Serving size
Open FDA. How to understand and use the Nutrition Facts label. The serving size is the amount the rest of the panel is written for. A package can hold more than one serving. The number of calories on the line is for that serving, not a daily plan written here.
Percent Daily Value
FDA uses 5% DV or less as a low amount of a nutrient and 20% DV or more as a high amount, on a 2,000-calorie reference diet printed on the label. Added sugars have their own line on the current panel. Read the live FDA page for the current wording. CDC’s Steps for Losing Weight still wants the diary to include drinks and snacks that never look like a packaged serving.
Weigh the serving
Too Much Food: a food scale costs about $10 and removes guesswork. Search a digital kitchen scale in grams, then log the grams in MyFitnessPal or Cronometer. Get this the scale search. The label’s serving is the unit; the apps are the log.
- Read serving size and servings per container on the FDA panel.
- Weigh what goes in the bowl. Oil in the pan is a serving too.
- Log the grams in the app. If the package holds two servings, log two.
Hidden calories (Too Much Food)
Numbers below are from Too Much Food. They are examples of calories people skip in a log, not a menu for one person.
The longer table, TDEE as a concept, and the eat-less steps live on Eat less, track the plate.