My Traditional Diet: Post-Analysis Part I

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!