Learning to Implement Quantified Nutrition

In the previous two articles you have understood what is Quantified Nutrition and also the benefits you can reap for life once you start to follow it.

Some people are intimidated by the thought of measuring food before cooking. But do you not measure food when you are following a new recipe?

As you try it a few times, you get a sense of the portions and after some time you do not need a weighing scale for that recipe. Similarly, you are following a new way of looking after your health. The one in which you need to re-learn the correct portion sizes of each food group that you need to consume on a daily basis.

Once you have followed this for a few weeks, you will have a better understanding of what your daily food plate should look like. After a few weeks or months, you would not need to measure your portions, but until then it is a good idea to measure your food.

The basics are simple, get a food weighing scale and measure the ingredients of the food you are cooking for yourself.

The food weighing scales are simple to use and do not cost much at all.

Some rules for measuring food when you are following Quantified Nutrition

• It is best practice to measure the raw ingredients instead of the cooked final dish. This is because the nutrition information available are more reliable for raw ingredients than a full recipe. Also, for any recipe people have different ways to prepare it, some add a lot of oil, while others don’t at all.The idea is to track your calories and nutrients to the best possible estimate. Measuring ingredients before you cook them is the best way to do that.
• When you are using packaged food items, like bread, pasta sauce, salad dressings, etc, they will have a nutrition label on them which will give you all the nutritional information you need on them.If you are not sure how to read the label, you can go through the linked article that explains the finer points. You would have to still measure the packaged food items you are consuming.
• The oil, used for cooking, should also be accounted for. This is because 1tbsp of oil can be as much as 135 calories.
  Measure it and account for it.
• Do not miss weighing your fruits. They are nutritious but their calorie intake also needs to be accounted for.
• It is a good idea to initially weigh the vegetables too because even though most have negligible calories, you can weigh them to track your fiber intake.
• You need a minimum amount of fiber in your diet for a healthy and clear gut.

Like this, quantifying food will make your health journey easy and sustainable. It allows you to add your favourite foods to our nutrition plan. It does not force us to depend on the so-called “diet foods” marketed in supermarket aisles.

The next step is to understand the Basics of what will go into building a Nutrition Plan for yourselves.