A healthy You: Get Your Plate in Shape

Cindy Gates, RD, LD, Certified Wellness CoachMyPlate and the Blue Zones are great partners. MyPlate replaced the food guide pyramid. MyPlate focuses on “fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables” and “enjoy your food but eat less”. Blue Zone encourages “Plant Slant” and “Stop eating when you're 80 percent full”.To help Americans put MyPlate into action, the Supertracker has been launched. The SuperTracker is a state-of-the-art interactive and personalized tool for diet and physical activity planning, assessment and analysis. The website contains a place to keep track of your food intake and physical activity. Studies show the more food records people kept, the more weight they lost.Of course, it’s not just the act of keeping a log that helps you lose weight - it’s what the log reveals that really makes a difference. There is something truly stunning about seeing in black in white just how many calories you consumed over a single day. The website also contains many helpful hints on increasing fruits and vegetables, teaching kids to eat healthier, eating on a budget and recipes.Use SuperTracker to:

• Easily identify personal recommendations for what and how much to eat and physical activity
• Find and track food and activities
• Assess personal physical activities
• Assess all food groups and nutritional information
• Using custom features to set goals, get weight management pointers
• Get reports on nutrient intake
• Tap into social media to motivate health behavior change.

Blue Zone Challenge: log on to www.chooseMyPlate.gov and go to popular topics and choose SuperTracker.Healthy You is a regular column about nutrition, healthy living and cancer care. It is written by Cindy Gates, RD and LD and the Cancer Center’s Oncology dietitian, herbalist and Certified Wellness Coach.