Nutrition Health Center

Which Printable Diet Journal is Best?

By Terry Dunkle*

By “printable diet journal” we mean a software program or a website where you keep a diary and make printouts for your doctor, dietitian, or your personal use. Crude versions merely tally your calories. Others do more. When choosing such a journal, here are five features to watch:

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Food Data

Your printable diet journal should have 20,000 or more foods in its database. Beware of databases that exaggerate their total by counting duplicates under different names -- "green beans” and “string beans,” say. Avoid online journals that accept food data contributions from users, because these are often full of errors and needless duplication. Make sure the database includes nutrient data, not just calories. This should cover at least a dozen nutrients.

Excercise Data

Make sure your journal lets you log your exercise, as this will earn you extra calories that you can eat. It should include at least 500 physical activities -- not only sports, but exercise machines, occupational and leisure activities. Besides the activity’s identity, it should let you log its intensity or speed. It should also consider your body weight when calculating the calories you expend.

Based on 20 years of research by DietPower, Inc., this calculator is accurate to 5 percent for most users. (It's not for people who are pregnant or have metabolic disorders. Always see a doctor before starting a diet.)

Birth Date

Sex

Tobacco user?

Height

Weight

Goal Weight

Target Date

Email Address

- -

?

ft. in.

lbs.

lbs. ?

- - ?

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Close Goal Weight
Your Goal Weight is the weight you want to achieve. (If it's a lot different from your current weight, you might want to set a goal that represents only the first step. Even a 10-percent weight loss will significantly improve your health.)
Close Target Date
Plan on losing no more than a pound or two per week.  Otherwise, you may eat too little for good nutrition and your weight loss may be temporary.
Close Lactating?
If you are breastfeeding, check this box and the calculator will add calories for producing milk.
Close Tobacco User?
Nicotine speeds your metabolism, making you burn calories faster. (That's why people who quit smoking gain weight.) Check this box if you average more than one cigarette, one-half pipeful, one-quarter of a cigar, or one dip of snuff or chewing tobacco per day.
Close Email Address
Once a month, DietPower will send you the most important nutrition news of the past 30 days, selected by national award-winning editors covering hundreds of medical journals. You can cancel this free, no-obligation service anytime with a single click. We produce it only to promote our weight-loss software. It won't put you on other mailing lists—We're Not That Kind of Company™.

Printouts

Obviously, a good printable diet journal should offer many printing options. If you are seeing a nutrition professional, ask what printouts are needed, and make sure the template can provide them.

Intelligence

Besides logging meals and tracking calories and nutrients, a topnotch diet journal can “learn” about you. DietPower, for instance, automatically adjusts your calorie budget daily to guarantee reaching your goal weight on deadline. In addition, it recommends foods you like that are best for your personal nutrition. Other programs may offer equally “intelligent” services. Read their features and functions lists carefully.

Warranties

Don’t buy a printable diet journal that you can try free before purchasing. It should also offer a money-back guarantee -- at least 30 days, and better yet 60 or 90. (DietPower’s guarantee is for a full year.) In addition, make sure the company offers free phone and email help by people who speak clear English.

Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of DietPower, Inc.