All doses of Wegovy® are now available.

Category: Lifestyle

Small changes matter; start simple

Choosing Wegovy® was an important step in helping you manage your weight, along with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity. Building better eating habits can also help you reach your goals and manage your weight long term.

So, now, let’s take a look at your plate.

This may be daunting. But change doesn’t have to be as hard as it seems. With time, practice, and the right resources you may be able to create new habits that you can maintain.

Enter MyPlate.

In this article we’ll help you break down your plate so you can better understand how to build a balanced meal. Here’s what you’ll find:

  • A little background on MyPlate
  • The basic components of MyPlate
  • How you may use MyPlate in your weight-management approach

Before starting any new eating plan, it’s important to check in with your health care professional. They have a thorough knowledge of your health history and are best equipped to find options tailored to you and your unique circumstances.

Make your plate MyPlate

The MyPlate method of meal planning was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2011 to be a replacement for the former Food Pyramid (1992).

The purpose of changing from a pyramid to a plate was to give people a simpler and more direct visual approximation of how to portion their meals.

Turn MyPlate into a meal

The basic tenets of MyPlate are:

  • Make half of your plate fruits and vegetables (with slightly more vegetables than fruit)
  • Fill the other side of your plate with grains and protein (with slightly more grains than protein). And strive to make half the grains you eat whole
  • Consume low-fat or fat-free dairy, lactose-free dairy, or fortified soy milk
  • Choose unsaturated fat in place of saturated fat where possible
  • Incorporate physical activity into your lifestyle
  • Limit the consumption of saturated fat, sodium, added sugars, and alcohol

Find the full guidance at MyPlate.gov.

Make it your plate

The MyPlate method is incredibly flexible and can be easily adapted across many different cuisines or dietary restrictions.

You don’t have to make your plate look exactly like the MyPlate diagram. Think of it as a jumping-off point; a visual reference you can use to get an idea of how to create a balanced meal. Take note of not only your portion sizes, but how each food group stacks up against one another in the ingredients list. In other words, your sandwich can still look like a sandwich. It doesn’t have to be deconstructed to mirror the plate’s exact physical likeness. But you could use the plate to estimate the portion of each ingredient you use.

Stay the way with MyPlate

It may take a while to apply all this information to your unique weight-management plan. That is completely normal! Change doesn’t happen overnight—it’s a process.

Additional resources

Check out this resource from ChooseMyPlate.gov. Along with a graphic of MyPlate, which explains each part of the plate in depth, you can find helpful tips and examples of foods that fall under each category.

The MyPlate method can be a handy way to help you fill your plate with healthful nutrients. You can even customize your meal plan, based on your age, sex, height, weight, and level of physical activity—but don’t forget to talk with your health care professional before starting a new eating or physical activity plan.

Looking for convenient access to MyPlate on your phone or tablet? There’s an app for that! The Start Simple with MyPlate app helps you pick daily nutrition goals, track your real-time progress, and earn badges by completing milestones and challenges.