I’ve had several requests for more detailed information on the foods I eat and how I arrive at my nutrient totals, so I’ve decided to change the format slightly. From now on I will be including the full nutritional information table I use to calculate the daily nutrition score (total calories, total grams of protein, carbs, etc.). The new table is below.
For each food I use the nutritional information provided on the package. If the information is for 100g and I’ve had 115g, I simply multiply the values by 1.15. If I make a food from scratch, such as the turkey cottage pie, I create a separate table where I add up the nutrient values for all the ingredients, then divide by the number of equal portions. When I eat out, I can usually find the nutritional information on the company’s website. I also have nutrition analysis software which I use with my sports nutrition clients, that gives the average nutrition for most foods, such as a fast food hamburger.
The problem with each of these methods is accuracy. Obviously when I eat out, I don’t weigh my food and if the company does not provide nutritional information, then I’m simply guessing. But even when I eat at home, the information on the back of packages can be surprisingly inaccurate. For example, the bag of the Genius bread I eat says 100g should have 269 kcal. However, when you add up all the nutrients and their calorie values, you get 249.4 kcal ((2.5g of protein x 4 kcal) + (45g of carbs x 4kcal) + (6.6g of fat x 9kcal)). That’s only 20 kcal off, but I find just about every product is like this, so at the end of the day my percent values for each nutrient only add up to 98% of the calories (I usually round up to get to 100%).
For exercise calories burned, I wear a Garmin watch with heart rate monitor chest strap when I exercise. This uses my height, weight, age and heart rate throughout the activity to calculate calories burned, so is fairly accurate. Like many people, I lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle, sitting at a desk most of the day and reading or watching TV in the evening. I do walk to and from the gym, and the track when I’m coaching, so I walk maybe 2 miles (3km) per day. Using my height, weight and age to calculate my resting metabolic rate (the calories burned just to keep breathing) gives about 1330kcal per day. Adding my sedentary lifestyle to this gives 665 kcal burned per day, for a total of 1995 kcal per day to maintain my weight (without exercise).
Feel free to add any other questions you may have in the comments below!
The Score for 9 February:
| Calories: | Protein: | Carbs: | Sugars: | Fat: | Sat Fat: | Fibre: | |
| 1985 | 131.90g | 231.26g | 131.76g | 54.59g | 17.25g | 29.36g | |
| 27% | 47% | 25% | |||||
| Calories burned through exercise: | 287 | ||||||
What I ate:
| Time | Item | Amount | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Sugars | Fibre | Fat | Sat Fat |
| 08:30 | Centrum Multivitamin, Vitamin E 400IU, Vitamin D 25 µg | ||||||||
| Tap water | 250mL | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| Scrambled eggs, 2 large | 115g | 150 | 14.49 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10.35 | 2.88 | |
| with smoked salmon | 36g | 57 | 7.96 | 1.01 | 0.11 | 0.18 | 2.34 | 0.36 | |
| Chestnut mushrooms | 92g | 7 | 0.92 | 0.28 | 0.28 | 0.64 | 0.18 | 0.09 | |
| fried in butter | 5g | 37 | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 4.11 | 2.61 | |
| Genius brown sliced gluten free bread, 2 slices toasted | 64g | 160 | 1.60 | 28.80 | 1.54 | 6.40 | 4.22 | 0.32 | |
| with butter | 5g | 37 | 0.03 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.00 | 4.11 | 2.61 | |
| and St Dalfour Raspberry fruit spread | 24g | 54 | 0.12 | 12.88 | 12.88 | 0.46 | 0.18 | 0.00 | |
| Black Tea | 450mL | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 12:45 | Homemade turkey cottage pie topped with potato and parsnip mash | 250g | 397 | 40.59 | 39.75 | 10.48 | 6.80 | 7.06 | 1.23 |
| with ketchup | 17g | 17 | 0.20 | 3.94 | 3.88 | 0.00 | 0.02 | 0.00 | |
| Small vine ripened tomatoes | 95g | 19 | 0.67 | 2.95 | 2.95 | 0.95 | 0.29 | 0.10 | |
| Kiwi, 2 medium peeled | 115g | 63 | 1.27 | 12.19 | 11.85 | 2.19 | 0.58 | 0.00 | |
| Yakult light | 65mL | 27 | 0.90 | 6.60 | 3.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| 16:00 | Trek Peanut Power energy bar | 55g | 203 | 10.20 | 25.70 | 21.10 | 3.00 | 6.00 | 1.00 |
| Golden delicious apple | 100g | 53 | 0.40 | 11.80 | 11.80 | 1.80 | 0.10 | 0.00 | |
| Black tea with skimmed milk and sugar | 450mL | 62 | 3.40 | 12.00 | 12.00 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 0.00 | |
| 16:45 | Javelin training | ||||||||
| 18:15 | Baked chicken breast | 107g | 113 | 25.68 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.18 | 0.32 |
| Merchant Gourmet red and white quinoa | 110g | 203 | 6.71 | 31.46 | 1.65 | 4.40 | 4.62 | 0.55 | |
| Broccoli, microwaved | 100g | 40 | 4.30 | 3.20 | 1.90 | 2.50 | 0.60 | 0.20 | |
| Cucina Glaze with Balsamic vinegar of Modena | 10g | 26 | 0.05 | 6.40 | 4.80 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.00 | |
| 18:45 | Starbucks steamed skimmed milk with vanilla shot | Tall | 146 | 10.50 | 25.40 | 25.10 | 0.00 | 0.30 | 0.20 |
| 21:00 | Lindt Excellence 70% Cocoa chocolate bar, 2 squares | 20g | 113 | 1.90 | 6.80 | 5.80 | 0.00 | 8.20 | 4.80 |
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