MyPyramid is designed to be less of a poster and more of a service offering the tools you need to for total wellness. It features a Web site (www.mypyramid.gov) that helps you determine how much you need to eat based on your age, gender and activity level. You will find 12 variations of a healthy diet, numerous articles and tips to help you make the right food choices and the option to monitor your nutritional intake online.

MyPyramid still recommends you should eat a variety from each food group, but now it also emphasizes exercise as an integral part of keeping healthy. The plan recommends at least 30 minutes of daily exercise for adults and 60 minutes for kids.

In the MyPyramid design, colors denoting food groups are separated vertically instead of in boxes. The wider the color band, the more of a food group you should eat. Below are general recommendations for different food groups.

• Grains – Eat at least three ounces of whole grains every day
• Vegetables – Eat more dark green and orange vegetables, and dry beans and peas.
• Fruits – Eat a variety of fresh, frozen, canned or dried fruit. Go easy on fruit juice as it contains lots of sugar.
• Oils – Make most of your fat source from fish, nuts and small amounts of vegetable oils. Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening and lard.
• Milk – Go low-fat or fat-free. If you do not or cannot consume milk, choose lactose-free or other calcium products.