How to eat right, even if you haven’t got much time

You may not yet be familiar with the new food pyramid recommended by the USDA, called MyPyramid.

It has vertical bands of color and a figure climbing up the side of the pyramid to remind you to get enough physical activity.

Each colored band represents one of the six food groups. The bands also vary in width; the wider the band, the more you can eat from that food group.

However, these bands are just the first step on your road to a healthy diet. MyPyramid can also help you optimize your diet to meet your specific needs such as, if you are vegetarian. The interactive tool can help you fine-tune your eating for maximum nutrition.

It also helps you calculate what to eat and how much based on gender, age, level of physical activity and how many calories you can therefore consume to maintain a healthy weight.

Then it gives you quantities and suggestions based on the overall daily calorie allowance, so you can determine, for example, how many cups of fruits and vegetables you are permitted.

You can visit the MyPyramid website at www.mypyramid.gov