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Diet Diary Templates & Instructions

Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 1:55 pm
by jimmylegs
self assessment is important! if you haven't spent time much thinking about your status quo diet and lifestyle in comparison to evidence -based public health recommendations, now's the time.

If you are planning to see a dietitian or other suitable preventive professionals (which, if you're supplementing, may include a pharmacist) for guidance re healthy choices for your needs, consider completing a three day 'diet' diary and bringing it with you to your appointment(s).

adding behavioural detail to the picture provides key info. for example possible nutrient drains via certain medications, food/fluid (right down to the drinking water) and/or supplement choices/amounts/combinations, as well as physical actiity levels, can all add important pieces to the puzzle.

the following examples all have pros and cons, eg perhaps a source's emphasis on weight loss when that may not be your issue. that's ok - the important thing is accuracy when documenting status quo. if you try to match some preconceived idea of what should be there, you may miss the opportunity to identify potential action items. ideally you produce a document that gives a professional an at-a-glance picture at the various flows into and out of the system that is you :)

for this first template, i like the instruction info and the visual serving size guide. i dislike lack of space to include info on supplements, meds and activity levels. also not a fan of the selective use of product branding in the examples, although i guess these are just a fact for most, to one degree or another. branded water choices could be relevant, if applicable, as one example. anyway for what it's worth:
https://www.mngi.com/sites/default/file ... ournal.pdf

this one is pretty vague, although even vagueness has pros (eg not leading??). cons: no instructions, serving size info or space to document timing, fluids, supplements, meds or activity:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/pdf/f ... ry_cdc.pdf

i had high hopes for cleveland clinic. oh well. once i corrected their very broken url to arrive at the below, i'd say the good aspects of this one include the details on prep and fat type, plus its space for the day's behavioural good points and room-for-improvement items:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/-/scasse ... 1569069309

sadly the links that seem like they should be reliable are not pointing to really good examples. more vagueness and low supporting detail:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educat ... /diary.pdf

decent in many ways, but nothing detailed about fluids, supplements or meds (example does show a little, eg cups of coffee, along those lines): https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Alberta/Alb ... ournal.pdf
related instructions: https://myhealth.alberta.ca/alberta/Pag ... urnal.aspx

ok i dug up the one i had posted originally. decent in many ways, e.g. a lot of supporting how-to information, but not perfect ie directed at participants in one study, with no room to specify time of day, meds/supplements or physical activity level:
https://bit.ly/2m2CDe1

each of these seems to have been designed to a particular end other, i would surmise, than personalized optimal nutrition and lifestyle. but any dietitian should be able to provide at least some feedback on content you provide to fill out this kind of record. and a pharmacist will be able to help with the rest! (including nutritional supplements)