Nutrition Project
Purpose:
The purpose of the Nutrition Project is for you to analyze your current dietary intake and analyze against your
Recommended Dietary Allowances, using a food tracking program.
Process:
You will record your food and drink intake for 3 days using “Myfitnesspal ,” ([Link]), or similar food
tracking program.
Items to be tracked include the following categories: Calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, sodium,
cholesterol, fiber, sugar, and Iron. These will result in reports that can be accessed from the food tracking
program. “Myfitnesspal” reports can be copy and pasted into a Word or PDF document and placed in the
“Dropbox” in PAL as your documentation for your Five Day Food Plan report.
Using and Excel table track your actual 3 day intake in each category (see attached example of Excel
spreadsheet). Once you complete the five day process, highlight the high and the low intake for each
category. You can also sum the information and /3 to acquire a five day average.
This information will be used in completing your “Evaluation” section where you will analyze your actual
nutritional intake as it relates to your recommended RDA allowances.
EXCEL Hints: To total columns: Example Calories; highlight the number in Day 1 and scroll down until you
reach the Total space below Day 3 in Calories column. Use the Sigma Sum button to total.
To average using EXCEL: In the 3day average column under Calories; Hit the = button, then enter the number,
then hit the / sign, enter 3, then hit enter.
Days Calories Carbs Fats Proteins Cholesterol Sodium Fiber Iron Sugars
Day 1 1068.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 55.00 2452.00 3.00 0.00 12
Day 2 855.00 117.00 17.00 62.00 100.00 358.00 11.00 18.00 18
Day 3 564.00 89.00 53.00 42.00 0.00 1863.00 0.00 7.00 10
Totals 4,886 553.00 118.00 232.00 333.00 27632 24.00 79.00 76.00
3day Ave. 977.2 110.6 23.6 58 66.6 5526.4 4.8 15.8 15.2
**RDA 1500.00 213.00 101.00 62.00 <300 <2400 18.00 58.00
Using the information from the table, identify areas where you are over, under or on target for your RDA in each area.
From the report, make recommendations about your food and drink choices as you try to establish dietary practices that
encourage a “healthy” diet.
To Summarize the project:
NUTRITION PROJECT INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION
1. Document Dietary Intake for Five Days
2. Input Information Into “My Fitness Pal”
3. Analyze Data using EXCEL spreadsheet
4. Write about your Observations
5. Slap a Cover Page on it and You’re Done
MYFITNESS PAL INTRUCTIONS:
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTERING YOUR FOOD INTAKE for YOUR THREE DAYS
▪ Log in to [Link]
▪ On the far right hand side “Join for Free” entering your e-mail address.
▪ Follow all the steps to “Create Your Free Account.” (take note of your User ID and
Password)
▪ Click the “Get Started Now” Link
▪ Click the “FOOD” tab
▪ Where it says “Your Food Diary For,” change the date to reflect the day that you
consumed your “Day One Foodlist.”
▪ Start with Breakfast and click on “Add Food.”
▪ Type in a description of the food or beverage item then Click “Search”
▪ Select the correct item from the drop-down menu
▪ Under the heading of “How Much” identify the quantity and amount then click
“Add.”
▪ Continue adding all of the food and beverages that you consumed for breakfast,
lunch, dinner and snack for day one.
▪ Identify your water consumption (only if not entered with your meals)
▪ Click “Complete this Entry”
▪ After Entering all of your information, write down your “TOTALS,” “DAILY GOAL”
and “REMAINING,” for analyzing purposes.
▪ Click “View Full Report (printable)”
▪ The “Printable Diary (Full Report)” will be included in your project and analyzed
for the evaluation page(s).
▪ *You can Copy/Paste the Report into a WORD document, “screen shot” and save
the report, or print and scan the report in order to include it in the electronic
submission of your Nutrition Project.
▪ Use the “GO BACK” arrow to return to the food entry page.
▪ Where it says “Your Food Diary For,” change the date to reflect the day that you
consumed your “Day Two Foodlist”
▪ Use the same process to enter your food and beverage intake for the second day
and for the remaining days for a total of 3 days.
This is an example of
“TOTALS,” “DAILY GOAL” and “REMAINING,”
From your Food Entry Page (use this for the **RDA section of EXCEL spreadsheet.)
Totals 640 31 0 36 225
Your Daily Goal 1,550 213 18 58 2,500
Remaining 910 182 18 22 2,275
Calories Carbs Fiber Protein Sodium
PRINTABLE FOOD REPORTS for THREE DAYS
October 22, 2012
Foods Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber
Lunch
Ruby Tuesdays - Salad Bar, 1 Plate 265 22g 7g 12g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
Dinner
Publix - Rotisserie Chicken - Mojo Flavored, 3 oz 160 0g 9g 20g 100mg 220mg 0g 0g
Vegetables - Steamed Mixed Vegetables, 1/2 cup 40 6g 0g 4g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
Generic - Salad Greens , 1 cup 15 3g 0g 0g 0mg 5mg 3g 0g
Snacks
Foods Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber
Publix - Fresh Fruit Bowl_le Pain Quotidien, 1 BOWL 160 0g 0g 0g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
TOTAL: 640 31g 16g 36g 100mg 225mg 3g 0g
October 23, 2012
Foods Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber
Lunch
Vegetable - Fresh Express Salads - Iceberg Garden
13 3g 0g 1g 0mg 13mg 1g 1g
(Iceberg, Carrots, Cabbage), 1 Cup
Dinner
Stir Fry - Chicken & Veggies (No Rice), 2 cup 412 29g 6g 57g 146mg 1,044mg 17g 4g
Snacks
Fresh Fruit - Honey Dew Melon, Raw, Cubed, 6 oz =1 Cup 61 15g 0g 1g 0mg 18mg 8g 1g
TOTAL: 486 47g 6g 59g 146mg 1,075mg 26g 6g
October 24, 2012
Foods Calories Carbs Fat Protein Cholest Sodium Sugars Fiber
Lunch
Small Garden Salad With Iceberg Lettuce, Cucumbers,
Carrots and Cherry Tomatoes - Iceberg, Cucumbers, 26 6g 0g 1g 0mg 0mg 0g 0g
Carrots, 1 cups
Dinner
Subway Turkey Sandwich :) - on Wheat With Provolone
350 49g 8g 22g 30mg 1,380mg 6g 5g
Cheese, All Veggies, Mustard Only, 6 "
Stir Fry - Chicken & Veggies (No Rice), 2 cup 412 29g 6g 57g 146mg 1,044mg 17g 4g
Snacks
Generic - Fresh Fruit Salad - Cantalope, Pineapple,
140 36g 0g 2g 0mg 14mg 28g 6g
Honeydew, Strawberries, 1 cup
Generic - Fresh Fruit Salad - Cantalope, Pineapple,
140 36g 0g 2g 0mg 14mg 28g 6g
Honeydew, Strawberries, 1 cup
TOTAL: 1,068 156g 14g 84g 176mg 2,452mg 79g 21g
EVALUATION - 50%
1 full page typed Evaluation (may be up to two pages if needed)
* Double-spaced, one-inch margins, and 12-font Times New Roman or Arial.
Consider the following when writing your evaluation page: (Look at highest day, lowest day
and 5 day average.)
• Compare your actual daily intake in total calories compared to your RDA.
• Evaluate your intake of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. How does your intake
compare to your RDA?
• Examine your intake of sodium, cholesterol, iron. How does your five day intake
compare to your RDA.
• Analyze your intake of sugars and fiber. How does your intake compare to your
RDA for each.
• How would you change your eating patterns to avoid nutrient deficits and/or
reduce nutrient amounts that are excessively high?
• Which foods should you consume more or less of to improve your diet?
NUTRITION PROJECT EVALUATION
The following is an example of a possible approach to writing the
evaluation page.
• Introductory sentence and paragraph (Usually includes an
“Attention Grabber”)
• After analyzing my dietary intake for two days . . .
• I realized that . . .
• This is probably due to . . .
• As a result, these are the changes I plan to make so that
I will not suffer from any of the adverse health
conditions and diseases that are associated with poor
diet.
“FINISHED PRODUCT”
FOOD LIST NUTRIENT PYRAMID
INTAKE RECOMMEN
ANALYSIS DATIONS
Day 1 Day 1 Day 1
COVER PROFILE EVAL
COVER
PAGE PAGE(s)
PAGE FOOD LIST NUTRIENT PYRAMID
PAGE
INTAKE RECOMMEN
ANALYSIS DATIONS
Day 2 Day 2 Day 2
Pages created by
processing
program
1. MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal is one of the most popular calorie counters right now.
It tracks your weight and calculates a recommended daily calorie intake. It also contains a well-
designed food diary and an exercise log.
The homepage provides a clear picture of how many calories you’ve consumed during the day.
In addition, it shows your remaining recommended intake and the number of calories you’ve
burned by exercising.
If you’re using a fitness tracking device, MyFitnessPal can likely sync with it to include its data
in the exercise log.
The app tracks your progress towards your goals and offers chat forums with fellow users. The
forums include conversations, recipes, tips and personal success stories.
MyFitnessPal’s nutrition database is very extensive, containing over 5 million foods. You can
also download recipes from the internet or create custom foods and dishes.
The app even saves your favorite meals for convenient logging.
Additionally, MyFitnessPal’s barcode scanner allows you to instantly enter the nutrition
information of some packaged foods.
Each day is presented as a pie chart, showing your breakdown of carbs, protein and fat. You can
also write a note for each day, recording how things went or how you were feeling.
MyFitnessPal does offer a free version. However, some of its features can only be accessed in
the premium version, which is $49.99 per year.
Pros:
MyFitnessPal has the largest database available in a diet tracker and includes many restaurant
foods.
It can download recipes from the internet and calculate the calorie content of each serving.
You can “quick add” calories if you don’t have the time to add details about a certain meal.
Cons:
Since most foods are uploaded by other users, the calorie count may not be entirely accurate.
Multiple entries may exist for the same product.
Serving sizes in the database may be hard to edit, creating difficulties if your serving was smaller
or larger than the one listed.
More: Website | iPhone app | Android app | Instructional video
2. Lose It!
Lose It! is another health tracker that includes an easy-to-use food diary and exercise log. You
can also connect a pedometer or other fitness device.
Based on your weight, height, age and goals, Lose It! provides a personalized recommendation
for calorie intake. It then tracks your calories on the homepage.
It features a comprehensive food database and an icon representing each food entry. The food
diary is simple and user-friendly. Adding new foods is not complicated.
Additionally, the Lose It! app has a barcode scanner for packaged foods, and common foods are
saved for quick entry later on.
Lose It! presents weight changes on a graph, provides access to an active chat community and
keeps a daily and weekly total.
Its tab called “challenges” allows you to participate in dietary challenges or make your own.
With a premium membership, which is $39.99 a year, you can set more goals, log additional
information and get some extra features.
Pros:
Lose It! has a food database complete with popular restaurants, grocery stores and brand-name
foods, all of which are verified by their team of experts.
The app lets you set reminders to log your meals and snacks.
Cons:
It’s hard to log home-cooked meals or calculate their nutritional value.
The app can be tricky to navigate.
Lose It! doesn’t track micronutrients.
More: Website | iPhone app | Android app | Instructional video
3. FatSecret
FatSecret is a free calorie counter. It includes a food diary, nutrition database, healthy recipes,
exercise log, weight chart and journal.
A barcode scanner helps track packaged foods.
The homepage shows total calorie intake, as well as the breakdown of carbs, protein and fat —
displayed both for the day and for each meal.
FatSecret offers a monthly summary view, which gives total calories consumed each day and
total averages for each month. This feature may be convenient to track your overall progress.
This calorie counter is very user-friendly. It also includes a chat community where users can
swap success stories and get tips, recipes and more.
FatSecret offers a feature called “challenges,” wherein users can create or participate in dietary
challenges in a closed group of people.
Their website is full of information and tips, as well as articles on a variety of topics.
Pros:
The food database is comprehensive, including many supermarket and restaurant foods.
Foods submitted by other users are highlighted so that users can verify if the information is
accurate.
FatSecret can present net carbs, which may come in handy for low-carb dieters.
Cons:
The interface is rather cluttered and confusing.
More: Website | iPhone app | Android app
4. Cron-o-meter
Cron-o-meter lets you easily keep track of your diet, exercises and body weight.
It offers exact serving sizes and a strong exercise database. If you are pregnant or lactating, you
can select a customized profile based on higher calorie needs.
You can also tell Cron-o-meter if you’re following a specific diet, such as the paleo diet, low-
carb diet or a low-fat vegetarian diet. This changes the macronutrient recommendations.
The food diary is very simple and user-friendly. Below it, you’ll find a bar chart showing the
breakdown of carbs, fat and protein for that day alongside total calories consumed.
Cron-o-meter is particularly useful for tracking micronutrients like vitamins and minerals.
It offers a Gold upgrade for under $3 per month that eliminates ads, offers advanced analysis and
gives some extra features.
Pros:
Easy to use.
You can sync data from health devices to the app and import weight, body fat
percentage, sleep data and activities.
It tracks all micronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
Cons:
Cron-o-meter does not divide the food diary into meals.
You can only add a home-cooked recipe on the website, not the app. However, the meal will be
available in the app after that.
It does not have a social community of users.
Although the website is free, the app costs $2.99.
More: Website | iPhone app | Android app | Instructional video
5. SparkPeople
SparkPeople is another full-featured calorie counter that tracks nutrition, activities, goals and
progress.
The food diary is relatively straightforward. If you tend to eat the same thing often, you can paste
that entry into multiple days.
At the bottom of each day’s entry, you can see the total calories, carbs, fats and protein. You may
also view the data as a pie chart.
Recipes are very easy to add, and the app is equipped with a barcode scanner so you can register
packaged foods.
SparkPeople’s site has a massive community. Its resources include recipes, health news, exercise
demos and articles by health and wellness experts.
The free version has one of the largest online food and nutrition databases, but you have to
upgrade your account to access many of the other features.
Pros:
The website is full of resources on a variety of topics.
Cons:
The site may be overwhelming for new users since it contains so much information.
The content is spread over several apps based on different forums. For example, there is one app
for pregnant women and another for recipes.
Users sometimes have trouble logging foods into the app.
More: Website | iPhone app | Android app
NUTRITION PROJECT GUIDELINES
Due:
1. Begin by recording three full days worth of food and beverage intake
2. Input information into the Food Tracker at [Link] the instructions on the
attached sheet.
3. Format your Nutrition Project using the following guidelines:
1 Cover Page
Title
Name
COACH TALBOT
Term (ex. Spring 2018)
Polk State College – Winter Haven, Florida)
1 Personal Profile printout
Food Groups & Calories
Nutrients
Food Details
Meal Summary
1 full page typed Evaluation (may be up to two pages if desired)
* Double-spaced, one-inch margins, and 12-font Times New Roman or Arial.
Consider the following when writing your evaluation page:
• Compare your actual daily intake in total calories as well as your macronutrient intake to
recommended amounts on Nutrient Intake Analysis.
• Examine your intake of fiber, sodium, and calcium intake and compare to recommended
amounts.
• Evaluate your intake of other nutrients that may be of particular interest such as iron,
cholesterol, and saturated fat.
• How would you change your eating patterns to avoid nutrient deficits and/or reduce nutrient
amounts that are excessively high?
• Which foods should you consume more or less of?
1
NUTRITION PROJECT
Keep a diary of food and drinks for a minimum of two days. You need to hand in the following:
1 Profile Page (5 points)
1 Evaluation (15 points)
Food Groups & Calories (20 points)
Nutrients (20 points)
Food Details (20 points)
Meal Summary (20 points)
COMPUTER INSTRUCTIONS
1. Go to [Link] or other options provided.
2. Click on the Super Tracker Button near the bottom of the page.
3. Create a profile
4. Enter your age, weight, height, sex, and physical activity level etc...
5. Click submit and then print this page.
6. Click on Track Food and Activity, then click food tracker.
7. Enter all the food and drinks you have consumed during the day.
8. Follow the instructions, i.e.: enter the food item, such as coke, then click search. Select the
specific type of coke from the choices given, such as diet coke.
9. Next, click select quantity. Click select serving size and select the appropriate choice from the
dropdown menu, such as 1 can 12 oz. Then enter the number of servings in the box on the right
(i.e.: enter 1 meaning 1 serving of 1 can). then click add.
10. Repeat this process of entering foods and quantities until you have entered all food and drinks
for one day. Repeat for the next day.
11. Go to my reports and click overview. Click each category: Food Groups & Calories, Nutrients
Food Details and Meal Summary (click all). View the report for the days you entered and create a
report for each. You can export the report in the top right corner.
2
SPECIAL REMINDERS:
Do not forget to include your beverage intake as well as all food items you ingest for an
accurate accounting of your nutritional intake. Many students fail to list the milk on their cereal as a
separate item on the food list. Butter or margarine added to food such as rice must also be listed as a
separate food item. Be sure to report an accurate amount of each food as well. Also, keep each day’s
records separate as mix-ups can affect the accuracy of your evaluation.
Please feel free to highlight or make written remarks or observations directly on your printed
pages. No grading deduction will be given as this demonstrates your analyzing process.
NUTRITION PROJECT EVALUATION
The following is an example of a possible approach to writing the evaluation page.
• Introductory sentence and paragraph (Usually includes an “Attention Grabber”)
• After analyzing my dietary intake for two days . . .
• I realized that . . .
• This is probably due to . . .
• As a result, these are the changes I plan to make so that I will not suffer from any of the adverse
health conditions and diseases that are associated with poor diet.
“FINISHED PRODUCT”
COVER Profile Food Nutrients
PAGE Page Groups
and
Calories
Food Meal EVAL
Details Summary PAGE(s)
