Track Your Nutrition for Health & Weight Loss

According to a 2005 study by the US Department of Health & Human Services, most Americans consume more than the recommended daily calorie intake, but do not get all the nutrients they need.  This is why many of us are overfed but undernourished. 

If you want to be sure to get all the nutrients your body needs to be healthy while staying within your calorie range, we recommend that you track your nutritional intake. 

Of course, keeping track of calories will help with weight loss & weight maintenance, but we also recommend tracking sodium, fiber, carbs, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals to understand how balanced & healthful your overall nutrition is. 

Once you've determined whether you tend to be too high or too low in each category, you can make healthier choices to improve your nutritional profile.

We recommend tracking everything diligently for several weeks at first.  Then, you can track for a few days each month to make sure you are still on track. 

To ensure accuracy it is important to:  

• Measure & weigh everything precisely.  Studies have shown that even nutritionists under report their portions and calories when they estimate rather than weigh and measure.  If you're going to take the time to track, you might as well be as accurate as possible. 

• Include everything.  This means condiments, cooking oil, beverages, even mints and gum.  

To track:

• Find the method that works best for your lifestyle. 
•  The most convenient method is to find a mobile app that is linked to a website, so you always have easy access to it. MyFitnessPal.com is one of our favorites because it is simple, user-friendly, has a very large data base AND it allows you to scan the barcode of any packaged item with your smartphone.  

• If you prefer pen & paper, you can also just write everything down in a small notebook.  However, you will then need to take the extra step of looking up calories & nutritional info in a book or website. (CalorieKing.com is a good one.) 

• Be pro-active.  
• We highly recommend that you plan all your meals & snacks in advance.  Input your meal plan into your nutrition tracker at least a day ahead of time.  Planning for the entire week is even more effective. Then, all you need to do is follow your own plan.

If you need help with tracking, or would like guidance with interpreting the data or creating meal plans, feel free to contact our nutritionist, Narina, for a one-on-one nutrition consultation.