Instructions for 3-Day Food Diary

BIOL 1322.100; BIOL 1322.5

Instructions for 3-Day Food Diary

(45 point assignment)

The 3-Day Food Diary is due Feb. 15th for the online section.
The 3-Day Food Diary is due Feb 16th for the in-person section

What to turn in:

1.) A completed copy of Form 1 for each day (3 total). KEEP A COPY OF EACH FOR YOURSELF (future assignments will refer back to this 3-day record).

**Form 1 MUST be on LEGAL-SIZE (8 ½ x 14) paper. If you do not have access to legal-size paper, come by my office and I will provide you with the form. If you print your own copy, the file settings should be set for printing a legal document.**

2.) One complete copy of Form 2. (Note: Form 1 and Form 2 are available from the same Excel file. There are 2 tabs within the file that correspond to either Form 1 or Form 2.)

Form 2 can be printed on standard letter paper, and the file should already be set for printing on letter paper.

3.) Be sure to perform the calculations indicated on Form 2.

Purpose of this assignment:

1.) To learn how to keep a food diary (diet record)

2.) To learn how to determine the nutrient composition of foods you eat

3.) To learn how to apply the amounts of nutrients consumed against the RDA

4.) To assess the adequacy (or lack thereof) of your own diet

Instructions:

1.) Read the accompanying page, “Keeping a Food Diary.”

2.) Record everything you eat AND drink (except water, vitamin/mineral supplements) for 3 days. One of these days must be a Saturday or a Sunday (since most of us eat differently on the weekends). Note: You do not have to keep the record for 3 consecutive days. In addition, ALL FUTURE assignments refer back to this assignment; therefore it is crucial that all information recorded in the 3-day record be accurate and thorough.

3.) Use a separate Form 1 for each day.

4.) DO NOT turn in computer-generated diet records. All diet-records must be hand-written. Form 2 data, however, may be entered into Excel and printed from the computer.

5.) Use Appendix H in the back of your textbook or the USDA food composition database website (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/) to determine the nutrient content of all foods consumed. You must provide information for EACH nutrient listed on Form 1. Be sure to adjust the amount of each nutrient you actually consumed based on the NUMBER of servings you consumed. If the references list a value of “tr” or “<1” for a nutrient, you may enter a value of zero when adding up total intakes. Please note that food labels also provide much of this information in the event you cannot find an exact match for a particular item. Note: If you eat a sandwich, you must itemize the contents of the sandwich on the diet record, i.e., 2 slices of bread, one slice of cheese, etc. The same applies for any “mixed” food, i.e. casseroles, etc., you eat during the 3 days. It is also important to note that nearly all major fast-food restaurants provide nutritional information either online or in-store. If you do not find the nutritional facts in the restaurant, ask an employee.

6.) Total the nutrient intake for the day and record it in the last line of Form 1.

7.) Transfer daily totals to the appropriate columns on Form 2 and determine the average daily intake for the 3 days. It is the average value for each nutrient that you will use for future assignments related to this food record.

8.) Be sure to check and re-check your calculations to see if they are near the RDA. Extreme high or low values may indicate an error in computation.

Keeping a Food Diary

The purpose of the food diary assignment is to help you become aware of your dietary habits. The food diary will likely reveal some good and some bad things about your nutritional habits. If kept accurately, it can be quite a useful educational tool (and sometimes quite an eye-opener!). One object of the assignment is to help you become more aware of serving sizes relative to the amount you are consuming. For example, the recommended serving size for a piece of beef is 3 ounces. Compare this to the 10, 12 or 16 ounce portions you receive at a steakhouse! Another goal of this assignment is to help you realize your own dietary adequacy (or inadequacy) in terms of the various nutrients which you will study over the course of the semester. It is my hope that, as you carry out this assignment, you will become more aware of common dietary pitfalls and realize ways in which you can improve certain aspects of your own diet.

You will only get out of this assignment what you put into it. That is, if you are meticulous (and honest) with your record-keeping, you will gain insight into the good and bad aspects of your diet. Keep in mind that you are not being graded on WHAT you eat or how healthy or unhealthy you may eat, so be honest about it!

As you list each food on your diet record, make careful note of the amount. Estimate the amount to the nearest ounce, quarter cup, tablespoon or other common measure. When estimating the size of meat portions, it is useful to know that a piece of meat roughly the size of your palm or of a deck of cards weighs about 3-4 ounces. If you are unable to “eyeball” a teaspoon or ¼ cup of a food, measure out serving sizes into a dish to see how they look.

Remember that all mixed dishes must be broken down into their individual ingredients. For example, if you have enchiladas for dinner, you must itemize it as “tortillas (flour or corn, how many), cheese, meat and sauce. Many of these types of dishes are listed in Appendix H of your text. If you have problems identifying all the ingredients, list as many as you can. This isn’t rocket science, so there will be some margin of error, but it will be to your own benefit to come as close as possible to estimating what and how much of a food you’ve consumed.

Finally, do not record any nutrient supplements you may take (vitamins, etc.). You may learn that you are meeting your dietary goals even without the aid of a supplement.

If you have any questions regarding the assignment, just ask! Good luck with the assignment and happy eating!