What rule or guideline governs your eating habits?

Eric Ringham June 3, 2011, 5:00 AM Jun 3, 2011

The U.S. Agriculture Department has abandoned the old “food pyramid” of dietary guidelines. Instead, it has adopted a new, simpler symbol called “my plate.” Today’s Question: What rule or guideline governs your eating habits?

About the blogger

Eric Ringham

eringham@mpr.org

Sanford Young

Unfortunately Diabetes governs my diet, much more strict than the Ag Dept guidelines.

Trent

My girlfriend.

Maryrose

It is all about the number of calories. I try to balance them between the 4 main food groups.

GaryF

Not some 2 million dollar government program funded with money we borrowed from China.

Sonya

all my values intersect with what i eat. local, sustainable, organic and/or pesticide free, and in season. i want to know the labor practices that contributed to everything i eat. in summer i garden and can. i have a veggie csa as well. meat, eggs and dairy are pastured and grass-finished, and in most cases i have met the farmer who raises them.

i also home-culture a lot of foods. foods with live enzymes and raw foods are an important part of my diet.

fyi, i’m a low-income single mom from a background of generational poverty. if a person is willing to forgo mindless consumerism and dedicate more money and energy to their food and applicable values, it’s do-able.

Durk

Eat more plants, support responsible producers, enjoy the season for what it presents

Steve the Cynic

I eat when I’m hungry, and I drink when I’m dry. If the moonshine don’t kill me, I’ll live till I die.

Seriously, though, I agree with GaryF (will the wonders never cease?) but for a very different reason. The Ag Dept’s food guidelines are politically driven. It’s not really about a healthy diet. It’s propaganda to support big agribusiness. For instance, it’s well documented that adults don’t need dairy products, but the Ag Dept can’t say that, because it would upset Congress members who get campaign money from the dairy industry. The agribusiness plutocrats who dictate agriculture policy don’t care about your health; they just want to sell their products.

Carrie

I try to eat a balanced diet and watch my portion sizes.

Philip

I eat most anything. Here’s my list of 10 foods I won’t eat again:

1. Pickled Herring

2. Gefilte Fish

3. Quiche

4. Souffle

5. Brussels Sprouts

6. Rutabaga

7. Sushi

8. Overcooked Cauliflower

9. Overcooked Broccoli

10. Raw Oysters

Each of these foods WILL produce a gag reflex in me.

Carrie

I don’t see tapioca pudding on that list Philip. Now that stuff is gross.

Jim

What ever is cheap and within arm’s reach. We eat out to much because it is tasty and convenient. And if you are wondering I do have a weight problem. My food habits were formed from a childhood of poverty.

the dude

Oatmeal, fruit and hard boiled eggs in the morning. No carbohydrates after Noon. Salad always at lunch (with avacodo preferably). Meat and vegetables for dinner.

Larry M.

I tend to eat meats from animals I think I could kill without using a firearm (fish and fowl). I stay away from ground meats, no pop, no caffeine. I do eat things outside these parameters but don’t buy them for home use.

Greg

nothing overt. I don’t adhere to a program, chart or philosophy. I do like veggies, flavor and variety. and …. last few years …. 1-2 small meals a day seems to be enough …

bsimon

my guideline is:

Emphasize home-cooked food using fresh ingredients over prepackaged or commercially produced food.

James

Hunt animals.

Kill animals.

Eat animals. (with wild rice)

Wear their skins.

∑

DTOM

Joe Schaedler

Four food groups – I never accepted that food pyramid hokem

Barb

I don’t eat mammals, eat no processed carbs during the week (weekends I sometimes do), focus on legumes and cooking at home.

Jay

Family history of cholesterol problems starting in mid-life. Diet is simple: 1) less than 10% of calories from fat 2) complex carbs (very little sugar) 3) all the raw food (fruits and veggies) you want.

Sarah

Eat like you live in the 19th Century! No processed foods; local, organic ingredients; homemade.

Neil

Everything in moderation.

No treats (cookies especially) when my clothes feel tight.

louis

I strictly follow the sea-food diet: I see food and eat it. However , I don’t look at the grocery meat dpt. and just sneak a peek at the chocolate shelves. Calories in, calories out, eat what make your face smile at the stupid mirror.
Gretchen

We only live once, so make the most of it.

I generally eat a pretty balanced diet, and focus on sustainable and homegrown foods, but I don’t hesitate to splurge occasionally. Weather it be a decadent dessert, super expensive dinner, or a trip to the DQ. I love good food, and think it should be savored.
greg copeland

The 14 million unemployed need paychecks, not “plates” instead of Pyramids.

We have 44 million on food stamps and Obama & the elite serve up his blue plate special; Let them eat Charts…as unemployment climbs again!
Melissa

I have downsized from the giant dinner plates to a salad sized plate. I make sure that half my plate is filled with fruits/veggies, a quarter is protein and the last quarter is starch. I find I get my dairy in by using butter, milk or cheese (in moderation) and for flavor, when I cook. I think people today really suffer from “portion distortion” (myself included until recently). Down-sizing my plate has really helped me.

In planning my meals/snacks throughout the day, I try to have at least one fruit for breakfast, a fruit and veggie with my lunch and two veggies with dinner. That way, I ensure I get in a minimum of 5 fruits and veggies for the day. For snacks, if I eat a carb, I always try to combine it with a protein as it staves off hunger, longer.
Steve the Cynic

“We have 44 million on food stamps and Obama & the elite serve up his blue plate special; Let them eat Charts…as unemployment climbs again!”

And how, precisely, does the production of the nutrition guidelines make unemployment go up? It’s the business elites (i.e., plutocrats) who not hiring, while the Republicans in Congress are busy seeing that public employees get laid off. The economy seemed to be about to turn around until the Greedy Oligarchic Party seized the House.

How about some nutrition guidelines that advise against swallowing partisan bullshit?
Janis

Given some health issues, I started reading the interwebs. Hands down, processed wheat is the biggest complaint producer. Since Ash Wednesday, I’ve given up all sugars but fruit, veggies & honey, as well as wheat and corn. I have so much more energy than I did pre-Lent! I also eat/buy organic & local unless my kid will scream & starve herself if I don’t. (She will. Trust me. I want food to be a happy thing.)

So, bite me, agribusiness. You go ahead and eat (drink) your high-fructose corn syrup & permethrin.
Gayl

All things in moderation & there is no such thing as a bad food…
Susan

For the last year and a half, I have been eating a low carbohydrate diet. I have lost 85 pounds, feel great, and have great cholestoral numbers. Let me assure you, “Calories In Calories Out” is simply not true. For the last 40 years, the government has told us to eat a low fat diet. In doing so, we have substituted carbohydrates for fat. This has been a disaster for Americans’ health, and obesity-related health issues have tracked carbohydrate consumption very closely. Four years ago, Gary Taubes exposed and explainedthe inaccurate conclusions of the nutrition and nutrition professions (See his book “Good Calories Bad Calories” and his New York TImes articles). Essentially, what we believe to be the facts about food, obesity, and weight loss are not correct. I hope that Minnesota Public Radio will look into this issue, since the implications of it for our society are enormous (pun intended).
Kevin VC

For me its not what is delicious…

Its more of listening to what my body tells me is hungry for. Then looks for something in the ball park.

Usually ends up pretty simple.

“The eyes are wide but the belly tiny.”
Ann

The price of food has always been one of the most important factors in my decisions. Unemployment is causing that to be even more important. Some teenagers don’t have to support themselves. It would be nice if employers would take this into consideration.
j

My mom (a depression era farm girl) taught me the best food comes directly from the farm, and as a result this city girl has shopped at food cooperatives or farmers markets almost exclusively for almost 30 years. No fast food, very little in the way of processed foods.

Like Sonja, my values are reflected in how I eat: local, fair trade, sustainably produced, and in season as much as possible. You just have to set your priorities. For me, life’s greatest pleasure is eating good food in good company.
Alexander

Who ARE you?

What’s your purpose?
Al

Eating advice from from Grandpa in Grumpy Old Men:

Last Thursday, I turned 95 years old. And I never exercised a day in my life. Every morning, I wake up, and I smoke a cigarette. And then I eat five strips of bacon. And for lunch, I eat a bacon sandwich. And for a midday snack? Bacon! A whole damn plate! And I usually drink my dinner.
Joanna

Never eat anything bigger than your head.
Jim Shapiro

Eat what I want, when I want it, as much as I want of it. Metabolize, expel waste, repeat. Eventually die, be eaten.
Neil

I have to feel good both while I’m eating and about what I just ate.