I've now compiled my diet over two days and input it into the diet nutrition calculator on our Connect website! The tool was very useful and made this task very easy! I would say it took me 30 minutes/ day to enter. In addition, I entered my data first into an excel spreadsheet. I did this because I thought it was easier to assess my portion quantity here than through the analysis tool. Plus, I can easily group foods to make sure I am getting enough water, distinguish repeating food groups, etc.
Here is an example of my excel spreadsheet:
| breakfast |
quantity |
| toast, whole grain |
1 slice |
| toast, whole grain |
1 slice |
| toast, whole grain |
1 slice |
| olive oil, extra virgin, organic |
1 tbsp. |
| avocado, organic |
1 small |
| cheese, local pecorino (hard) |
0.2 cup |
| cheese, mozzarella |
1/2 cup |
| tomato |
1 medium |
| pepper |
dash |
| oregano |
dash |
| butter |
1 tsp |
| jam, strawberry |
1 tbsp. |
| melon |
1 cup |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| milk, 1%, organic |
6 oz. |
| espresso |
2 oz. |
or an example of by type:
| melon |
1 cup |
| milk, 1% organic |
6 oz. |
| milk, 1%, organic |
6 oz. |
| nectarine |
1 medium |
| nectarine |
1 medium |
| olive oil, extra virgin, organic |
1 tbsp. |
| olive
oil, extra virgin, organic |
1/4 tbsp |
| oregano |
dash |
| paprika |
dash |
| pepper |
dash |
| snacks |
|
| thyme |
dash |
| toast, whole grain |
1 slice |
| toast, whole grain |
1 slice |
| toast, whole grain |
1 slice |
| tomato |
1 medium |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water, tap |
8 oz. |
| water,
tap |
8 oz. |
| water,
tap |
8 oz. |
| yogurt, organic, whole |
1 cup |
Once all the numbers were in the analysis calculator, I generated two graphs- one was both days combined into 1 graph. This is very helpful since variety means averaging both days gives a better picture insofar as if individual food group requirements are being met.
 |
| This is a graph showing my diet on both days- it shows how variety in my diet complements both days- for example; vitamin B1 was a little low on day 1, but on day 2 I consumed near recommended levels |
 |
| This is showing an average of both days. It shows my saturated fat intake is higher than recommended- which is most likely due to my intake of cheeses! |
So, overall this was a good method of objectively looking at my diet. I learned a few things that I would like to change about my diet- there is one more section to complete for my traditional diet, which is now the self-analysis on what this data means- we will complete that section in mid-September- please stay tuned!
