Whether dieting to lose weight, watching a diet for a specific health condition or just trying to keep healthy, there are several ways to monitor your diet. Each goal will require slightly different approaches. If dieting for a health condition, it is best to talk with a doctor and nutritionist initially to get an idea of what needs to change. Having a healthy diet involves avoiding some things and choosing others.
Dietary Monitoring
Step 1
Determine and track anything in particular that needs to be monitored, for example, if diabetes is a problem, the diet will need to be monitored for carbohydrates and sugars. If high cholesterol is a problem, the diet will need to be monitored for fats, overall calories and cholesterol.
Step 2
Track the diet for one week without making any changes. Track calories, sugars, sodium or other items of concern. Look at the nutrition labels and record the calories as well as the serving size eaten. Understand serving sizes. For example, 2 tablespoons are roughly the size of a golf ball. One serving of meat or fish is the size of an average palm, cassette tape or deck of cards. Track drinks also.
Step 3
Analyze the diet at the end of the week. Break it down by meals or days to see if there is a noticeable problem. For example, look at breakfast if high cholesterol is a concern. If the daily breakfast is made up of fried eggs and bacon or other fatty foods every day, it is a meal that will need to be changed and monitored.
Step 4
Read ingredients on the nutrition label if you have a particular health condition. For example, those with diabetes need to look for hidden sugars and those with high cholesterol will need to look for hidden trans fats. The ingredients label will list the types of sugars and fats in the foods. Generally, the less processed the food is, the higher its nutrition will be.
Step 5
Learn to substitute your current food choices with lower fat or healthier foods. Start with one to two substitutions a week and keep going until the diet includes more healthy choices and meets the requirements of the doctor or your personal goals. For example, skim milk versus whole milk is 86 calories and 146 calories, respectively. Non-dairy options like unsweetened coconut milk, rice milk and almond milk all approximately 90 calories per 8 oz. serving.
Step 6
Reduce serving sizes. Indulging in a smaller portion of foods which are difficult to let go means you won't have to work as hard to burn it off.
Dieting for Weight Loss
Step 1
Calculate how many calories the body burns at rest and with activity by using the BMR and tracking exercise. Calculate BMR by converting height and weight to the metric system. To figure these numbers, multiply height in inches by 2.54 and divide current weight by 2.2. Men will then follow this formula: 66.5 + (13.75 x kg) + (5.003 x cm) - (6.775 x age) and women follow this one: 655.1 + (9.563 x kg) + (1.850 x cm) - (4.676 x age). Use standard charts to calculate calories burned during exercise.
Step 2
Look at overall daily calories to see if the total calories eaten are more, less or equal than what is burned. An excess of 100 calories a day can lead to a weight gain of 10 pounds a year.
Step 3
Compare calories eaten versus calories burned. Keep the calories eaten less than calories burned. A deficit of 500 calories a day will lead to a loss of 1 pound a week.
By eating 250 calories less and burning an additional 250 calories a day through exercise will also lead to a weight loss of a pound a week.
Step 4
Add an exercise program if one is not in place.
Step 5
Set and stick to a diet that will lead to permanently lower calories. This will lead to a lifestyle change verses a yo-yo diet.
Tips and Warnings
- Many on-line forums have diet diaries that will make tracking specifics like calories or sodium easier. Join a support group online or in person to get ideas for recipes and support when it is hard to stick to the diet. If there are a lot of things that need changing, pick a few things a week to change so as not to be overwhelmed all at once.
- Talk with a doctor if there are specific health conditions requiring a diet modification. Dropping calories too much, less than 1000 calories a day, can make the body go into starvation mode in which weight loss won't occur despite burning more calories than eaten.
Things You'll Need
- Diet Diary
- Calorie Counter
- Nutrition Labels
- Calculator
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