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Your weekly eating score card
29 May 2008 11:11 pm
Think your diet is pretty good do you? Maybe you don’t want to know how bad it actually is! Whether you love diets or you love eating, here is a score card to help you determine how close you really are to achieving a healthy eating balance. It asks the eight most important questions on the food you consume each day and you must rate yourself in each category out of 10. Print the score card at the bottom of the page to record one week’s results. The result gives you an indication of how close you will be to achieving your goals, be it weight loss or muscle gain.
Answer these questions each day. Click here to print out your eating score card
1. Did I drink 30ml of water for every kilo I weigh (9oz/1lb)?
Hydration has a massive impact on health and body shape. Many people mistake hunger for thirst so make sure you are drinking at least 30ml for every kilo you weigh (or 9 oz for every pound you weigh) and add another 500ml for every half hour of exercise.
2. Total quantity of food:
An average 80kg man should consume about 2400 calories per day and an average 60kg woman should consume about 1752 calories per day. Most people get a ‘feel’ for what their daily consumption should be, so this section needs to be scored lower if you ended up eating more or less than your daily requirement. Click here to work out your personal daily calorie consumption.
3. Size of my evening meal:
Most of us know the saying, ‘eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper’. Rate how close you stuck to this rule today?
4. How was my protein intake?
Women should eat about 1 gram of protein for every kilo that they weigh and men 1.5g/kg. Remember protein is in things like milk, lentils, legumes, beans, tofu, meat, and eggs. A piece of meat roughly the size of the palm of your hand has about 20-30grams of protein in it. Score yourself on your protein intake.
5. Did I eat 2–4 pieces of fruit today?
Preferably in the morning, and preferably consume different colours. Deep red fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, and blue berries have massive anti –oxidant properties and are known as ‘cancer fighters’. Score yourself on the quality and quantity of fruit eaten.
6. Did I eat (at least) 4-6 different coloured vegetables today?
Similar to fruit, different coloured vegies have different benefits for the body, so variety is the key. It is proven that organic produce has much higher nutritional content, and it tastes better. Eat these at lunch, and dinner.
7. Fat consumption today:
We know we need to eat 40 – 70 g of fat per day so how close were you to that today?
See my article on 5 simple tips for losing body fat.
8. Activity levels:
A 10/10 would be the most active day you could imagine, equating to 3 hrs activity. A 5/10 or lower would indicate no structured exercise but maybe a walk to and from train station. Remember these scores are personal to you, and an active day for you might be a sluggish day for someone else so don’t compare!
Assessing your results:Click here to print out your eating score card
- If you score a percentage of 70% or higher each day, this indicates you are eating the correct way and will therefore be losing fat, or gaining muscle (depending on your goal). Be sure to be weighing yourself or taking measurements as you will be getting good results after 2-4 weeks.
- If you are not sure of some of the amounts you currently are eating, please ask me! · This exercise is very educational and teaches you to really think about what you put in your mouth. Don’t guess, get some help!
*** Read this article to tell you if you are a protein or carb body type.
*** Try my best treadmill workout ever to help you burn fat!
Tagged As: diet, Health, nutrition, Weight loss
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Well, I flunked this week. At least there are “do-overs”!
I have been off and on of weight watchers many, many times in my life. The first time I joined, which was 22 years ago now, I lost 60 lbs. Since that time, I have gained that back, plus some.
What strikes me about this post is how simple weight loss really is knowing what will make us successful. The problem is not knowing, it is doing.
hi Amelia
I would really like to get your opinion on ph levels.
I used to train people in fitness and health up until a few years ago. Just wondering if there were ph levels of food put on every nutritional table that we could then select better food s to balance up our bodies which seem to be to acidic and then also help with reducing disease and fat.
Most of the foods that you suggest such as most vegies fruits and some grains and proteins are alkaline and if people understood that side they may select even better as well….thanks I look forward to your input rose creamer australia
Hi, perhaps you can help with this while discussing intake.
I often get headache after high intensity exercise of 30 minutes or more, sometimes it’s quite nasty
I don’t know if this is due to blood sugar or dehydration.
It happened again last weekend, i.e. in cool weather after a 30 minute road race
(it does not happen after weight training thought)
Any ideas?
Thanks
Daryl M
Hi Markfu,
Haha! Well there’s always next week right?…And the week after…
Hi Bill,
Couldn’t put it better myself. We all know what to do, but need help in actually doing it. I like the score card because it holds you accountable for the food you’ve eaten. You have to decide your own score which puts all responsibility back on you.
Hi Rose,
Yes the body is more Alkaline than acid (ph7.35) but unfortunately alot of the foods we eat are acid based, such as coffee, and most processed foods. This leeches minerals from vital organs to ‘buffer’ the acid produced, and leads to decreased health and immunity.
I haven’t focussed on PH levels as I find that most correct diets, i.e. low in processed foods and animal products, have favourable PH levels. It’s a good point though and I am glad you brought it up. Thank you, I look forward to more comments.
Hi Daryl,
Headaches after exercise are reasonably common but not to be taken lightly. I would suggest speaking to your GP if this occurs regularly. Although there are many normal causes of exercise related headaches, there are also some nasty ones.
Firtsly have your blood pressure checked and speak to your GP. After that some casues of headaches are:
1. Increased body temperature causes changes in the blood vessels in the brain that can cause headaches.
Solution: Warm up and cool down slowly. Stay well hydrated.
2. Muscle tightness in the upper spine affecting neck extensors, causing tightness and headaches. Solution: Stretch your Trapezius muscles before and after training. Have a posture assessment to determine head carriage. Massage.
3. Blood sugar levels. Sudden drop in blood sugar can deplete the brain of much needed glycogen which also causes headaches. Solution: Make sure you eat at regular intervals throughout the day (every three hours). Be sure to refuel within half an hour of training.
Hope that helps
Amelia
Thanks for your comments
Perhaps also I am not adequately trained for high sustained HR events. My focus is on sprint events of less than one minute so my program is all speed power
What training should I include in preparing for events of 20-30 minute duration?
Hi Daryl,
The best training you can do for the 20min events is lactate threshold training. This is designed to get your body used to processing high amounts of lactic acid. Your body learns to operate with higher levels of it in your blood but also learns to process it faster.
Interval training will do this. 20-30sec sprints, starting with 2 minutes recovery but over the weeks, reduce the recovery time and up the intensity. Interval workout time should not exceed 30min all up.
These middle distances, in my mind, are the most painful to train for as it is right on the cusp of two major energy systems, aerobic and anaerobic. Ouch!
Hi Amelia
My typical week is includes 2 RPM classes
2 x weight sessions, 1 pilaties class
and 1 session track cycling where I do a 15minute medium pace warm-up, then 6 sprints efforts with full recovery.
Would RPM cover threshold training adequately?
Am I missing something?
Hi Daryl,
I’d be inclined to swap one RPM for another sprint session at the track, this should simulate the race environment better than RPM.
[...] ***Have you read about the 3 ways to train like a champion? ***Have you been following your weekly eating score card? [...]