My Pyramid

The United States Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid, offers you an interactive food guidance system. The motto, "Steps to a Healthier You," encourages small steps each day to improve diet and lifestyle. MyPyramid, which replaces the Food Guide Pyramid introduced in 1992, emphasizes the need for an individualized approach to improving diet and lifestyle by showing the foods and amounts that are right for individuals based on age, gender and activity. It reminds us to make healthy food choices and to be active every day.

Below we have provided some explanation of each element of MyPyramid and a recipe idea or tip to get you off to a good start.

• Find your balance between food and physical activity.
• Be physically active for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.
• Children and teenagers should be physically active for 60 minutes everyday or most days.

• Make half your grains whole.
• Eat at least 3 ounces of whole grain bread, cereal, crackers, rice or pasta every day.
• Look for "whole" before the grain name on the list of ingredients.
• Featured Recipe: Orange Bowl Cereal
• More about Grains

• Vary your veggies.
• Eat more dark green veggies.
• Eat more orange veggies.
• Eat more dry beans and peas.
• Featured Recipe: Springtime Chicken Caesar Salad
• More about Vegetables

• Focus on fruits.
• Choose fresh, frozen, canned or dry fruit.
• Go easy on fruit juices
• Featured Recipe: Poppyseed Fruit Salad
• More about Fruits

• Know your fats.
• Make most of your fat sources from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.
• Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening and lard.
• Featured Recipe: Nut-Crusted Flounder Fillets
• More about Oils

• Get your calcium-rich foods.
• Go low-fat or fat-free.
• If you don’t or can’t drink milk, choose lactose-free products or other calcium sources.
• Featured Recipe: Low-Fat Chocolate-Banana Parfaits
• More about Milk

• Go lean on protein.
• Choose low-fat or lean meats and poultry.
• Bake it, broil it or grill it.
• Vary your choices-with more fish, beans, peas, nuts and seeds.
• Featured Recipe: Zesty Chicken and Pasta
• More about Meat & Beans

• Personalization, demonstrated by the MyPyramid Web site (MyPyramid.gov). The Web site offers personalized recommendations of the kinds and amounts of food to eat each day.
• Gradual improvement, encouraged by the slogan, "Steps to a Healthier You." It suggests that individuals can benefit from taking small steps to improve their diet and lifestyle each day.
• Physical activity, represented by the steps and the person climbing them, as a reminder of the importance of daily physical activity.
• Variety, symbolized by the six color bands representing the five food groups of MyPyramid as well as oils. Experts suggest that foods from all groups are needed each day for good health.
• Moderation, represented by the narrowing of each food group from bottom to top. The wider base stands for foods with little or no solid fats or added sugars. The narrower top stands for foods containing more added sugars and solids fats.
• Proportionality, shown by the different widths of the food group bands. The widths suggest how much food a person should choose from each group.
• Helpful Links
  How Many Pyramid Servings are Right For Me?
  Rules on Thumb on Portion Size