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Chapter 7: Nutrition Basics 93

4. Add a percentage of Step 3 to account for your activity.
   For a relatively sedentary day — say, a day lying around the pool — tack
   on 20 percent of your Step 3 result. For our sample man at the pool, we
   perform this calculation: 1,968 ×0.20 = 394; 394 + 1,968 = 2,362 calories.

On days when you exercise, you may need to add 30 to 50 percent of

your resting metabolic rate, depending on how long and how hard you

work out.

You may also want to make an appointment with a registered dietitian every

so often. A visit with an R.D. can be very enlightening. He can not only tell

you where you’re falling short but also offer concrete suggestions on how to

boost your iron intake, reduce your calorie consumption, or sneak more fiber

into your diet.

Follow a Food Pyramid .................................................................................

Back in the days of Wonder Bread and Bosco, you and your fellow fourth-

graders probably were treated to an educational film about the basic four

food groups: meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables, and cereals and grains (in

case you forgot). The idea was that if you got enough servings from each

group, you’d cover all your nutritional bases.

In 1992, the federal government exiled the four food groups and unveiled the

food guide pyramid (see the following section). Nutrition experts applauded

the basic concept — that plant foods should form the base of our diet while

animal products, perched near the top of the pyramid, should be eaten less

often. But to many nutritionists, the pyramid does not reflect the latest nutri-

tion research and may, inadvertently, promote a diet linked to heart disease

and cancer. In the last several years, experts have erected more than a dozen

competing nutritional structures, including various vegetarian pyramids, a

Latin American pyramid, an Indian pyramid, and several Asian pyramids.

There’s even a vegan trapezoid. (A geometry refresher course, anyone?)

We’re not going to analyze each and every pyramid in existence, but here’s a

brief look at the government’s pyramid, the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, and

a newer pyramid from Harvard University. You can take the best of these

structures and create a model of nutritious eating that works for you.

The USDA Food Guide Pyramid .........................................................

Does three glasses of whole milk and a half-pound of hamburger per day sound

like a healthy eating plan? Of course not. But that scenario is technically

permitted under the USDA Food Guide Pyramid (shown in Figure 7-1), and it