After just a morning of logging, a new perspective. A neurotic one. After just two hardboiled eggs for breakfast, I was at 194% of my cholesterol allowance. And I’m a big egg and cheese kind of guy. Fortunately, my cholesterol has always been mightly low. So in this case, I ignored DietLog's advice.

After grapefruit juice, raisins, orange juice and eight M and M’s (I counted) my sugar intake is already at 126%. I don’t know how I could ever reach my target without downloading a dessert or two. I certainly am going to be concerned about going into insulin shock.

The ability to be neurotic, I mean thorough, is complete. You can enter the nutritional breakdown of any food in the universe. Just read the information off the box panel. I assume that this type of attention to detail can lead to huge body image problems that plague our culture. Rather than concentrate on the overall health picture, it is easy to fall into the trap of hyper-analyzing what goes into your body.

I guess I’m ranting -- not about DietLog (it is a well designed program) but our culture in general. I am not a nutritionist and the following rant should be taken with a large grain of salt.

Many people try to lose weight simply by counting calories. They go on strange diets that have been proven time and time again not to work. Simply limiting caloric intake can lead to a slowdown in metabolism. And after one finishes with a fad diet, a person often balloons right back up again.

The only way to effectively alter your weight and nutritional intake is to work on a ‘life change’. To change the way you cook and eat. Where you go to eat. To get on a program of exercise. Permanently. And the change is slow. Gradual. I think that in a program like this, DietLog could be an extremely useful tool. But the potential for misuse is great. The manual is well written, but doesn’t address these core issues.  Dividing and subdividing and categorizing does not necessarily lead to good eating habits. /Rant off

DietLog is a well researched, well written program.  It works as it should and has a well designed interface. It’s a bit crowded at first, though easy to learn. It can do a tremendous amount.  And again, DietLog should be used constructively, allowing a person to get a clear view of their eating habits. But it should not been seen as a way to simply limit caloric intake nor a way to obsessively steer a person away from an unrealistic diet (you should be able to eat a couple of eggs and feel good about it.). It can be used as part of an educational program to change someone’s entire approach to their health.

Back to the wedding, I downed a bunch o appetizers, heaps of potato salad, come salmon, green beans, tomatoes and I could still only get my calorie meter at 83%. Frustrating. On the way back to the B and B where my family was staying, I persuaded my father to stop at a mini-mart to pick up a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. After half was gone, the calorie meter at 92%. I had to polish the whole thing off to get to a satisfying 102%. And I feel good. It’s nice to have a little program like this to encourage you to go the distance. To down the second half of Ben and Jerry’s caramel fudge swirl. Yum. (Though Phish food is still my number one favorite.)

Do I have regrets? My cholesterol for the day: a whopping 433%. But I’m not going to have a pint of Ben and Jerry’s every day. I’m kind of fond of my homemade ice-cream and grandmothers hot fudge sauce. Sodium at 188%. Pretty bad at 4530mg. If I were to keep using DietLog (I won’t because as much as I like the program, I don’t have the patience to keep plugging information in) I’d certainly adjust my sodium targets even lower than the recommended targets. Fortunately, whenever I have my blood pressure checked, it’s pretty darn low. Again, the key, the absolute key to good health is exercise. As important as diet is, exercise far outstrips it in terms of importance to our health. The makers of DietLog, conveniently make ExerLog.

Would I recommend the program? Yes, but proceed with caution. It is an excellent tool that can easily be misused.

Bonus: Grammy Alberts’ Hot Fudge Sauce

2 Squares unsweetened Chocolate

1/3 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Vanilla