How Does Your Diet Compare?

How would you describe your diet?  Many of us would describe our diets as pretty healthy.  But do we really know?  Have you analyzed your diet to learn how many calories you’re consuming?  How many grams of fat and saturated fat you’re eating?  I bring this topic up because within the last year, I’ve had two family members seek my help after trips to their doctor revealed that their diets were not as healthy as they thought.

One family member was frustrated to learn she had high cholesterol while only in her thirties.  She’s active and described her diet as “healthy”.  I asked her to record all the foods and beverages she consumed over a three-day period and I would analyze it for her.  A quick scan of her diet looked pretty good.  A more detailed assessment showed she was over the recommended amount of saturated fat every day.  She wasn’t eating large amounts of meat or drinking whole milk, but the sensible amounts of cheese and animal products that she was consuming added up at the end of the day.  We reviewed the analysis of her diet and came up with specific ways she could change her diet to decrease the amount of saturated fat while still being content with what she was eating.

Another family member, an avid runner, could not believe he had high blood pressure.  He ran several miles every day and described his diet as “healthy”.  He also recorded what he ate and drank for three days for me to analyze.  Again, a quick scan of his food record looked pretty good.  But the analysis showed he was consuming more than twice the recommended amount of sodium every day and he fell short of the recommended amount of vegetables.  I shared the results and he was shocked that his sodium consumption was so high and explained he ate vegetables every day.  The challenge with sodium is that nearly all processed foods contain sodium and it simply adds up throughout the day.  Oftentimes we only take notice when we’re diagnosed with high blood pressure.  As for vegetables, he did eat vegetables everyday but only at dinner.  Consuming the recommended 2 ½ cups of vegetables during one meal is challenging; consuming smaller amounts of vegetables several times a day is easier.  He and I discussed eating a vegetable like baby carrots at lunch and using the nutrition facts on labels to select lower sodium items.

The key to improving your diet is to first understand how your diet compares to recommendations.

The best way to do this is to record what you eat and drink for three days (preferably two weekdays and one weekend day) and then analyze it.  I’ve provided a form (FoodRecord) for you to use that will help you record your food/beverage intake.  Be as specific as possible on the form (it will make analyzing your diet easier and more accurate).  Next, you’ll enter your food record into MyPyramid Tracker, a web site provided by the United States Department of Agriculture that’s free to use.

Before I explain how to use MyPyramid Tracker, I want to show you a sample of the information you’ll get by using the web site.  I entered and analyzed what I ate yesterday, including the delicious ice cream.  The pictures above and below show two of the reports MyPyramid Tracker provides comparing my diet to the Dietary Guidelines.  You can see I fell short of the Meat & Beans recommendation, consumed a little too much saturated fat, and exceeded the sodium recommendation.  I also consumed a few too many calories.  This information helps me focus my attention on improving specific parts of my diet.

To analyze your diet go to: http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov/

Click on “New User Registration” towards the bottom of the page.

Create a log in account.

Next, enter in your age, gender, height and weight, allowing you to get personalized recommendations.  If necessary, change the date to be the date for which you are entering the foods and drinks you consumed.

Click “Save Today’s Changes”.

Next, click “Proceed to Food Intake” and follow the instructions on the web site to enter in the foods you ate and analyze them.

Enjoy using this program and let me know how it goes.