Spokane Fitness Blog by Amy Hunt
I’m no conspiracy theorist.
I don’t believe that the rich in the world are the ones orchestrating things like housing market crashes, raised oil prices and rigged elections.
I don’t believe that if you’re born a middle class pawn that some powerful rook or knight is going to inevitably have the better life based on their social status.
And I don’t believe that global warming and other natural phenomenon are really conspiracies by governmental agencies to keep the population in fear.
However…
I do believe that listening to the government will make you fat.
Go ahead and laugh. I know you want to.
I’m not the only person who believes this either. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that certain facts in the FDA’s nutritional guidelines are a bunch of crock.
The Food & Drug Administration’s food pyramid alone is an obese diabetic waiting to happen.
You find the pyramid all over the place, including cereal boxes and school lunchrooms. The bottom tier marks the heaviest concentration of “servings”… 6 – 11 of them to be exact… of starchy, nutrition less potatoes, pastas, rice and breads.
The 2nd tier contains a total of 5-9 servings of fruits and veggies, followed by 4-6 servings of meats and dairy products. At the top, it says to sparingly use fatty or sweet foods.
This structure goes against EVERYTHING related to real nutrition and weight loss.
The REAL FOOD PYRAMID should look something like this…
- Fruits and Vegetables = 6-11 servings a day
- Lean Meats, Proteins = 4 servings a day
- Nonfat Dairy = 2-3 servings a day
- Starches (ie, potatoes, bread, rice, other grains) = 1-3 servings a day
- Fatty Oils and Natural Sugars = As needed, but NOT avoided altogether!
None of this predominantly grains stuff. That counteracts everything you could possibly want to do to lose weight. Not to mention, it messes with your insulin levels, which could lead to future problems with diabetes.
Then we come to the recommended daily caloric intake.
Wow, is this messed up too!
The Daily Values (DV) that you find on every single nutritional facts label for packaged goods, is based on a 2000 calorie diet.
2000 calories!!!
If you are trying to lose weight, you should sit somewhere around the 1200-1500 calorie range. If you are trying to maintain, no MORE than 1800 calories a day.
The only exception I can think of, would be specifically for very active athletes and bodybuilders or for those who practice carb cycling. The more muscle you have on your body and the more intensely athletic you are, the more calories you will need to fuel your body.
And carb cyclers will find that their ONE cheat day a week can be a little heavier than the other 6 days of the week.
How much that will be depends entirely on the person and not some FDA standard.
Anyone else who takes in 2000 calories a day is setting themselves up for steady weight gain, especially if they allot their calories based on the food pyramid structure.
Even my husband, who sits a tall, muscular 6’4″ and weighs in over the 250 pounds mark eats less than this when he is focusing on leaning down and getting in top notch shape. So don’t think for a second that a little 14 year old kid can handle that many calories successfully…or that a healthy 5′ something woman can take in that much and stay or get slim. It’s just impossible.
Lastly, I think it’s interesting to note that foods marked as “0” calories, no-fat, no-sugar, etc are most likely LIES.
That’s right.
By FDA standards, these items are not necessarily completely void of fat or sugar. Zero calorie drinks don’t *exactly* have to be zero calories.
They just have to be within a certain percentage of “0” to make the cut.
And as a side note to boot, just because a product is sweetened with splenda instead of sugar or uses margarine instead of real butter does NOT equate to healthy.
I won’t attempt to argue whether “diet” drinks slow your metabolism or not…there are studies that go both ways on this one. What I WILL argue is what I have seen and heard in real life. I know that when I’m on a serious diet, all it takes to stunt my weight loss is a Diet Dr Pepper.
I remember my mom saying that years ago, when she worked as a bank teller, she had an awful soda addiction. She would drink Dr Pepper like no other. Finally, she decided it was time to put the diet cap on, so she switched her soda drinking habits to a “diet” version. Instead of losing weight, she continued to GAIN!
It’s not until we cut those items out of our diet completely…diet or not…that we’ll see dramatic weight loss results.
Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself. You can be doing everything else right and still not lose weight, all because of your nutrasweet and splenda ridden diet products.
Same goes for margarine vs. butter. A little of the real thing is SO much healthier for you than the commercialized, overprocessed fake version. Again, I could pull out studies that go both ways on this one, but the fact remains: just cause you slather your toast with margarine instead of real butter does not necessarily equate to healthier body functions OR weight loss.
So here’s what I want you to keep in mind next time you hear someone spouting off diet tricks and nutruition guidelines:
1) The nationally approved FDA Food Pyramid is a scheme to keep you fat.
2) The widely accepted FDA-approved Nutrition Facts and Daily Values are skewed to fit a fat and unhealthy lifestyle.
3) The FDA-regulated Nutrition Facts on no-fat, low-fat, no-sugar, low-sugar and “zero” calorie items are a fraud and inaccurate.
NEVER base your nutritional intake on what a governmental agency such as the Food and Drug Administration or the Department of Agriculture has dictated as truth.
It’s government after all.
And I’m convinced they are here to make you fat.
I’m not sure about the government trying to make us fat, it just probably needs to be revamped and looked into though. I’ve seen those food pyramid for ages, it’s been there and has been the standard for many, many years, way before all these nutrition fad began. Thanks for the information, very, very essential in today’s day and age.
So true!!! There are plenty of studies stating how sugar-free food are actually more harmful than helpful… Scary…
Thanks for this information Amy. As usual, it’s very informative, in depth and full of facts!
The FDA approved nutrition pyramid is suitable for the average person maintaining their weight and not meant for people trying to lose weight. I believe that what they meant for grains being at the bottom is the consumption of whole grains and not so much on the processed ones.
Hmmm.. the FDA food pyramid looks valid for any Asian country though where the staple food is rice.
My gosh! And to think that my mom followed this food pyramid to the core. She had one taped into the refrigerator and all…
Sure, it’s not valid for the day and age today. You have to take into consideration that the food pyramid was drafted many, many years ago. Back when people was more active, get off their asses more and not sit around all day watching TV or getting online.
Thanks Amy .. glad to know this!
Thanks for this information. As usual, glad to learn from it.
Just wondering, how do you classify those people who keeps on eating, disregarding calories and fat contents, etc. and doesn’t seem to gain any weight no matter how much they consume? How do you explain this?
I totally agree with you! The government let’s it that way. Just a week ago, I’ve watched about the heart attack grill. I think that’s super unhealthy and the government should do something about it!
Thanks for this! I’m planning to change my eating habits, this will definitely help me alot!
There’s nothing wrong with the food pyramid. For the average American, that’s a healthy diet plan to follow. But if you want to lose weight, then that’s the only time that you adjust your eating habits.
I think it’s always up to us! The food we eat, how we manage it etc. Even if we are presented with the food pyramid, everyone has a preference of food that we would like to it, and everybody has their won cravings. This is just a guide for the ideal, diet plan but I bet nobody really follows this and nobody takes it that seriously.
I disagree! There just some people that don’t care about their weight and what they eat! They only want the best on their lives and eat the greatest food they lay their eyes on! Haha
Now that I think about it, well yeah, I do think the government makes us fat! They approve foods that are very unhealthy, just like for example, the sugar free candies, they put aspartame! Everyone knows the bad side effects it has on our health!
You guys are right! I’ve been following it all throughout and it seems to lead me on the fatter side. I always thought that it was because my metabolism and I sometimes eat more than suggested but I guess , the food pyramid is downright wrong.
Total rip-off!
My parent’s are by the book people so even to our foods, so everyday, they assured that we follow the food pyramid for a healthy body. I’ll let them read this, thanks!
I think the food pyramid is ideally made just for the asians. Lol
For me, it’s not about the food pyramid or any of those crap.. It’s just your metabolism and your lifestyle. If you are a bum, couch potato etc. , then you are most likely to be fat.. But if you have an active lifestyle, then it helps to improve your metabolism and gives you a fit body.
I totally agree! I hope the FDA will change the food pyramid so that every American will have a guideline to leading a greater looking body and not make us fat.
This is why most American’s are obese! Obese are never healthy, ot could kill you people!
This is really an eye-opener! I never realized it before but yeah, i agree with you 100 percent!
I personally think as well that the food pyramid should be changed, like for my kids, i train them to eat lots of fruits and veggies and if ever I can’t convince them to eat veggies, lots of fruits would do. And I believe that they are on their healthiest body
This is 100% legit!
Agree! They let too many fast food chains everywhere! And yes, too much carbs will make us fat. Way too go food pyramid!
Well, I think it’s still up to us whether we make ourselves fat right? If we see that it doesn’t work for us then look for something that works great for us to lose weight and of course, exercise!
I hope the government checks this and realized that the food pyramid needs revision, actually the WHO should check this!