Hard to eat all this food: BMI = 30.5

I’m trying to align my regular diet with the Canada Food Guide but I’m having difficulty eating all the food they are telling me to eat. It’s hard even to eat to the lower limits, let alone the upper recommendations – and I’m well over 6 feet tall and have a very active job. I can’t imagine a woman a foot shorter than me eating anywhere near this much food.

Recommended Number of Food Guide Servings per Day

	Children			Teens		Adults
Age in Years	2-3	4-8	9-13	14-18 years		19-50 years		51 + years
Sex	Girls and Boys			Females	Males	Females	Males	Females	Males
Vegetables and Fruit	4	5	6	7	8	7-8	8-10	7	7
Grain Products	3	4	6	6	7	6-7	8	6	7
Milk and Alternatives	2	2	3-4	3-4	3-4	2	2	3	3
Meat and Alternatives	1	1	1-2	2	3	2	3	2	3

I’m trying to eat 7 servings of fruit/veggies, 6 of whole grains, 2 of milk, and 2 of meat. That might not sound like a lot of food until you start looking at actual examples of the servings.

Maybe this doesn’t look like a huge breakfast, but it’s 850 calories. I think the Canada food guide might be using a different kind of hot cereal to determine what constitutes a portion, because 3/4ths of a cup of Red River cereal contains 420 calories yet the Canada Food Guide says that 3/4ths of a cup of hot cereal is only 1.5 servings of grains. I seriously don’t think I could eat a full two cups of this stuff with all the fruit and milk. Part of the problem is I am having my half liter of milk with breakfast – in my coffee and on my porridge. Most days I can’t even finish the coffee. Maybe I should drop the roast pork, have only half the milk, and have another cup of milk later in the day. Even so, it would be hard to eat another quarter cup of that porridge.

This plate is daunting. Because veggies aren’t very calorie dense, yet I’m trying to have 5 servings a day of them, they pile up fast on the plate and in the sandwich. Honestly, I could do with half this sandwich but, again, I’m trying to get 2 more servings of grain here, and 2.5 more servings of veggie. Everything is delicious but it’s just so much food.

Another giant pile of food. There is a cup of wild rice hiding under all the veggies and the roast beef. I’m still full, but even so my mouth waters a bit just looking at the photo. The trouble is, when presented with the actual meal rather than a mere photo, I never know if I am going to be able to eat it all. As much as I love all the colours, the variety of textures, and that sambal on top, it is hard to stuff all this food into my pie hole. Take a look at the servings and calories.

		(g)	Produce	Grains	Dairy	Meat	Calories	Per Meal
Breakfast								854
	Porridge	190		1.5			420
	Fruit	150	1				78
	Milk	500			2		217
	Juice	100	1			0.5	45
	roasted meat	38					94
Lunch								460
	Rye Bread	75		2			194
	roasted meat	75				1	128
	tomato	30	0.250				5
	cucumber	30	0.250				5
	red onion	30	0.250				13
	red pepper	15	0.125				6
	boston lettuce	5	0.000				1
	coleslaw	125	1.000				100
	cucumbers	30	0.250				5
	sourkraut	15	0.125				3
Dinner
	wild rice	160		2			166	410
	red cabbage	125	1.000				31
	yellow beans	65	0.500				20
	carrot	65	0.500				27
	snow peas	90	0.750				38
	roasted meat	75				1	128
Total			7	5.5	2	2.5	1724
Target			7	6	2	2	1800

It appears that I could skip the slice of roast pork at breakfast to more align with the Canada Food Guide. The trouble is, they still expect me to eat more grain – whole grain. So it also appears that at some point in the day I need to eat another slice of rye bread. The only time I could possibly eat a slice of bread, and still eat all my meals, would be right before bed. Maybe I could also move one cup of that milk at breakfast to a bedtime snack. I would be less hungry at breakfast, but without the pork and with half the milk, breakfast might be easier to eat.

I’m still obese (barely) and on my way to once again being overweight. It will be months before I need to worry about not being able to stop losing weight. I would, however, prefer to gain some control over the descent before I need to start eating fried chicken to keep from becoming too thin.