According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health, you can improve your dietary habits and overall health by using a variety of weight management and behavioral tips available through the websites of these agencies. You can research diet guidelines, assess your weight and health, and learn to track your habits. These tools can help you take control of your personal nutrition and fitness.
Food Guide Pyramid
The Food Guide Pyramid, a set of nutritional guidelines developed by the USDA, is a key diet and health management resource. This guide provides guidelines on how to plan and track a balanced diet. Comprised of five main food groups, the guidelines encourage people to include many fresh vegetables and fruits in their daily diets. In addition, complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain foods are recommended in place of simple starches or sugars. When you use this resource to plan your weekly diet you'll be able to limit unhealthy fats and high calorie foods and replace them with healthy, lower calorie options.
Assessing Food Intake
The USDA has created a variety of helpful diet planning tools. A program for assessing food intake is available on the USDA website, and by using this tool people can perform an in-depth assessment of their dietary habits and caloric intake, and identify any problems or unhealthy patterns.
Serving Sizes and Portion Control
Serving size and portion control can also be critical to diet and health management. You should refer to resources provided by the National Institutes of Health or the USDA to learn more about how to read nutrition labels and estimate portion sizes for different food items. These organizations have tables that outline average serving sizes for common foods, and the National Institutes of Health also provide a portion control plate that allows individuals to better estimate the position sizes of common foods.
Exercise and Fitness
Fitness guidelines and tracking tools are also available through the National Institutes of Health. The NIH recommends that you do a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity a day that raises the heart rate, such as jogging or swimming. The USDA offers a free physical fitness assessment and tracking tool on its public website.
Virtual Tools for Diet Management
The National Institutes of Health have developed a comprehensive website that offers information on Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes. These resources can help plan a health diet, learn about fats and cholesterol, and there is even a virtual grocery store and cafe that offer lessons on healthy shopping and dining. All of these resources were developed to help people decrease their risk of heart disease and obesity-related health problems.
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