56
The Food Pyramid
We’ll begin our food, nutrition and digestive system unit by examining the food pyramid.
The website MyPyramid.gov is a government sponsored website designed to help people
understand and meet basic nutrition requirements. MyPyramid.gov allows you to enter
your own personal information and receive nutritional guidelines geared towards you. It’s
not perfect, but it’s better and more realistic than the previous food pyramid which was
the same for everyone, regardless of age, body size or lifestyle.
To get a printed copy of your food pyramid:
 Log onto www.mypyramid.gov
 Choose MyPyramid Plan at the left.


Enter your age, sex, weight, height and exercise level in the boxes you see.
On the screen which then comes up, read the information shown to you.
57


On the right side of that screen, notice two places to click to print a PDF version
of your personal food pyramid AND a Meal Tracking Worksheet.
Print those pages and place them in your binder after this handout.
Assignment:
Using the Meal Tracking Worksheet you printed, try to keep track of your food intake
and your physical activity during a 24 hour period.
Answer the questions at the end of the worksheet to the best of your ability.
Filling out this chart may be challenging, and we will discuss why this approach to
nutrition may indeed be difficult and even frustrating. Don’t worry! We shall learn a
more satisfying and hopefully more effective method of understanding and monitoring
your nutritional needs.