The USDA's new food pyramid, released in 2005, includes a graphic of a person climbing up a staircase along the side of the pyramid to represent exercise. MyPyramid, as it is called, is an updated and interactive graphic to promote healthy choices for Americans. While changes were made to the food guidelines, the exercise component was added in recognition of the major impact that physical fitness has on our health.
Physical Benefits of Exercise
Physical fitness is a key component of your health and helps you reach and maintain a healthy weight. This is vital, as obesity can raise your risk for stroke, high blood pressure and even some kinds of cancers. Exercise, on the other hand, can lower your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension, all while building strength, endurance and flexibility. Beyond helping your clothes fit better, exercise also delivers important mental health benefits. Physical activity can help reduce depression and anxiety, as well as bolster self-esteem.
Exercise and Nutrition
Physical activity is the way you burn calories, or expend energy, and healthy eating is the way you consume calories. This relationship means that it's important to balance the two, matching the amount of energy you consume and the amount that you use daily. As you age, your metabolism slows, meaning that you must either become more active, or eat fewer calories to maintain your current weight. To help you determine what's right for you, MyPyramid is interactive, allowing you to design your own exercise and nutrition plan.
USDA's Exercise Recommendations
Physical fitness can have such a powerful effect on your health that it's easy to see why the USDA includes it in the new food pyramid. But to reap the benefits of exercise, you'll need to know what type to do and for how long. MyPyramid recommends 30 to 60 minutes of moderate exercise daily or near daily as a minimum. During moderate exercise, you are moving briskly enough to raise your heart rate. This can be done continuously or broken up into shorter intervals throughout the day.
The Exercise Target
The most important thing is to get your body moving. Pick an activity that you like and find ways to incorporate it into your routine. Jogging, dancing, biking or swimming are all excellent forms of exercise. The easiest way to get your heart pumping, however, is simply to walk. To get a sense of how much exercise you're getting now, invest in a pedometer, which tracks the number of steps you take daily. Gradually work your way up to 10,000 steps a day.
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