Tips & Resources

Your food and physical activity choices each day affect your health—how you feel today, tomorrow, and in the future.

These tips and ideas are a starting point. You will find a wealth of suggestions here that can help you get started toward a healthy diet. Choose a change that you can make today, and move toward a healthier you.

Food group tips

• Grains
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Milk
• Meat & Beans

Sample Menu

Sample Menu at 2000 Calorie Level, view this sample menu to see how all the recommendations for each food group and nutrient intake can be integrated into a weekly menu. Click to view

Counting Mixed Dishes in MyPyramid

Many popular foods don’t fit neatly into one MyPyramid food group. For example, a cheese pizza counts in several groups: the crust in the grains group, the tomato sauce in the vegetable group, and the cheese in the milk group. Some other common mixed dishes and how they count in each food group are listed in the chart.

Some mixed foods also contain a lot of fat, oil, or sugar, which adds calories. The estimated total calories in each dish are also shown. Click here to see chart

The values listed are estimates based on how these foods are often prepared. The amounts in an item you eat may be more or less than these examples.

Tips for Eating Out
Tips for Vegetarian Diets

Tip of the Week

Most of the fats you eat should be polyunsaturated (PUFA) or monounsaturated (MUFA) fats. Oils are the major source of MUFAs and PUFAs in the diet and can be found in nuts, fish, cooking oil and salad dressings.