Most Impactful Component

Haphazard dieting or resolving to get more exercise never worked for me for actually losing weight - it wasn't until I not only started listing the food I ate but actually breaking out the measuring spoons and counting calories and other nutritional data that I was able to lose some serious weight. That is why this time, before even changing my exercise habits, I am going to track all the food that goes into my body to the highest precision I can. And I have looked to some sources for guidelines for the total number of calories I should be eating daily as well as the proportion of the various food groups. Ultimately I will listen to my body telling me to eat more or less, but it helps to have some ranges to shoot for.

I picked two respectable-sounding sources from the internet and used their food pyramid tools - one from the FDA and one from the Mayo Clinic. They give two pretty different sets of suggestions.





I like the FDA pyramid better for a couple reasons: (1) It separates protein/dairy into separate categories so I know better how to balance them. (2) It uses real measures of cups and ounces instead of "servings" which I always have to look up. I also don't agree with either of the calorie suggestions (based on my previous experience), and I'll probably aim for 1400-1600 calories/day. Both sites are rich in weight-loss information, but I am more familiar with and therefor partial to the FDA site.

Of course, calorie-counting wouldn't be possible without a good database of nutritional information available. I'm using Calorie Count for the moment, and in another post I'll go through some of the other options and explain why I'm working with this one. Also, I'm not currently using any online trackers - I prefer to have total control with Excel. It's more work to get started but easy once I have my regular foods and recipes entered.