Vrooom, Vrooom!

So my last activity post was about becoming a MyPlate champion. When you eat during the day, do you pay attention to what you are eating and how it helps your body or do you eat whatever and get full and it all works out?

Why is it important to follow the MyPlate guidelines? In teaching youth for the past 10 years, I discovered that our bodies are like cars. Here’s how:1293851


What do cars need to keep them maintained? Cars require things like gas, oil, antifreeze, and air in the tires. Now let’s just compare to MyPlate. Let’s say that:

Gas = Grains group (Fuels the body and gives it energy. Whole grains clean the inside of the body)


Oil = Fruits and Vegetables groups (Fruits and Veggies help your body fight illnesses and chronic diseases such as, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke)


Air in the tires = Dairy Group (Dairy provides calcium and help keep bones and teeth strong)


Antifreeze = Protein group (Protein helps your body build muscles and blood)


Now let’s say I am going on a trip and I run out of gas. I am not close to a gas station but I have oil in the trunk and so I can just use it instead since they are both liquids and my car uses both so it all works out, right? Or I have a flat tire, I can just add more antifreeze since the car needs both and it all works out, right? NO WAY! We all know that it doesn’t work that way.

Let’s say we don’t like veggies but we love meat so we can just eat more meat and we get full and so it all works out, right? 🙂 Hopefully you have noticed that just like fluids in your car, each food group has a specific job that can’t be replaced by another just because you get full.

Also, say I get a new car and I want to keep it nice. I should just park it in front of my house and leave it there. That is the best thing for it, right? We all know that cars should be driven or they fall apart. Our bodies need to be moved or they fall apart. Get out and move at least 30 minutes per day! Sometimes we take better care of our cars than we do our bodies. Yikes!

Keep that body a well running machine!



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