Start Simple with MyPlate Reviews

by Hlycowpaty

I need StartSimplewithMyPlate to use the daily plan generated on choose my plate (uses my hight, gender, weight, age, and activity level) to put my food groups on a dashboard (just like it looks now) so I can tap a category to show it was eaten. With a goal of getting all my groups in at the end of the day. If a group is clicked on the heading, serving sizes and exaples of that group with options for more information would be included (this is already there, and useful). Syncing with an app like my fitness pal would be ideal.

An app like this could be vitally usefu for parents feeding their toddlers, teaching healthy eating to kids of any age, and teaching my tween about healthy eating and calorie tracking that includs appropriate nutrition.

As is, StartSimplewithMyPlate is pretty useless because all it does is give mini goals for selecting food within a group without any tracking of groups eaten. The group's information is useful, but without the tracking of daily groups eaten, I wouldn't use an app just for that. Please include the above functions and make your app awesome!

by TurquoiseBleu

I thought StartSimplewithMyPlate would calculate your energy needs and reccomended exchanges and help track if you are meeting targets or not. also would help to ad hunger ratings and feelings/events/thoughts section for each meal. it currently only seems to have pre-determined goals like “ate fruit with dinner” which is okay but not nearly enough to implement a plan to meet dietary recommendations. disappointed again

by Chimmypayne

So, I used StartSimplewithMyPlate once and it was not very good. I was going to cancel before the trial was up but I couldn’t find where to do that. I figured I would come back to it in a few days but I never did. This was in July 2021. Well, it February 2022 and I forgot all about StartSimplewithMyPlate until today when I noticed I got charged again. I have looked all over StartSimplewithMyPlate and my email history and the website. There isn’t a way to stop them from taking money from your account once you sign up. I have sent multiple emails and have not received a response yet. I’m going to have to cancel my credit card. Ugh.

by VivaMuse

StartSimplewithMyPlate did not work for me, here’s why.
I just started a special diet, with specific foods I’m supposed to avoid or consume in smaller amounts, and I needed to know some alternative options to replace them, to have a balanced diet. For example dairy, the only other choices StartSimplewithMyPlate offered were lactose-free milk or soy. What about almond milk that’s enriched with calcium, other nut or grain milks, or the great variety of plant based cheeses.

Overall, there were not enough options for the different food groups. Not enough explanation of why and how to balance the basic food groups.

I have studied food/nutrition most of my life, from popular non-fiction cooking/diet books, and at community college and university food service management core classes. I was hoping to learn something new from this current version of MyPlate, but little has changed in format, food choice diversity or with new food science.

by Dummed Out

I was looking forward to using StartSimplewithMyPlate after the many times having to log in and be told my password doesn’t work. Then resetting it twice I finally had the chance to look at StartSimplewithMyPlate. I followed the guidelines on how to get started. What happened it didn’t give me ANY option for choices. So I deleted and restarted thinking maybe something happened on my end, but yet again still NOTHING AT ALL!!! USDA this is horrible and needs to be fixed. I will be unsubscribing and will be using a competitor instead.

by PamIsFrustrated

I teach HS Nutrition and was hoping this would be a good resource similar to SuperTracker that was removed from the MyPlate site a couple years ago. This is just clicking, no foods tracked, no accountability, no nutrients, no tips for dietary restrictions and so on (I just clicked through the entire day’s goals before breakfast and earned my “badges”). It also does not take into consideration anything put in the quiz. For example I put in vegetarian and it suggested more protein, StartSimplewithMyPlate has only suggested meat items in the tips. I don’t see that it will be of any value to my students...I give it a solid “meh”. Disappointing...

Downgraded to one star. Went through the 5 days just to see if something more worthwhile showed up. Nope. Deleting StartSimplewithMyPlate . Bring back SuperTracker!

by Namtsae

Doesn’t work. Aside from the overly redirected convoluted registration and sign in process, after I think making an account it took 5 minutes for StartSimplewithMyPlate to take the login and then it just did nothing. Cant navigate, other than a link to the web site and information about food, nothing else works. Started and restarted multiple times.

by Ndubbs87

What is the point of StartSimplewithMyPlate? It doesn’t do anything. Why doesn’t it track what you eat and tell you if you are hitting your goals? I want to be able to enter my meals, then it show me I’ve only had 1 serving of veggies so I should eat more. There is another app that does this but it’s doesn’t do a good job either. I would hope that the people who came up with the myplate idea would make something that actually helps people adhere to this plan 🙄

by NN4Ss

This should be billed as an informational app only. Adding tracking capability would be fantastic and is not impossible (Weight Watchers app. Is a good model to follow). From reading other reviews it appears that the prior app- Super Tracker- did just that so I am puzzled as to why it was discontinued! I would suggest it be brought back and added to this one.

by Counselorlady

This is a good app, but has lots of room for improvement. 1) at least one of the goals is written as a weekly goal, but the goals are daily. This is confusing. 2) i cannot find a way to save recipes for meal planning 3) it bounces back and forth between StartSimplewithMyPlate and the website and the website doesn’t always let me log in 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️and 4) could you put something to help with weekly meal planning?

I like the recipes and the daily goals. The recipes are simple as well as culturally diverse. I just discovered the tips; those are good. The website is colorful and appealing. It’s a great start, keep improving!

by Adri .A.

I like StartSimplewithMyPlate because it helps me understand what food groups are needed for a balance daily diet. Also, I like the challenges. However, I need more engagement and accountability. I would like added a daily diary food tracker that counts calories. Also, a fitness calorie used tracker and a weight goal with more challenges.

by Micaaa888

The application must include an option to place the calories needed specifically for each one and mark how many servings of each food group were eaten daily in order to keep a record.

by Undrthrdr

StartSimplewithMyPlate set me on track to eating healthy. It’s not like all the other food tracking apps that count calories and macro nutrients. But what it lacks in that area it makes up for it with letting you know what whole foods to eat and what counts as a full serving of each food group. It even tells you what to shoot for in terms of how many servings are right for you.

I would use StartSimplewithMyPlate in conjunction with any other fitness app as the goals section is kinda useless.

Overall great app. Very informative.

by Audreality

Thanks USDA! So far I am digging the way that StartSimplewithMyPlate is set up. The Tips icons for easy ways to meet goals are fantastic and offer more than one option to help with meeting those goals. The only thing I would add would be an area for keeping track of water intake. It would also be great to have recipes for infused water and other beverages to aid in reducing consumption of processed drinks with added sugars, fats, and sodium.

by Honey Bunns 78

I have been on a healthy diet journey since the beginning of February and I have been working on my meal planning and new ways to help me stay on track. StartSimplewithMyPlate is a great tool to have.

by Bhenning0915

Very good for people to be able to know how when and what is the best for them and there children to eat.
So happy I have found this a important app I can use every day.

by McPickCarp

As an eating disordered person I really appreciate knowing what the limits are while still giving me choices to make and responsibility in what those choices are. I know what too much and too little food is now. It is very helpful.

by Marie502

I love the simplicity of StartSimplewithMyPlate as opposed to other calorie trackers. Counting calories does not work for me. I become too fixated on the number and don’t pay attention to the nutritional value of the food I eat (I can eat total garbage and still stay within my calorie limit!). This is a simple way to improve my overall nutrition without getting hung up on a stupid number.

by Car_ Fem

This is such a perfectly designed app! So many apps make you read through their unnecessary rambling before finally getting the info you were actually looking for. Not this one!! This is straight and to the point. Many healthy food ideas/choices, daily amount recommendations, and how they benefit you, or not. This is exactly what I was looking for... thank you

by VKF60

The goals part of StartSimplewithMyPlate is a great feature. It’s a good way to start making small changes that will then become life changing habits that will have a huge impact on improving your health. Start small with one goal at a time. Enjoy the journey and how it makes you feel.

by MariaCasaverde

There's no food tracker, how am I supposed to know how much to eat of each group. The articles are too long and not helpful or culturally relevant. It would be better to have something that you can add things to the plate so you can see what you can add to make the plate healthier. Totally disappointed about StartSimplewithMyPlate.

by Jamie_Eighty

StartSimplewithMyPlate almost does what I’m looking for, i want to be able to input food that i ate and it can show me my progress on certain groups (fruit, veggie, protein, etc) so i can actually track how I’m doing in certain groups.

by EVR78

I would love for StartSimplewithMyPlate to have the ability to set goals for each food group based on your age and gender and have a food diary option where you could input 1 cup milk at lunch for example and have it deducted from your food group goal. Also, an option for calorie counting for those who are trying to lose weight. Another idea would be to build a breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal plan by selecting options from a menu that meet each food group recommended amounts. Selected items could be automatically added to a grocery list. I would love to use StartSimplewithMyPlate more but right now it is more informational than practical.

by Klyssy

I had hoped this would be more like a tracking app that I could use to make sure I hit my food groups and possibly even calories. It is very user friendly though.

by Urbanemu

Really like how StartSimplewithMyPlate is simple in how it allows you to track and set goals. Tips are a really nice way to get ideas on how to achieve your goals.

by Dave20005

I’m setting up these reminders to keep me on track. I’m starting with just one per food group for now. Thank you, MyPlate people!! 🍽