MyPlate was the U.S. Department of Agriculture's food guide from 2011 to 2026 — a plate divided among fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein foods, with dairy on the side, and one memorable rule: make half your plate fruits and vegetables. It replaced the Food Pyramid and paired the icon with the MyPlate Plan, a calculator that turned your age, sex, height, weight, and activity into daily food-group amounts.
In January 2026, USDA retired the MyPlate.gov website; the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines introduced a different framework at RealFood.gov, and the MyPlate Plan calculator was taken offline.
MyPlate.food keeps the MyPlate format alive independently — a free MyPlate Plan calculator built on the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 food patterns, plus all 1,072 preserved MyPlate Kitchen recipes. Read the full MyPlate story.
USDA retired the MyPlate.gov website in January 2026 and took its personalized MyPlate Plan calculator offline; the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines also replaced the MyPlate icon with a new visual. MyPlate.food preserves the 1,072 MyPlate Kitchen recipes and a MyPlate-format calculator built on the same public sources, the IOM equations and the USDA tables, so you can still get your plan.
The DRI Calculator provides personalized daily recommended intakes for vitamins, minerals, and macronutrients based on the Dietary Reference Intakes published by the National Academies of Sciences. It shows RDA or AI values for each nutrient along with Tolerable Upper Intake Levels.
MyPlate is the USDA's nutrition guide that shows the five food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy) as portions on a plate. It replaced the Food Pyramid in 2011 and is based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Start with the MyPlate Plan calculator. It turns your age, sex, height, weight and activity into a daily calorie target and the amount of each food group to eat. The DRI Calculator lists the vitamins and minerals you need each day. For one number, such as your BMI or how much protein or water you need, use the calculator for it.
Critics note that MyPlate doesn't distinguish whole grains from refined ones, groups all proteins and all dairy together, and shows no added sugars, oils, or water. Harvard's Healthy Eating Plate was published partly in response. The underlying USDA Dietary Guidelines address most of these points, even if the simple plate icon can't show them.
The USDA Dietary Guidelines describe three healthy eating patterns: the Healthy U.S.-Style Pattern, the Healthy Mediterranean-Style Pattern, and the Healthy Vegetarian Pattern. All three meet nutritional needs but differ in specific food group amounts.
MyPlate personalizes your calories rather than giving one number. The USDA Estimated Energy Requirement equations use your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level to estimate a daily target. Most adults fall between 1,600 and 3,000 calories. The free MyPlate Plan calculator on this page works out yours in about 30 seconds.
We use the Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) equations from the Institute of Medicine's Dietary Reference Intakes. These take into account your age, sex, height, weight, and physical activity level to estimate the number of calories you need each day to maintain your current weight.
Yes. The MyPlate Plan calculator and the DRI Calculator both include pregnancy and lactation adjustments. Select your pregnancy trimester or lactation status and the calculator will adjust accordingly: on the default IOM 2005 equations that is +340 kcal for 2nd trimester, +452 for 3rd trimester, +330 for lactation 0-6 months, and +400 for 7-12 months. Switch to the NASEM 2023 equations and the calculator uses that report's own pregnancy and lactation equations, which vary with your age, size and activity.
The EER equations estimate average calorie needs for groups of people with similar characteristics. Individual needs may vary. These calculations are best used as a starting point. For personalized nutrition advice, talk to a registered dietitian or your healthcare provider.
No. myplate.food is an independent project. When the government MyPlate tools went offline, we rebuilt them on the same public sources, the IOM equations and the USDA tables, so anyone can still use them for free. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the USDA or any government agency.
The calculator math runs in your browser, and we store your answers only when you email yourself a plan, sign in, or save a plan. The public pages also run analytics that count visits, clicks and the calorie level each calculation gives. Our privacy policy names every tool and what it does.