Anyone up for a challenge? How to eat all of the recommended food and no more?

[KingCanuteIAm]

I have been thinking about this for a while, we are all told "you need to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg" "you need 3 portions of whole grain" "not too many eggs" "as many eggs as you like"... it is mind blowing and I confess to being lost with it all, in fact, if you applied the thumbscrews I may even confess to having thrown up my hands in despair and given in altogether

Recently I have had a bit of a health wake up call, nothing drastic (or at least it doesn't look that way) but it has made me think I ought to start dealing with my diet - currently my diet is healthy in a very loose and lazy way, now I want to get it right!

I have started walking much more and now do several miles a day that I didn't a few months ago and I gave up smoking 3 weeks ago and am doing really well with it, it seems a shame to leave such a good start hanging, I am keen to complete the picture IYSWIM.

SO, the challenge, should you choose to accept it, can you design a day or week meal plan that incorporates all of the things that we should be eating? I can faff around with calories, saturated fats and so on but I just don't know how to get in all the things I am supposed to - in fact I am not even sure what it is I am supposed to be getting in anymore!

Thank you in advance for any thoughts or ideas

[notnowbernard]

My loose and rough way is to have 3 meals a day

That generally comprise of a portion of fruit/veg, a portion of carbs, and a portion of protein

And to avoid sugary stuff and anything processed

And to have extra fruit and veg as snacks

[notnowbernard]

In my mind a 'normal' sized serving of each food group is 2 serving spoons

So, if you were having spag bol for dinner you'd have 2 serving spoons of spag, 2 of the bol sauce with 2 serving spoons of a side salad

[KingCanuteIAm]

That is the kind of thing I am after Riven, I have googled but there is so much information from so many places that my head is spinning. I was hoping that some clever MNers would have a good handle on this already and boot my underinformed booty in the right direction

Bernard, that sounds very similar to my rough and ready approach
I am hoping for something with a bit more precision to it than I currently have, I know diet can be a huge help with so many things and I have recognised that I am being silly and lazy by ignoring it so I am looking for starting points!