What nutrition info should I keep track of?

[MC Fatigue]

I'm sitting here looking at a box of cereal, thinking to myself that there's no way I'm going to keep track of all the things listed on it... So what are the important ones?

Calories, Fat, and Fiber are obvious.

What about Cholesterol, Sodium, Potassium, Carbs, Protein, and then all the vitamins and minerals? Most foods don't list most of the the vit's, but cereal lists a dozen.

So what should I keep track of? I'm making myself a little program so that I can enter the food I eat, and the nutrition info - in an attempt to get a handle on my eating. And so I can look at the important things and see what I need to improve on.



For example: I just had cereal - and added the info up that I know I should keep track of. So my breakfast had 4g Fiber, 135Cal, 3g Fat (4pts for WW - which I'm keeping track of too).

What else should I include? I'm going to make a computer program, and it'll add everything up for me automatically (and I'll be able to enter if it's a fruit, veggy, etc).

[mike01]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

www.mypyramid.gov is a good place to start if you are serious about this.

you probably want around 2,500 calories a day.
From those calories you want:

20-35% of them to be from fats
45-65% of them to be from carbs
10-35% of them to be from protein

no more than 10% of your total fat should be saturated fats

these are the important stats. I wouldnt kill yourself worrying about fiber, vitamins, etc. but if you eat a variety of vegetables and fruits you will get an adequate amount of everything you need.

[Husker_OS]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

For cereal, Grape Nuts is where its at. Drink some 100% Orange Juice with it at breakfast.

[Sandman42]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

For cereal, Grape Nuts is where its at. Drink some 100% Orange Juice with it at breakfast.

Milk combined with orange juice isn't the greatest idea.

[Husker_OS]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

Milk combined with orange juice isn't the greatest idea.

Why?

[BatsareBugs]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

I'm sitting here looking at a box of cereal, thinking to myself that there's no way I'm going to keep track of all the things listed on it... So what are the important ones?

Calories, Fat, and Fiber are obvious.

What about Cholesterol, Sodium, Potassium, Carbs, Protein, and then all the vitamins and minerals? Most foods don't list most of the the vit's, but cereal lists a dozen.

So what should I keep track of? I'm making myself a little program so that I can enter the food I eat, and the nutrition info - in an attempt to get a handle on my eating. And so I can look at the important things and see what I need to improve on.



For example: I just had cereal - and added the info up that I know I should keep track of. So my breakfast had 4g Fiber, 135Cal, 3g Fat (4pts for WW - which I'm keeping track of too).

What else should I include? I'm going to make a computer program, and it'll add everything up for me automatically (and I'll be able to enter if it's a fruit, veggy, etc).

Keep track of Total Carbohydrates and Protein, as they are impeccable when it comes to keeping track of nutrition and calories.

[mike01]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

www.mypyramid.gov is a good place to start if you are serious about this.

you probably want around 2,500 calories a day.
From those calories you want:

20-35% of them to be from fats
45-65% of them to be from carbs
10-35% of them to be from protein

no more than 10% of your total fat should be saturated fats

these are the important stats. I wouldnt kill yourself worrying about fiber, vitamins, etc. but if you eat a variety of vegetables and fruits you will get an adequate amount of everything you need.

sorry bud I should have explained this better.

There are 4 calories per gram in carbs, 4 cals per gram in protein, and 9 cals per gram in fat.

So for example I'm looking at a box of pop tarts. In one pastry there are 210 calories, 7 grams of fat, 34 g of carbs, and 2 grams of protein. That means 63 calories from fat (30%), 136 calories from carbs (65%), and 8 calories from protein (5%). At the end of the day you want to end up with the percentage I quoted above to assure good health.

I think it is a good thing to keep up with for a week or two then once you have a feel for it you dont need to worry.

Also you have to be careful about your portion sizes. Your breakfast had 136 calories, etc only if you ate 1 cup of cereal. Thats pretty small though so if you want to be accurate with your assessments pay attention to how much you are eating.

[ehh]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

www.fitday.com


All you need, though some users have reported minor inaccuracies.

[Husker_OS]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

Anyone going to tell me why OJ and Milk at breakfast is bad?

[Sandman42]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

Anyone going to tell me why OJ and Milk at breakfast is bad?

For most people, the milk and OJ don't digest well together. It has something to do with the lactose in the milk combining with the citric acid in the orange juice.

It's not necessarily bad for you, it's just that it will usually make your stomach hurt or can give you the runs.

[Husker_OS]

Re: What nutrition info should I keep track of?

For most people, the milk and OJ don't digest well together. It has something to do with the lactose in the milk combining with the citric acid in the orange juice.

It's not necessarily bad for you, it's just that it will usually make your stomach hurt or can give you the runs.

Oh. Well I've never really encountered either of those problems with it. Its when I don't eat breakfast that my stomach hurts. I can't stand hunger pains.