Reading Nutritional Guides

Reading about healthy foods, and learning which vegetables qualify as 'Super Foods' is much different than going to the supermarket and trying to decide which is the healthier brand of cereal. There are two ways to compare products, that are now required to appear on the label of any packaged food; the nutritional fact table and the ingredients list.

1. Nutritional Fact Table

The nutritional fact table summarizes the the percent daily values of the food contents. These contents include Calories, fat, carbohydrates, protein and 13 core nutrients (including fibre, vitamins and iron).

There are several important things to note when looking at a nutritional facts sheet. The first is the serving size, in this case '1 bowl' or 300 grams - in some cases, especially drinks, the serving size may not coincide with the amount you consume. For example, many 500 mL bottles of juice have a nutritional facts sheet for 250 mL (1 cup) of juice - so make sure to double all the values.

When comparing products, make sure you are comparing ones with similar serving sizes - or ones that you would typically consume. Granola bars, for example, may vary considerably in grams but you usually only consume one anyways so you can compare products.

The second thing to consider is the Calorie count - does the value seem appropriate for the purpose of the product? Light snack? Part of your dinner, breakfast?

Thirdly are the actual daily percent values. A good, quick, measure is that any value less than 5% is considered a 'little' and anything above 15% is considered a 'lot'. You should be choosing foods that have little fat (especially saturated and trans fats) and sodium (salt) and foods that have a lot of fibre, calcium, vitamins and iron. Another thing you do not want to see is cholesterol, which usually does not have a percent daily value because it is not part of a healthy diet. In cases where there are a lot of the good contents, as well as the bad (like in the case of this cereal) - the bad tends to outweigh the good. You should be looking for food that have BOTH a low content of the bad and a high content of the good.

2. Ingredients List

This is a list of the ingredients within the package ordered by their predominance by weight. In other words, the ingredient listed first is the ingredient which is present in the highest quantity. An ingredients list of "Sugar, Flour, Salt" means that if a pound of flour was used then more than a pound of sugar was used, and less than a pound of salt was used.

Confused by some of the ingredients listed? Just because you can't pronounce some of them doesn't mean that they are necessarily bad, but on the other hand some very commonly seen ones can be very dangerous! Click here for a list of ingredients and what they really are.

Taking Your Measurements

Taking your measurements weekly is a great way to watch your weight loss progress. Especially since some weeks you'll build more muscle mass than you will lose in fat - and though the scale won't show much progress your measurements may! It will also make you more aware of your body; where you gain and lose fat the quickest and what your trouble areas are. Although you cannot target fat loss, you can target toning exercises. It can also be encouraging when you don't see the weight loss yet, especially in areas you want it the most - losing inches, no matter where, is very reassuring.

When you are going to take your measurements, make sure to wear tight clothing (or only your skivvies!) - and make note of what you're wearing so you can use it every time. If you don't have an appropriate measuring tape handy use a piece of string and mark the spot with a pen, then you can measure the sting with a ruler afterwards.

Most measurements are fairly intuitive: arm, thigh, bust and calf are all taken at the widest part of each body part.

However, many of the rest are taken incorrectly. To properly take a hip measurement, you do not actually measure where your hips are but instead at the widest part of your derriere. For your waist you measure about halfway between your lowest rib and your 'hip' bone (actually your pelvic bone). This is approximately an inch above most people's belly buttons. For a chest measurement, the tape should go right below your pectoral muscles (women, this is right where the band of your bra lies).

Remember that the tape measure should touch your skin and be held taught but it should not compress any tissue. If you are starting to monitor your measurements weekly, you can use this tracking sheet to keep organized!