The food pyramid is the most confusing diet ever made. It is a complete waste of government knowledge and marketing, Nobody follows it at is too varied to be followed anyways. Even if it was followed strictly it does not promote weight loss, but helps you maintain the weight you're at.
Personally I like the slow-carb diet for fat-loss (notice I didn't say weight loss, nobody wants to lose weight only fat.) It's simple, easy to follow, and is effective. I can gove you a brief description of it, another good resource to get the full details from is The 4-Hour Body, by Timothy Ferris
It's 5 simple rules to follow;
1) Avoid "white" carbohydrates
- breads, cereals, potatoes, rice, tortillas
2) Eat the same few meals over and over again
- Proteins
Egg whites, Chicken Breast, Fish, Beef, Porl, etc..
- Legumes
Beans, Lentils, etc...
- Vegetables
Spinach, Broccoli, Peas, etc
3) Don't drink calories
- No Milk, No Cheese, No Dairy, No Fruit Juice, Stick with water, lots of water.
4) Don't Eat Fruit
- None, too much sugar that ultimately becomes fat stores (glycogen)
5) Take one day off per week an go NUTs
- once a week plan a binge, break the rules and eat anything you want. You're going to want to break the rules everybody does it might as well be planned, similar to buying condoms. It's better to be safe then to have an unplanned pregnancy. I once weighed in on Saturday morning, for a boxing match, boxed, ate like a pig after the fight. Sunday morning I had gained 20 lbs. I went back on my regular diet, and by Tuesday I was back to the weight I was on Saturday morning. It was all water weight, and of course the carbohydrates soaking up that water.
If you need more details on the diet and others check out the book The 4-Hour Body by Timothy Ferris