“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating, will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” These words of Edward Stanley, 19th-century Earl of Derby, ring true with the 366 million diabetics across the globe as of 2011. Effective dietary control is essential in managing the impact of diabetes, and an individual meal plan specifies the daily intake of fats, proteins and carbohydrates with the correct calorific value. Diabetics choose which foods to eat and calculate the proportion of calories derived from each using exchange lists.
Step 1
Rule a page of a letter-size notebook into six columns. Make the first column wider than the rest. Label the columns, using these headings: “Food,” “Serving,” “Group,” “Calories (C),” “Calories (P)” and “Calories (F).”
Step 2
Record each type of food that you eat. Immediately after a meal or snack, write the name of each food in the “Food” column, using sufficient detail to identify the food correctly. For example, write “whole milk” or “1 percent milk,” not “milk.”
Step 3
Refer to the relevant food exchange list to identify the standard serving size, the food group and the number of calories per serving for the food that you ate. Write the number of servings that you ate in the “Serving” column and the food group in the “Group” column.
Step 4
Enter the number of calories you ate, using the “Calories” column corresponding to the food group. If you ate more or less than one serving, multiply the number of calories per serving by the number of servings. For example, if you drink two cups of 1 percent milk, each containing 110 calories, write “220” in the “Calories (C)” column.
Step 5
Continue recording your food intake throughout the day. After your final meal, rule a line under the last entry and calculate the total calories in each food group. Record the daily totals for “Calories (C),” “Calories (P)” and “Calories (F)" under each column. Add together these three totals and record your answer, which is the total number of calories that you consumed in the day.
Step 6
Divide the “Calories (C)” total by the total number of calories that you consumed. Multiply the answer by 100 and record the result, which is the percentage of calories from carbohydrates that you consumed during the day. Repeat the calculation for “Calories (P)” and “Calories (F)” and record the results.
Step 7
Check your math. For example, if the “Calories (C)” total is 900, the “Calories (P)” total is 225 and the “Calories (F)” total is 400, the total that you consumed is 1,525 calories and the results are 59 percent, 14.8 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively.
Tips and Warnings
- If you want to monitor carbohydrates or nutrients, extend more sets of columns across a double page. Use the same procedure to calculate the percentages for each item. You can use spreadsheet software on your PC to do the calculations for you. Set up the columns on a spreadsheet in the same way and use formulae to do the math.
- If you identify the food type incorrectly or record an incorrect serving size, your calculation will be wrong. Consult your doctor if you have concerns about any aspect of your diet.
Things You'll Need
- Letter-size ruled notebook
- Ruler
- Food exchange lists for diabetes
- Calculator
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Diabetes Diet - Diabetic Exchange Lists
- American Dietetic Association: Diabetes and Diet
- University of Arkansas; The Exchange List System for Diabetic Meal Planning; Dr. Rosemary Rodibaugh
- U.S. Department of Agriculture; Nutritive Value of Foods; Susan E. Gebhardt, et al.; October 2002
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