Microsoft Excel is a program that is well suited to tracking data. A simple Excel spreadsheet can make tracking and counting calories as simple as remembering to log what you eat. Any version of Excel will be able to assist you.
Track Calories & Fat
Step 1
Look up nutritional values of the food you eat on the labels of the food items. There will be a breakdown of calories and fat content in grams. These are the numbers you will want to add up separately.
Step 2
Open Microsoft Office Excel and create a new spreadsheet.
Step 3
Use column A to track individual days. Use row 1 to track individual meals of that day. For example, type in "Monday" or the date in the A2 box, then type in "breakfast" in box B1, "lunch" in C1, and so on. You can break it down into individual food items if you like. Use the boxes under each item in row 1 in order to enter the numbers of calories or fat.
Step 4
Add up all your calories or fat grams in a day by selecting the formula bar field directly above the spreadsheet. Select the box "E2." Type in the formula "=SUM(B2:D2)" which will then return the sum of all the numbers in boxes B2 through D2. Note that you may change these variables in the formula to add any series of boxes together. For example, "=SUM(B4:T4)" will add all of the boxes in between and including these boxes.
Step 5
Save your results and update them daily with each meal in order to accurately track your diet.
Tips and Warnings
- You may create two Excel spreadsheets to track fat and calories individually, or you may track them on the same spreadsheet. If you choose to track calories and fat grams on the same spreadsheet, be sure to only add calories with calories and fat grams with fat grams.
- Some foods may not have nutritional labels. Use a calorie counter for these foods, such as LIVESTRONG.COM MyPlate.
Things You'll Need
- Computer
- Internet connection
- Microsoft Excel
Member Comments