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Lab 6

Scorecard

Using the ScoreCard:

The ScoreCard is simple journaling tool to use. Start by filling in the date for seven consecutive days. Under each day are seven boxes. The first six boxes are for meals and snacks eaten and the seventh is for activity. In the meal and snack boxes put an H if you think it was a healthy meal or snack, a U for an unhealthy meal or snack, or an M for a missed meal or snack. If your meal is high in fat, above 30%, and/or contains mostly sugars or simple carbs, more than likely it could be considered unhealthy. Use your best judgment in determining if your meal or snack was a healthy one or not. If in doubt, more than likely it wasn't. A can of pop, glass of juice, or Latte' could be considered a snack. Under activity put a Y, for YES, if you accomplished at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, or an N for NO, not getting in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity.

At the end of the week tally your score and give yourself a grade. Research has shown that eating 4 - 6 smaller meals/snack throughout the day is best. In scoring your eating habits, an average of 5 meals/snacks per day will be used in calculating your nutritional intake score. If 35 out of 42 meal/snack boxes have an H, your score would be considered 100%. Count all your H's and multiply that number by 2.86. For example, if you have 28 H's your score would be 80.1% out of a possible score of 100%. The higher the score, the better your eating habits. You should grade your score on the following scale: 90% to 100% = A; 80% to 89% = B; 70% to 79% = C; 60% to 69% = D; and 59% and below = F.

To prevent many preventable diseases, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for physical activity is getting at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week. So for scoring your activity, five to seven days of moderate physical activity, for at least 30 minutes would be, 100%; four Y's, 90% (A); three Y's, 80% (B); two Y's, 70%(C); one Y, 60% (D), and 0 would be an F!!

If you are trying to improve your health, as it relates to your eating habits, try to achieve a score of 85% or higher. If you are trying to improve your health as it relates to activity, a score of 90% or above should be your goal. To maintain current health, as it relates to physical activity and eating habits, a score above 80% should be maintained. Less than that, on an ongoing basis, and your health and fitness could suffer.

Another nice feature about the ScoreCards is that at-a-glance you can tell where a potential problem may be and target that area for future goals. For example, if you were trying to lose weight and hit a plateau, the ScoreCard might show that you're missing morning meals and/or snacks and starting to eat more at night. You may compare two cards, one from when you were losing weight and a current one where you weren't, and noticed your eating score dropped from 88% down to 76%.

Download the Scorecard to your computer (.rtf or .txt).

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