The American Plate is Out of Condition!

Old Eating Conditions: I was thinking about how Americans have been conditioned to eat: We have been encourage to eat 1 meat, 1 veggie, 1 starch all at one meal. I was looking through a few magazines and noticed how all the plates had the same theme as the one I talked about above. Even our holiday plates have the theme which is pushed on us by the media and grocery stores. They tell us it's tradition so don't break it. And right after the holidays the media that has told us for 2 months to eat start showing the half shots of fat folks walking down the street asking "why are Americans so fat?" It's all crazy to me!

Let's take the typical American Thanksgiving plate: Turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce. Okay, this is my question: "Why is all that food encouraged at one setting?" It's the holidays I am aware of that so let's exclude the holidays. What about all the other days. Can a person just eat veggies one night and the next night eat meat? Why do we need to eat 3 to 4 types of food on one plate? I understand balancing it all out but it's a lot of food being consumed in one setting. Can we spread it out over the day?

The plate above was taken about a year ago before I saw the light. It was a typical plate for me and most of my friends. As I look back at that plate I think to myself, why! Too much food for one person and that is why I weighed 285 pounds and walked in a size 22 pair of jeans. Know that plate would look totally different. I would eat the salad and the meatballs only. So for the past 2 days I decided to eat 1-2 foods per meal. Here is my example:

New way:
Breakfast: 1/3 cup Rolled -Oatmeal w/milk
Lunch: Grilled chicken w/banana
Snack: Cheese stick
Dinner: Broccoli

Old way:
Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, 1 slice multi-grain toast, banana
Lunch: Grilled chicken, 2 red potatoes, spinach
Snack: Fruit w/ cheese stick
Dinner: Meat, starch, veggie

I don't like the condition of the American plate and I will not feel guilty for turning my back on it. They want us to eat to much food even if it is good for us. According to one of the food pyramid websites we should consume 6-11 serving of grains, 3-5 servings of veggies, 2-4 servings of fruit, 2-3 servings of milk/cheese and 3-2 servings of meat/beans. So much food for one person in one day.

The new way works for me. It looks like I am starving myself but my belly is very happy. I believe in making it simple and healthy. My food theme this month was Mediterranean dishes but I decided to ax it because the recipes called for a lot olive oil and spices. I really want to stay away from all the oils. So I will try this style of eating for the rest of the month and write about it often. It should be about quality not quantity when it comes to the American plate. This is just my rant for the week so please forgive me.

Exercise:
Yesterday I attended my second Capoiera class and it was very challenging. There was a different instructor teaching and I have to say his style is tough but fun. The first hour-half was all warm up with a few tricks. I did mini cartwheels (Au'), back-crawls, side slides, and back kicks. All of these brought me completely out of my comfort zone. I had the biggest smile on my face because I could not believe I was doing these moves. We did a ton of core and arm work. I had to stop to catch me breath a few times during a few of the exercises but I got right back into it. The class is amazing. I have another class tomorrow with the focus being on the spiritual side of the art.