Flemming, your comment on my ”Why Don’t You Take Vitamins?” post intrigued me. I started wondering how close I got to Nancy Clark’s “variety” diet , so I spent all of last week dutifully tallying up my food choices. I tried to eat “normally,” resisting the urge to incorporate more variety than I actually eat and thus tampering with the results.
I’m not sure if I broke out my foods correctly. I counted all pasta (tortellini, fettucini, macaroni…wow, do I enjoy my carbs!) as one category. Same deal with bread. Whether rolls, sandwich bread, or hamburger buns it all showed up as the same thingwhite bread. I know, I know, I need to go to whole wheat. And personally I love whole wheat bread…but husband doesn’t care for it AT ALL and this is just one of those marriage compromises. Just like the brand of toothpaste we use. I also noticed that my “leafy green” category is pretty slim…something I’m definitely going to try to work on because I also love spinach, and peas, and lots of other green, healthy veggies. I just get careless and forget to buy them. As far as a list goes, however, I was surprised how close I got to Clark’s recommended 35 different food items. When you eat a PB&H sandwich, some form of potato chips, and some form of fruit for lunch three days a week, it doesn’t seem as though there’s much room left for true variety.
I’m curious to read more of Clark’s articles/books. I think the 4 meals a day plan might be right up my alley. I’m usually crashing about 4:00 every day…an hour shy of my appointment with running (or running appointment, lol) and a possible time for a “second lunch.” So I end up doing what she warns about, and heading to the coffee shop for a quick cookie pick-me-up.
If anyone’s interested, the results of my little science experiment are below. It’s an interesting little test to try on yourself. Thanks, Flemming!
Flemming, your comment on my ”Why Don’t You Take Vitamins?” post intrigued me. I started wondering how close I got to Nancy Clark’s “variety” diet , so I spent all of last week dutifully tallying up my food choices. I tried to eat “normally,” resisting the urge to incorporate more variety than I actually eat and thus tampering with the results.
I’m not sure if I broke out my foods correctly. I counted all pasta (tortellini, fettucini, macaroni…wow, do I enjoy my carbs!) as one category. Same deal with bread. Whether rolls, sandwich bread, or hamburger buns it all showed up as the same thingwhite bread. I know, I know, I need to go to whole wheat. And personally I love whole wheat bread…but husband doesn’t care for it AT ALL and this is just one of those marriage compromises. Just like the brand of toothpaste we use. I also noticed that my “leafy green” category is pretty slim…something I’m definitely going to try to work on because I also love spinach, and peas, and lots of other green, healthy veggies. I just get careless and forget to buy them. As far as a list goes, however, I was surprised how close I got to Clark’s recommended 35 different food items. When you eat a PB&H sandwich, some form of potato chips, and some form of fruit for lunch three days a week, it doesn’t seem as though there’s much room left for true variety.
I’m curious to read more of Clark’s articles/books. I think the 4 meals a day plan might be right up my alley. I’m usually crashing about 4:00 every day…an hour shy of my appointment with running (or running appointment, lol) and a possible time for a “second lunch.” So I end up doing what she warns about, and heading to the coffee shop for a quick cookie pick-me-up.
If anyone’s interested, the results of my little science experiment are below. It’s an interesting little test to try on yourself. Thanks, Flemming!
Megan’s Weekly Food Tally: