My Pyramid Review

The MyPyramid.gov: Steps to a Healthier You website shows how the FDA has changed the food guide pyramid to become interactive and individualized. We used to study a generic food pyramid that did not take into account individual needs and lifestyles...not any more. This website can help you create a healthy eating plan designed for you.

In order to create an individualized plan, the site asks for information such as your height, weight, age, gender and the amount of exercise your normal routine involves, including choices of less than 30 minutes, 30-60 minutes, and more than 60 minutes. You may also calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) by linking you to the Center for Disease Control web page about BMIs.

Once you submit your personal information, your own personal and colorful food pyramid appears, listing the daily number of ounces of grains and meats are optimal as well as listing the number of optimal cups of fruits, vegetables, and milk products for you. It gives you a recommended range of calories and bases your individual goals on a particular calorie amount listed in the top right hand corner. It also gives specific recommendations for fats and oils.

The site has a button for a site tour, in which it shows you the various abilities of the website and how to navigate it, or you may choose to jump right in and begin entering data. 

Just beside your personalized pyramid, you may type in a menu item and it will give you the number of calories for the ounces listed. If you are experiencing problems finding a menu item, it lists helpful hints listing words that you might enter in place of words that it does not recognize. Choose a meal time and whether or not you'll be adding things such as dressing or ketchup and click to enter this into your pyramid and a menu below. You may choose the serving amount of the items you are adding. As you add each item the pyramid begins to fill. If you put in certain vegetables, split peas for example, you may choose to count it in the meat and beans category instead of vegetables. You may continue to remove or add items until you have a full day's worth of foods. You may also copy these into other menus if you wish to plan a weekly menu (up to seven days) for your household (up to seven members).

Click on tips at the top to view healthy choices for the various parts of the pyramid. For example, in grains, you may want to choose air popped popcorn instead of another less healthy snack. A tip under the milk category is to try your cappuccino or latte with fat-free milk. A physical activity tip includes to walk up and down the soccer or softball sidelines while watching the kids play. You may also track days in which you applied tips to your routine.

This information allows you to assess your food intake and physical activity. You may print reports based on the data you entered. Reports include a daily menu, weekly menu, family menu, next steps to improve your food choices, and food details in which it shows how each food contributes to recommended goals and limits.

I had no problems finding the various pages and entering information. Once I clicked on the "site tour," I could not figure out how to stop the virtual tour. I think it had launched a separate page because I was able to get back into the area where I was entering data eventually. When exiting the site, I realized I had not entered a username and password, which was separate from the information the section where I entered data; therefore, my personalized pyramid was lost.

I did not see where this website addresses special needs, like restricted diets or pregnant or lactating women, for example. This would require quite a bit of variables that would be difficult to create, I am sure. Many healthcare providers give advice about what not to eat on restricted diets, for example, but they may not have specific suggestions for what to eat within your individual preferences. The physician will often refer to a nutritionist, who is more specialized in specific diet needs.

Links for recipes would also be helpful.

My Viewpoint:

If you are curious about how the food guide pyramid has changed, this will answer your questions. I'm impressed with how interactive and easy this website is to navigate. If you are serious about assessing and improving your health through diet and exercise, this site can give you the tools for a healthy plan if you need a regular diet. If you have special needs or restrictions, it would be best to consult your healthcare provider regarding a healthy lifestyle plan. I recommend that you sign up on the website with a password at the beginning so that you do not lose your data.