Chapter3 Planning Nutritious Diets
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Personal Dietary Analysis
I. Record Keeping
A. 24-Hour Dietary Recall
1. Recall every food and beverage that you’ve eaten over the past 24 hours. Recall how much you
consumed and how it was prepared.
a. How easy or difficult was it to recall your food intake?
B. Three-Day Diet Record
1. Without changing your usual diet, keep a detailed log of your food and beverage intake for 3 days; one
of the days should be Friday or Saturday. Use a separate log for each day.
II. Analysis
Using nutritional analysis software, analyze your daily food intakes and answer questions in Part III of this
activity. Keep the record on file for future applications.
A. Computer-Generated Dietary Analysis
1. Load the software into the computer, or log on to software website.
2. Choose the RDAs or related nutrient standard from the inside front or back covers, based on your life
stage, sex, height, and weight.
3. Enter the information from the 3-day food-intake record. Be sure to enter each food and drink and the
specific amounts.
4. The software program will give you the following results:
a. The appropriate RDA (or related standard) for each nutrient
b. The total amount of each nutrient and the kilocalories consumed for each day
c. The percentage intake compared with the standard amount for each nutrient that you consumed
each day
d. Keep this assessment for activities in other chapters.
III. Evaluation of Nutrient Intakes
Remember it is not necessary to consume the maximum of your nutrient recommendations every day. A
general standard is meeting at least 70% of the standards averaged over several days. It is best not to exceed
the Upper Level (if set) over the long term to avoid potential toxic effects of some nutrients.
A. For which nutrients did your average intake fall below the recommended amounts, that is, less than 70%
of the RDA/AI?
B. For which nutrients did your average intake exceed the Upper Level (if an UL has been set)?
IV. MyPyramid Plan
This activity determines how your diet stacks up when compared to the amounts of foods
from each food group that are recommended in the USDA’s MyPyramid Plan.
A. Refer to your 3-day food-intake record. Classify each food item in the appropriate food group
of the MyPyramid Plan. For each food group, indicate whether you ate the recommended amount daily
for your sex, age, height, weight, and physical activity
level. Note that some of your food choices, pizza for
example, may contribute to more than one food
group. Enter a minus sign (−) if your total falls below
the MyPyramid Plan recommendation or a plus sign
(+) if it equals or exceeds the daily recommendation
for each food group.
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