KIRSTEN LUPINSKI: Food tracking tool helps healthy changes

If you all remember, last month I started to talk about the new (well, not so new) dietary guidelines and provided you with some small tips to improve your overall health and well being by eating healthy and making small changes.

Well, I did promise that I would continue this month with more information and details on an excellent resource that My Plate offers to everyone (free of charge) — a food tracker.

If you access the following website, www.supertracker.usda.gov, you will see exactly what I am talking about. This tracking tool allows you to input your daily food intake and physical activity. Once you create a profile, you can use this as your daily tracker.

Research has shown that being aware of what you are eating and the nutrient content can assist in making healthy changes and choices. There are many tools and tracking devices available, but this one is easy to use and understand, and also free to everyone.

I can go on and on about the benefits of tracking your food and exercise, but the most important aspect is seeing what you are eating and the breakdown of the different foods.

The Super Tracker has many different aspects and information, and the best way to learn is to go to the above website and start your tracking. You will be amazed at the amount of information available to you and, as I mentioned a few times, at no cost.

You will be able to use this as your daily tracker and create a profile, reports and even printouts. In addition, you can create a plan of action to follow.

I can go on and on about the features of this tracking tool, but I want to encourage you to take a look for yourself. Even if you don’t use it as a daily food and activity tracker, you can use it to look up the nutrient content of different foods and recipes to get baseline information and see what you are eating and how you can make some changes or adjustments.

As you can see, I love this overall site and also this particular tracking tool that I feel so many people can benefit from. I know there are a million different tools out there to use, but the Super /Tracker from the USDA is free to everyone with a limitless amount of information and tools.

Of course, I can’t just stop here, so next month I am going to go beyond the tracking tool with the hope that many of you have already taken the plunge and started tracking. Good luck!

Kirsten Lupinski has a bachelor of science in nutrition from the University of North Carolina, a master of science in health education from the University of Kentucky and a doctorate in education from the University of Cincinnati. She has worked in the health education field in various capacities (corporate health, community health, college health and wellness and university education) for more than 17 years. She and her husband have three young children: 9-year-old twin sons and a 7-year-old daughter.