How many servings per day to lose weight and maintain good health?

[Trac]

My personalized Canada Food Guide says that a woman in my age group (43 yrs.) requires 6 servings of Grain products per day!  Yikes!  I believe that Health Canada is looking out more for the food industry than they are for individuals, and I'm pretty sure that if I ate all the food recommended on the  guide, I would be in worse shape than I am now!  So...how much grain product is really appropriate? 

How about the rest of my personal recommendations? 

Vegetables & Fruit, 7 servings (2 to 3 being fruit, the rest vegetables)

Milk and Alternatives, 2 servings

Meat and Alternatives, 2 servings

I am trying to lose weight.  I exercise and eat mainly whole, healthy foods...I just eat too much!  I intend to start weighing and measuring and keeping track of how much I eat, but I want to make sure I am starting with a plan that isn't doomed to fail, lol!  Opinions? 

[wannabesmc]

One thing to keep in mind is that what we call a serving and what the people who make food guides call a serving are 2 very different things. For example: a serving of grain is one 70 calorie slice of bread, or 1 ounce of ready to eat cereal, or 1/2 cup of cooked grains, whether that's rice or other grain, pasta, or cooked cereal. So, if you eat a cup of oatmeal for breakfast, have a sandwich for lunch, and eat a cup of rice or pasta with dinner - you're already there. Or, to look at it another way, a restaurant serving of pasta is probably your entire day's worth of grain servings. Veggie servings are 1 cup of leafy greens, or 1/2 cup cooked veggies. Fruit is 1 medium fruit, or 1/2 cup chopped or cooked fruit or 1/2 to 3/4 cup juice. Dairy is 1 cup milk or yogurt or 1 1/2 ounces of cheese. Protein is 2-3 ounces cooked lean meat, or 1 egg, or 2 tablespoons peanut butter, or 1/3 cup nuts, or 1/2 cup beans or lentils. So, let's finish out the example meal plan I had: make your oatmeal with a cup of milk and add in 1/2 cup raisins, dates or chopped fruit of your choice - your breakfast is 2 grain servings, and one each of fruit and dairy. Make your sandwich with 2 tablespoons peanut butter or 2-3 ounces of chicken or turkey and add a 2 cup salad, and you've added 2 more grains, 1 protein, and 2 veggies. Add 1 cup cooked veggies and either 2-3 ounces of meat or 1/2 cup of beans to your rice or pasta for dinner and you add the last 2 grain servings, the last protein serving, and 2 more veggie servings. Add in your last dairy serving as a glass of milk with dinner, or 1 1/2 ounces of cheese on your pasta, or 1 1/2 ounces of cheese as a snack. Then have a piece of fruit for dessert and either more fruit or some carrot sticks or something as a snack and you're done.

I have a book called The Meditereanean Diet and their minimum reccomendations are: 8 servings of grain, 2 of veggies, 2 of fruit, 2 of beans,  2 of dairy, and 1 of nuts. They say this would average out to be about 1400 calories a day.

Oh, when talking of ounces, they mean US ounces, not sure if it's the same measurement in Canada.