If there were ever a good time to revamp your family’s diet, it’s now. According to recent estimates, most Americans may be obese by 2030 if current trends continue.  To help Americans figure out how to build a better diet, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last year retired the well-recognized, but confusing food pyramid and adopted a new healthy-eating icon: the colorful MyPlate, which is divided more clearly and simply into the basic food groups. The MyPlate guide, which is based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, looks like your standard dinner plate, quartered into sections: fruits, vegetables, grains and protein. A smaller circle appears next to the plate, representing dairy.  (GUIDE: The 31 Healthiest Foods of All Time (With Recipes))  Here are some general MyPlate eating tips:  For a typical 2,000-calorie diet, the government recommends daily 2 cups of fruit, 2.5 cups of vegetables, 6 ounces of grains, 5.5 ounces of protein and 3 cups of dairy. But, if you’re like most people, you probably don’t know how much a cup of fruit is exactly or 6 ounces of grains. So, we asked nutrition experts to interpret the guidelines for us, and provide a week’s worth of healthy sample menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The meal plans that follow not only meet the MyPlate guidelines, but they also incorporate foods from Healthland’s “31 Healthiest Foods of All Time” guide. Use these menus as inspiration to give your weekly meals a nutrition makeover. You can also check out more healthy foods on our Pinterest page.  MORE: The Sad State of American Kids’ Food Environments  Next: Day 1: Eat More Whole Grains  By Sashertootie / Getty Images  Whole grains are better for you than refined ones, because they contain the entire intact grain kernel and lots of fiber and nutrition. The USDA recommends replacing refined grains in your diet with whole-grain breads, pastas, crackers and cereals. To make sure you’re buying the right products, check ingredient labels and make sure the world “whole” comes before each grain.  Here’s a day’s worth of sample menus, incorporating whole grains, from Janet Brill, a registered dietitian and author of Cholesterol Down: 10 Simple Steps to Lower Your Cholesterol in 4 Weeks — Without Prescription Drugs.  (SPECIAL: How to Choose a Healthy Breakfast Cereal)  Breakfast • 2 whole-wheat waffles • ¼ cup light syrup • 1 cup sliced strawberries • 1 cup fat-free milk • 1 hard boiled egg  Lunch • Tofu peanut wrap: use store-bought baked tofu thinly sliced; add to a whole-grain wrap with sliced red bell pepper and snow peas; spread 1 tablespoon Thai peanut sauce on wrap and assemble • Baby carrots • 8 ounces low-sodium vegetable juice  Dinner • Shrimp fajitas: add grilled red pepper, garlic and onions to the shrimp and season with Mexican spices; roll into a whole-wheat tortilla and top with salsa • Black beans and brown rice • 1 glass red wine (optional)  Next: Day 2: Sneak in More Fruits and Veggies
Stocking your fridge and pantry with the right foods is crucial for eating better, but you also want to keep your menu from getting stale or boring. So, we asked nutrition experts for a week of mea...