|
New Year's Resolution for a Healthier, Happier You
Submitted by
Pamela Kay Matura, Executive Director of the Area
Agency on Aging District 7, Inc.
(Source: Administration on Aging, Dept. of Health &
Human Services.)
Did you make a
resolution to start 2006 with smart food and physical
activity choices? Have you decided that this year you
are going to eat wiser and smarter? Information is
available online to help with your choices.
If you have access to the internet, there are various
sites that offer information to help with your New
Year’s Resolution. Listed below are a few web
addresses that may help achieve a happy and healthier
you in 2006.
The booklet, Finding Your Way to a Healthier You will
help you get started. This booklet and the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans 2005 can be downloaded on the
internet at
http://www.healthierus.gov.
Another helpful resource is the interactive food
system to customize your food choices. This is based
on your activity level, sex, and age at
www.MyPyramid.gov.
Use the My Pyramid Tracker to assess your eating
pattern and/or physical activity for a day. Print your
overall evaluation. This will compare the amounts of
food you ate to current nutritional guidance and
provide a score for your physical activity for the day
compared with physical activity recommendations for
health. To give you a better understanding of your
diet and/or physical activity over time, you can track
what you eat up and/or your physical activity for up
to a year. Go to
www.mypyramidtracker.gov to do this.
Another great source for a person who has food
allergies is www.cfsan.fda.gov. At this site you can
find out more about the new FDA requirements for food
labels which clearly state if they contain any
ingredients that contain protein derived from the
eight major allergenic foods.
The Food Pyramid was recreated in 2005 by U.S.
Department of Agriculture. When looking at the Food
Pyramid, you may wonder what each color stands for:
orange represents grains; green represents vegetables;
red represents fruits; yellow represents oils; blue
represents milk; and purple represents beans and
meats. The Food Pyramid is a guide that also helps
select what foods and how much you should be selected
in your diet.
Good luck and have a very happy healthier you.
|
