starting slowly and adding a little more every few days.  Your stomach will appreciate it.   If you find that you are getting stomach cramps or loose stool(yeah, I said it), cut back on your fiber until your body gets more used to it.

So meals with at least 3 of the food groups might look like this…
For breakfast, a cup of low fat yogurt with granola and sliced strawberries.  (Careful with the granola and check the label.  Some has so much sugar added that it is almost like candy)
For lunch a lean turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with slice of non fat cheese and a couple of carrots (4 groups there).
For dinner, spaghetti with whole wheat pasta, lean turkey meat, marinara sauce, and sprinkled with fat free or low fat mozzarella cheese.  Have some blue berries sprinkled with Splenda for dessert and you just had a meal with all 5 food groups.

For snacks (I have a mid morning and a mid afternoon snack each day) a toasted whole wheat bagel with some apple butter on it or a piece of fruit is great.  Get a little more daring and try some carrot and celery sticks with some hummus as dip.  Easy on the hummus, though the fat in it is a good fat, the calories still count.

Until next time when we will see why you must read food labels and learn portion sizes, why not do a couple dozen push-ups and sit ups.  They don't have to all be at one time to get the benefit from them, just spread them out throughout the day.