Diet planning tools

The Body Weight Planner allows users to make personalized calorie and physical activity plans to reach a goal weight within a specific time period and to maintain it afterwards. This resource is designed to help consumers judge the reliability and credibility of health information from magazines, TV or the Internet.

View videos on a variety of nutrition topics, including recipes, cooking techniques, and healthy eating tips. Play this online game to learn about food marketing labels that you may see in the grocery store, including organic and natural labels.

An official website of the United States government. Here's how you know. Food and Nutrition Apps and Blogs. Tools for Getting and Staying Active. Food Group Quizzes. Test your knowledge of the 5 food groups by taking these fun quizzes! MyPlate on Alexa. MyPlate Quiz. MyPlate Videos.

Weight management ultimately boils down to calorie control. So whether you are looking to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your current weight, the amount of calories you eat is the most important factor to pay attention to. It sounds simple: if you eat more food than you need you will gain weight, and vice versa. But most people don't understand how many calories they should be eating a day. Or how to track their daily intake. You can use an online calorie calculator to estimate your daily needs.

Or you can use a food tracking app to find out your daily energy needs and track your intake all in one place. The word "macro" means large - thus macronutrients, are nutrients your body needs in large amounts. Each macro provides a certain amount of calories per gram and plays a different role in your health and nutrition.

Protein and carbohydrates have roughly four calories per gram and fat has about nine calories per gram. Figuring out how many macros you need can depend on your individual health and fitness needs.

But finding the right balance can help you manage your energy levels, mood, appetite, and body composition. Counting your macro intake is an easy way to manage your daily calorie intake and help balance your overall nutrition.

Using a macro friendly app is a great way to get started! While paying attention to your macronutrient intake will help you manage your calories and balance your diet, the quality of your food choices also matter.

Micronutrients are nutrients your body needs in small amounts - aka vitamins and minerals. They do not provide calories, but are essential for good health and wellbeing.

They also play a supportive role in managing your energy, mood, and appetite. Looking at micronutrient content of a food or beverage is an easy way to identify how nutritious or "healthy" an option is.

A good diet promotes positive change and helps you incorporate sensible eating into your daily lifestyle. When designing a practical eating regimen, diet planners often recommend the ABCDMV method -- the six basic principles of adequacy, balance, calorie control, density, moderation and variety. An adequate diet provides the human body with energy and nutrients for optimal growth, maintenance and repair of tissue, cells and organs.

Water, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and some minerals comprise the six nutrient classes relied upon for performance of essential functions and activities. These nutrients must be replaced through diet to keep the body working efficiently.

An adequate diet includes foods containing proper amounts of these nutrients to prevent deficiencies, anemia, headaches, fatigue and general weakness. A balanced diet includes foods containing sufficient amounts of each class of nutrients. For example, while milk is a good source of calcium and fish provides necessary iron and protein, the two are not enough alone.

Other essential vitamins, carbohydrates and fats are found in whole grains, vegetables and fruits. The U. Department of Agriculture provides a great blueprint for a balanced diet with its five food groups -- grains, proteins, vegetables, fruit and dairy. Consuming the proper amount of servings from each category ensures a well-proportioned diet.

Once you know what to eat, the next factor is how much. It is possible to eat healthy foods and still overindulge.