Ensuring a Nutritious Gluten-Free Diet: What You Eat Now: Food Records

Keeping a Food Record

To get the most information out of your food record, follow these guidelines:

• Take three sheets of paper and label them "Day 1," "Day 2," and "Day 3." On each sheet make three columns and label them "Food/Beverage," "Description," and "Amount."
• Choose a three-day period of time when your eating habits are likely to represent your typical habits. For example, you probably would not want to include a holiday in your recording period.
• Record everything you eat and drink over this three-day period. No one is going to see this record but you, so include everything.

Personal Viewpoint

Please don't skip this exercise because you think it will be too inconvenient or believe you can remember everything you eat. Having a written record of everything you eat really is the only way for you to actually see the amounts and types of food you are providing your body. Until you really know what you are eating, it is impossible to make any improvements.

• Record this information as soon as possible after eating and as completely and accurately as possible.
• Provide a complete description of each food and beverage, including brand names. Keep the labels with nutritional information and ingredients so you can refer back to them when completing your worksheets.
• Record the amount consumed of each food and beverage. For cooked foods, record the amount of cooked product consumed, using household measures (for example, ½ cup cooked brown rice or noodles), or approximate the size (one medium-size baked potato). For foods that can be counted, approximate the size of the food and the amount eaten (one medium-size apple, three small cookies). Use the unit of measure that is common for the type of product consumed: tablespoons for peanut butter; cups for dry cereal, pasta, and rice; ounces for beverages and cheese.
• Record the amount and type of any fat, including oil, butter, margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressing, used in cooking and added at the table. Record the amount in teaspoons (3 teaspoons equals 1 tablespoon).
• If the food is homemade, save the recipe, and record the percentage of the recipe that you ate.
• If the food is a commercial mix or ready-made gluten-free product, keep the label so you can refer back to it when completing your worksheets.
• If you are eating in a restaurant, provide a complete description of the meal, and record the amount of each food eaten.

Remember, the more accurate the information you include in your food record, the more accurate your assessment of your eating habits will be.

Assessing Your Food Record: Worksheets

Using the information you created in your food records as well as the food labels you saved, complete the following worksheets. These categorize the amounts you ate as grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and beans, and oils.

Worksheet 1: Grains

How many ounce-equivalents of grains did you eat each day? In general, count each of the following amounts as 1 ounce:

• Amaranth, cooked, ½ cup
• Bread, 1 slice
• Buckwheat, cooked, ½ cup
• Cereal, cooked, ½ cup
• Cereal, 1 cup ready-to-eat
• Millet, cooked, ½ cup
• Oatmeal (gluten-free), cooked, ½ cup
• Pasta, cooked, ½ cup
• Popcorn, 3 cups popped
• Quinoa, cooked, ½ cup
• Rice, cooked, ½ cup
• Sorghum, cooked, ½ cup
• Teff, cooked, ½ cup
• Tortilla (corn), 1
•  Wild rice, cooked, ½ cup

For crackers, muffins, rice cakes, pancakes, waffles, and other grain foods, check the Nutrition Facts label. The serving size will be listed in grams. One ounce is approximately equal to 28 grams. So, for example, if you ate three rice cakes, and each rice cake weighed 9 grams, you would have consumed about 1 ounce of rice cakes. For more information about what counts as an ounce of grain food, visit the MyPyramid nutrition website.

Day	Amount Eaten: Meat and Beans
Day 1	______ounces
Day 2	______ounces
Day 3	______ounces
Total three-day intake	______ounces
Average daily intake	______ounces (total intake divided by 3)
Recommended intake	______ounces

Compare your average daily intake to the recommended intake. How much more (or less) grain food should you be eating?

______ ounces of grain foods

How many ounces of your grain foods were whole grains? (Gluten-free whole grains include whole cornmeal, whole corn flour, popcorn, brown rice, brown-rice flour, wild rice, oatmeal, buckwheat groats, buckwheat flour, amaranth, amaranth flour, millet meal, millet flour, quinoa, quinoa flour, sorghum, sorghum flour, teff, teff flour.)

______ ounces of whole grains

Remember, at least half of the grain foods you eat should be whole grains.

How many ounces of your grain foods were enriched with B vitamins and iron? (If a product includes added vitamins and minerals, these will be included within the ingredient list, or there will be a separate listing following the ingredient list.)

______ ounces of enriched grains

Remember, grain foods you consume that are not whole grain should be enriched.

Worksheet 2: Vegetables

How many cups of vegetables did you eat each day? In general, count each of the following as 1 cup:

• Raw vegetables, 1 cup
• Cooked vegetables, 1 cup
• Vegetable juice, 1 cup
• Leafy greens, 2 cups
• Beans, cooked, 1 cup (for example, kidney, black, or garbanzo beans)
• Bell pepper (green), 1 large
• Bell pepper (red), 1 large
• Broccoli, 3 spears
• Carrots, 2 medium
• Celery, 2 large stalks
• Corn, 1 ear
• Potato, baked or boiled, 1 medium
• Sweet potato, baked, 1 large
• Tofu, 1 cup
• Tomato, 1 large

For more information on what counts as a cup of vegetables, go to mypyramid.gov.

Compare your average daily intake to the recommended intake. How many more (or fewer) cups of vegetables should you be eating?

______cups of vegetables

Worksheet 3: Fruits

How many cups of fruit did you eat each day? In general, count each of the following as 1 cup:

• Fruit, 1 cup
• Fruit juice, 100 percent, 1 cup
• Dried fruit (for example, raisins, apricots, apples), ½ cup
• Apple, ½ large
• Apple, 1 small
• Applesauce, 1 cup
• Banana, 1 large
• Grapes, 32
• Grapefruit, 1 medium
• Orange, 1 large
• Peach, 1 large
• Pear, 1 medium
• Plums, 3 medium
• Plums, 2 large
• Strawberries, 8 large
• Watermelon, 1 small wedge

For more information on what counts as a cup of fruit, go to mypyramid.gov.

Compare your average daily intake to the recommended intake. How many more (or fewer) cups of fruit should you be eating?

______cups of fruit

Worksheet 4: Milk and Milk Alternatives

How many cups of milk (or the equivalent) did you consume each day? In general, count each of the following as 1 cup:

• Milk (regular or lactose-free), 1 cup
• Yogurt, 1 cup
• Cheese, natural, 1½ ounces
• Cheese, processed, 2 ounces
• Cheese, Image cup shredded
• Cottage cheese, 2 cups
• Ricotta cheese, ½ cup
• Frozen yogurt, 1 cup
• Ice cream, 1½ cups
• Pudding, 1 cup

For more information on what counts as 1 cup of milk, go to mypyramid.gov.

If you do not consume dairy products, count the following nondairy products as 1 cup milk (these calcium-fortified products contain about 300 milligrams of calcium, which is approximately the amount of calcium found in 1 cup of milk).

• 1 cup calcium-fortified orange juice
• 1 cup calcium-fortified soy milk
• ½ block tofu prepared with calcium sulfate

Note: The calcium content of calcium-prepared tofu varies greatly. Check the Nutrition Facts label of the particular brand of tofu you ate. This label will indicate the percentage of the Daily Value for calcium. To determine the amount of calcium, multiply this percentage by 1,000 milligrams (the Daily Value for calcium). To multiply the percentage, first convert it to a decimal. For example 30 percent calcium becomes 0.30. Multiplied by 1,000 milligrams, you get 300 milligrams. Every 300 milligrams you consumed counts as 1 cup of milk, and every 150 milligrams you consumed counts as ½ cup of milk.

Compare your average daily intake to the recommended intake. How much more (or less) milk and milk alternatives should you be consuming?

______cups

How many cups of milk (or the equivalent) were low-fat or nonfat?

______cups

Remember, the milk products you consume should be low-fat or nonfat.

If you do not drink milk or consume other foods fortified with calcium, it is important to consume other food sources of calcium.

Worksheet 5: Meat and Beans

How many ounces of meat and beans (or the equivalent) did you eat each day? In general, count each of the following as 1 ounce from the meat and beans group:

• Image Beef, cooked, 1 ounce
• Pork or ham, cooked, 1 ounce
• Chicken or turkey, cooked, 1 ounce
• Deli meat, 1 ounce
• Fish, 1 ounce
• Shellfish, 1 ounce
• Egg, 1
• Beans (for example, kidney, black, pinto), cooked, ¼ cup
• Baked beans, ¼ cup
• Hummus, 2 tablespoons
• Refried beans, ¼ cup
• Legume-based soup (for example, split pea or lentil), gluten-free, ½ cup
• Veggie burger, gluten-free, soy-based, ½
• Nuts, ½ ounce
• Nut butter (almond, cashew, soy), 1 tablespoon
• Peanut butter, 1 tablespoon
• Seeds, ½ ounce
• Tempeh, cooked, 1 ounce
• Tofu, ¼ cup (approximately 2 ounces

For more information about what counts as a 1-ounce-equivalent from the meat and beans group, go to mypyramid.gov.

Compare your average daily intake to the recommended intake. How many more or fewer 1-ounce-equivalents from the meat and beans group should you be eating?

______1-ounce-equivalents of meat and beans

How many of your ounces were fish, beans, nuts, seeds, tofu, lean or low-fat meat, poultry without the skin, or low-fat deli meat (for example, sliced turkey breast)?

______ounces

Remember to choose meats and equivalents that minimize unhealthful fats:

• Choose lean cuts of beef and pork.
• Choose hamburger that is at least 90 percent fat free.
• Purchase skinless poultry, or remove the skin before cooking (unless you are preparing whole poultry products).
• When choosing deli meats, choose lower-fat products such as turkey breast instead of higher-fat products like bologna and salami.
• Eat fish at least twice a week. The fat in fish is primarily polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.
• Get some of your meat equivalents from beans. Beans are generally low in fat.
• Include small servings of nuts and seeds, which provide healthful fatty acids. The fat in nuts and seeds is primarily polyunsaturated and monounsaturated.

Worksheet 6: Oils

How many teaspoons of oil did you eat each day? Use the following equivalents to help you determine your oil intake:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil = 3 teaspoons oil
• 1 tablespoon margarine (with no trans fat) = 2½ teaspoons oil
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise = 2½ teaspoons oil
• 2 tablespoons salad dressing = 2 teaspoons oil
• 8 large olives = 1 teaspoon oil
• ½ medium avocado = 3 teaspoons oil
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter = 4 teaspoons oil
• 1 ounce nuts or seeds = 3 teaspoons oil

For more information on what counts as a 1-teaspoon serving of oil, go to mypyramid.gov.

Compare your average daily intake to the recommended intake. How many more or fewer teaspoons of oil should you be eating?

______teaspoons

As you can probably see from the chart and from your oil intake, it is not difficult to consume enough oils.

Remember that oil is not the same as solid fat. The oils included in the food pyramid contain primarily polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids and are sources of essential fatty acids. Solid fats such as lard, shortening, butter, margarine containing trans fat, and tropical oils (palm, coconut) contain primarily saturated fatty acids. You should limit your intake of these fats.

Worksheet 7: Food Record Summary

Fill in the following chart by using the information from Worksheets 1 through 6.

Worksheet 8: Additional Questions

Using your food records and the food labels you saved, answer the following questions:

Do you drink "empty" calories such as soda on a regular basis? (If you are eating a food daily or every other day, that can be considered "on a regular basis.")

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Do you eat foods with a lot of added sugar (cake, cookies, candy) on a regular basis?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Do you use butter or other forms of saturated fat (lard, shortening, margarine with trans fat, tropical oils) on a regular basis?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Do you regularly add sauces containing saturated fat to the foods you eat?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Do the processed foods you eat, such as crackers and cookies, contain trans fat?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

What is the saturated-fat content of the processed foods you are eating?

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

You should now have a very clear picture of what you are eating—the good, the bad, and the ugly. The next section will show you how to get less of the ugly and more of the good into your diet.