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Hi my name is Lisa Heiser, I am a graduate dietetics student at

Eastern Illinois University.

Today we're going to talk about the my plate food guide.

Who knows what a food guide is?

Well food guides tell us how much of

different kinds of food to eat.

"My plate" is the current food guide here in the United States.

This is a representation of what the "My Plate" looks like kind

of reminds you of your dinner plate right?

Well that was the whole point when creating my plate so we

know exactly how to assemble our plates.

The my plate is broken into five sections the dairy section, the

grains section, the protein section, the vegetables section

and the fruits section.

Now that we know all the different sections of "My Plate"

let's try to figure out where some example foods

would go on our plates.

First we have cereal, thats right that

would go in the green section.

This one's kind of tricky ...

nuts, yup that's a protein.

Milk that's a dairy.

What about carrots?

Yup carrots are a vegetable, and a strawberry

yes strawberry is a fruit.

And rice, rice is a grain.

And the steak, steaks are protein.

And what about yogurt?

Yogurt's a dairy.

And corn, corn is a vegetable.

What about pears?

That's right pears are fruits.

Here's another tricky one, beans.

Hmmmm, yup beans are a protein.

What about bread?

Yup you got it, breads are grains.

And peas, peas are another vegetable.

What about grapes?

You got it, grapes are a fruit.

What about chicken?

Yup chicken's a protein.

And pasta, that's right pasta's a grain.

And cheese, you got it cheese is a dairy.

And asparagus yup that's our vegetables too,

one of our vegetables.

And an apple, yup that's a fruit.

Okay now that we all know which foods go into different sections

of the "My Plate", let's see what each section is all about.

"My plate" was created so that we don't have to count and

measure portions all the time.

Just look at your plate and make a healthy plate based off what

the my plate food guide is showing you, but some plates are

bigger than others.

So we want to go over exactly how much in measurements you

should get every day because if your plates are too big and you

consume too much then it can lead to over consumption and too

many calories is unhealthy.

This is the vegetable section, the vegetable section should

make up about 30% of your plate.

You should get about two and a half to three

cups of vegetables every day.

Next is the fruit section, fruits should make up

about 20% of your plate.

You should eat about one and a half to

two cups of fruit everyday.

Now to the grains, grains should make up about

30% of your plate everyday.

You should eat about 5 to 6 ounces of grains throughout the

day, but how much is an ounce of grains you ask?

Well if you're going to eat bread then an ounce is one

slice, if your going to eat pasta or rice or cooked cereal

like oatmeal then an ounce is a half of a cup.

When you eat dry cereal like cheerios

then an ounce is about one cup.

Now going on to protein, most people get enough protein

everyday, but what we don't get is enough variety.

We should be eating lean meats such as chicken and fish and

turkey and occasionally we can eat beef and pork.

We also get protein from nuts and beans too.

We should eat about 5 to 6 ounces of

protein everyday just like grains, but

again you ask how much is an ounce of protein?

Well the answer is about a table spoon of peanut butter or one

egg or a fourth of a cup of dried beans.

Some meats such as chicken, fish, and beef you'll have to

weigh on a scale.

Dairy is the last section of "My plate", most people don't get

enough dairy in their diet.

We should eat or drink about three cups of dairy everyday.

Dairy comes in all sorts of forms milk, yogurt, cheese are

all excellent sources of dairy.

Now that we all know approximately how much of

different foods we should eat everyday,

let's assemble a healthy plate.

We've got fish going into our protein section, rice that's

going to be our grains, and some green beans and cauliflower for

our vegetables, and some pears for our fruit.

As you can see we have 20% protein, 30% grains, 20% fruits,

and 30% vegetables and our cup of dairy.

One of the biggest points of my plate that is really important

to remember is that half of your plate should be

fruits and or vegetables.

Now let's look at some examples of plates and some different

choices that you could make.

The "All American Diet" cheese burger and french fries, but is

this plate healthy?

Nope it sure is not, can you you tell what is

missing from this plate?

Vegetables that's right, so the next time you go to fast food

restaurants like Mcdonalds, Burger King, Sonic, or Wendy's

instead of ordering french fries try a side salad and maybe only

eat half of the bun.

This would make your plate look much more like "My Plate" which

is much healthier for you.

What about when you're sitting down for a snack say you get

some crackers and cheese maybe a little meat, can you tell what

you're missing?

That's right fruits and vegetables you are all

getting so good at this.

So the next time you go to make your snack don't forget your

fruits and vegetables.

So tonight when you go to fill your dinner plate remember "My

Plate" and that half of your plate should be fruits and

vegetables, and the other half divided into grains and proteins

and don't forget your glass of milk.

Now that we all know about "My Plate" and how we should fill

our plates I wish you all happy and healthy eating.

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