My Pyramid To Health And Fitness

Remember the old Food Pyramid that we were all taught in school?
You know, the one that told us to eat more ‘grains and
carbohydrates’ than anything else? Last January the U.S.
Department of Agriculture issued a new symbol and interactive
food guidance system called “MyPyramid”. This picture, which
replaces the Food Guide Pyramid introduced in 1992, is part of
an overall system that emphasizes the need for a more
individualized approach to improving diet and lifestyle. The
system embodies the recommendations of the 2005 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans, which advise how proper dietary habits
can promote health and reduce the risk of major chronic diseases
for people two years of age and older.

True health and fitness professionals are not huge fans of ‘one
size fits all’ nutritional programs. As a matter of fact, the
reasons most diets fail is that they try to fit you (an
individual) into a program designed for everyone. Honestly, did
we ever believe that one dietary recommendation (the old Food
Guide Pyramid) was valid for everyone in the USA?

This strong aversion to the ‘one size fits all’ dietary
guideline is exactly why we like the new MyPyramid so much. Take
for example this quote copied directly from the MyPyramid
website: “One size doesn’t fit all. MyPyramid Plan can help you
choose the foods and amounts that are right for you. For a quick
estimate of what and how much you need to eat, enter your age,
sex, and activity level in the MyPyramid Plan box. For a
detailed assessment of your food intake and physical activity
level, click on MyPyramid Tracker.” (Source: mypyramid.gov)

What We Like About The New Guidelines:

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has done a
fine job of updating the Food Guide Pyramid and adding specifics
that we find helpful. For example:

1) MyPyramid make a distinction between ‘grains’ and ‘whole
grains’, which is critical for life-long health and fitness.

2) Rather than just suggesting we ‘eat fruits and vegetables’
(which may prompt some to drink fruit juice and think they’re
being healthy), MyPyramid encourages the consumption of a broad
range of fresh fruits and vegetables while at the same time
discouraging fruit juices (which are often lacking in nutrition
and full of empty calories).

3) MyPyramid suggests that we consume low-fat dairy products,
rather than just dairy products. Some milk, and most cheeses,
are FULL of saturated fat and may be harmful. The new
recommendations take this into account and prompt us to look for
healthy dairy choices.

4) Just like it does with the dairy category, MyPyramid tells us
to search out low-fat protein choices like fish and nuts. The
new guidelines even teach us about healthy oils vs. harmful fats.

5) Finally, and most importantly, MyPyramid actually discusses
exercise. Finally! The guidelines demonstrate the difference
between moderate and vigorous activity, and provide broad
recommendations targeted towards the average American.

What We Don’t Like About The New Guidelines:

1) The MyPyramid website (mypyramid.gov) has a section called
‘My Pyramid Plan’ that estimates BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). In
other words, this site estimates how many calories we should
consume each day. The problem is that they (the USDA) use only
our age, sex and physical activity level to determine our
caloric goal. No mention is made of height differences or the
amount of lean muscle mass we have on our frame. Lean muscle
mass is a huge factor in determining caloric needs, so we were
disappointed to see that it’s not included in these
calculations. Broad generalizations like this fail to take into
account individual differences, and thus are almost always sure
to be inaccurate for many of us.

2) The ‘Physical Activity’ section of MyPyramid fails miserably
in that it doesn’t provide the exercise education we need in
order to be successful. No mention is made of the differences
between aerobic and anaerobic exercise, or the role of
resistance exercise in a healthy lifestyle.

While the new USDA guidelines are certainly much better than the
old Food Guide Pyramid, we were still discouraged to see that
MyPyramid does not fully address exercise. Until we as a nation
understand the basic facts about exercise, we will continue to
struggle with fat and weight issues.

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