During this “mini-investigation” I took a look at USDA’s new Food Pyramid guidelines – as well as their new “My Pyramid Tracker” tool they’ve created to assist consumers to track their food intake and activity levels. USDA has been providing nutrition guidance for over 100 years, and released the original Food Guide Pyramid in 1992. MyPyramid reflects the most current science; and the updated tools are designed for ease of use by consumers.

USDA utilized the most recent Technical research and up to date science standards to research food intake patterns and determine the amount of and best combination of foods to consume for overall health. As part of designing the Consumer Education materials, the program was tested in Consumer Groups to create a consumer friendly web site and develop materials to best reflect the new standards.

The web site has a great deal of information for anyone attempting to eat healthier – and to lose weight. The government has FINALLY recognized the fact that One Size does not fit all – and has created a Pyramid that is more flexible to suit the variety of shapes and sizes of the consumer.

The My Pyramid program helps you determine what foods and amounts are right for YOU. They broke down food categories into GRAINS – VEGETABLES – FRUITS – MILK – MEATS/LGEUMES – OILS – DISCRETIONARY CALOIRES – and PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. The amounts to eat are based on a person’s age, sex, and activity level – and are more for someone maintaining a healthy weight. However – the program is easily adapted to decrease caloric intake per your specific needs – and does make recommendations for weight loss.

The program is very similar to the Biggest Loser diet in that they recommend switching to whole grains over refined grains – and push a higher consumption of vegetable and fruit. This is not a low carbohydrate plan – but one that shows you the right types of carbs to eat. The program offers suggestions in each category – and you can download customized Pyramid sheets at their Resource Download Page – which shows food intake guidelines for caloric intakes from 1000 up to 3200 calories a day.

The web site also offers education tools for children to learn healthy eating habits – complete with the My Pyramid Blast Off Game, coloring sheets, family tips for healthy eating, and classroom activities.

Another great feature of the web site is a program similar to fitday.com.   MyPyramid Tracker is a web-based interactive tool that helps consumers compare their diet and physical activity to current health recommendations. Individuals can enter the foods they eat and their physical activities for a day and obtain the energy balance between them. MyPyramid Tracker provides each user with detailed, personalized results.

After entering the food you’ve consumed for the day – and your activity level – you can then pull up several different types of reports:

The Dietary Guideline compares your intake with what USDA recommends for your age, weight and activity level. When I clicked on this report – and selected “Leads you to gradually achieving and maintaining a healthy weight?” I was given a message to contact my doctor for more information on losing weight. The system apparently can not calculate the Dietary Guidelines for me to lose weight. However – I can click the link for maintaining my weight and see that what I’ve eaten is not inline with the recommendations they have made for me.

Nutrient Intake gives me a complete break down of EVERYTHING I’ve consumed – from calories to protein – fats to sugars – vitamins to minerals. This report is also available for analysis over several days – and recommends that you utilize this option to make sure your overall eating habits are inline with the program.

My Pyramid Stats shows you in percentages how closely you’ve followed your recommended guidelines for the day. Since I’m eating below the recommended calories – my percentages are all lower than they should be. However – I don’t see this as a problem – if I’m eating only 60% of the calories for the day – then I have to assume that my Stat totals should be 60% below recommendations too.

Healthy Eating History is the final nutritional report that you can pull up – and this shows you graphically how you’ve performed over a week – a month and a year. It gets pretty specific – if you have problems with sodium intake and want to know what you’ve consumed over a month – this report can tell you! It really is a neat tool!

The Physical Activity reports work the same way – after entering your activity for the day – you can select from two reports that give you a Physical Activity Score and shows you how many calories you’ve burned with each activity. You’re rated from Poor to Good on your level of activity – and can keep a full history with another neat graphic chart.

If the reports in My Pyramid Tracker were customizable to your specific caloric intake – this web tool would be fantastic. For now I give it a four out of five on the diet scale!

The USDA My Pyramid program can be found at mypyramid.gov – and I highly recommend you take the time to peruse this site on your own. Set aside a good hour or two – because there is a lot of great information.

As with any weight loss and exercise program – please check with your personal physician to find out what options are right for you!