Without a whole lot of fan-fair or heavy anticipation, the USDA launched their new tool to replace the age-old symbol known as the Food Guide Pyramid. What is the new symbol? Behold “the plate,” or MyPlate.

Clean and simple AND it actually relates to food (sense my sarcasm). The pyramid always exemplified, to me, an insurmountable mountain of nutrition intimidation and confusion. This is easier on the eyes and seems more attainable.

This change (from pyramid to plate) is just one check-off on the Public Policy sector’s to-do list in helping consumers make healthier choices. Also in line with the nutrition “watch-outs” and “assets,” I have talked about simple messages that follow the plate:

Balancing Calories

• Enjoy your food, but eat less.
• Avoid oversized portions.

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If you hadn’t heard, it’s National Nutrition Month. This is an annual campaign that descends on us annually every March to bring awareness to healthy eating.

So I’m going to use this month as a kick-off of nutrition tidbits to share with you regularly - not just this month, but every month! Awareness of the food you’re putting in your mouth is certainly the first step in assuring your bites are nutritious ones. It is my job here to be hyper-aware, and I love sharing.

Let’s start by commenting on an advertisement I saw on the side of the bus during my lunch-time run. It was an ad for the Jack in the Box All-American Burger comboed with fries and a soda pop. Wow Jack! Way to slap American’s inability to eat heart-healthy right in the face. 

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Yes, believe it or not today is National Granola Bar Day. Fresh off the MLK remembrance weekend, why not take a minute today to think about all the times a granola bar’s saved you in a time of hunger?

Done?

Well hopefully we can help update your granola arsenal. Last year we launched CLIF CRUNCH, a brand new crunchy granola bar

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An advertisement for a holiday eating nutrition seminar recently came across my Clif Bar desk. It read, “Holiday Eating Survival: Worried about holiday over eating? Dreading the physical exhaustion and food remorse that seems to flow from November to January?”

A few key words jumped off the page and bit me in the stomach: survival, worry, dread, exhaustion and finally, remorse. As an advocate for great tasting, healthy food that can be enjoyed and shared, I was disturbed to read that holiday eating could cause these feelings.

I wondered how prevalent it was to see the word “survival” associated with holiday eating; and so I asked the Google machine. It spat out 129,000 hits containing the language “Holiday Eat Survival.” When did holiday eating become something you must “survive”? 

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Protein has been the nutrient everyone seems to want for some time now. Can you believe that next to water, protein is the most plentiful stuff in your body.

Most of us associate protein with muscles, but protein also supports our bones, brain cells, blood, skin, hair and finger nails. Does that mean you should load up on an all-protein diet for shiny hair and luxurious nails? No, but you should eat enough protein to meet your body’s unique needs to do all that tissue building, rebuilding and maintenance.

Protein happens to be one of your most versatile nutrients with many responsibilities. Some of protein’s jobs may surprise you. It supplies valuable enzymes that help regulate bodily functions. It acts as a “bus driver” transporting nutrients, oxygen, and waste throughout the body. It supplies collagen to connective tissue, skin, hair and finger nails. One of its most well-known responsibilities is maintaining our healthy muscles.

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