Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat: The Food, Exercise, and Activity Tracker Diary

Whether you’re a structured person, looking for a system that helps you track your calories, carbs, and fat or a more visual person, looking for a system that creates a picture of what you eat, Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat is just for you. This patented “connect-the-dots” approach is easy, fun, and so inspiring. For some, it’s almost game-like, a competition against oneself to stay within the matrix of dots.

No matter if you want to lose weight, have diabetes and need to count carbs, or want to cut back on the amount of fat you’re eating, Drawing the Line can be customized to your specific needs. Want to follow a “Low-Carb” Diet? Or maybe a “Low-Fat” Diet? Easy. Maybe you just want to be on a “Balanced Diet”. Done. Instructions are provided to help you set up a personal “Daily Connection” (the matrix of dots).

On the Daily Connection, not only can you “draw the line” on calories, carbs, and fat, you can track your hunger and fullness before and after each meal, keep tabs on your blood sugar if you have diabetes, tally food groups eaten and the amount of fluid you drink per day, as well as how much exercise you’re getting. Choose one or all of the options. Realize that once you’ve gotten into a rhythm of what works for you, you can stop “drawing the line” for a while. See if what you’ve learned is sticking and working. Occasionally, pick up the system for a refresher course or if you find yourself backsliding, start “drawing the line” again.

There are over 800 foods included in The Food Lists with all the information you’ll need for drawing the line. You can also use the numbers on the Nutrition Facts label, converting that information into dots for “drawing the line”. There are four Food Lists, all with the same 800 foods. They’re not only divided according to many different food categories, but also are sorted in different ways to easily find what will work with your daily nutrient allowances. The first list is alphabetical. The second list sorts the foods from the least to most calories. The third list sorts the foods from the least to most carbs. And the last list sorts the foods from least to the most fat. The reason for so many lists is to help you stay within your nutrient allowances for the day. In some ways your daily nutrient allowances are no different than your bank account. The bank charges you an overdraft fee when pulling more out of your account than you have while your bathroom scale or blood sugar numbers tell you what you did wrong. On the bright side — at least your nutrient allowance account gets refilled every day. Don’t you wish your bank account had the same feature?

A template of the “Daily Connection” is provided in the Appendix from which you can make copies. If you prefer, get the book, Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat — The Daily Connections which includes 100 Daily Connections. Just tear out a Daily Connection for the day to have with you when you eat. Point in fact, the best and most effective use of The Daily Connection is by being proactive; in other words, select foods that you know will fit and not force you to go over your daily allowances. (See the example in the book of Joe having a McDonald’s Big Mac® and the effect that had on his Daily Connection. This is where a picture is worth a thousand words!) What you don’t want to do is “draw the line” at the end of the day and say “whoops” because you went way over your daily allowances.

You may also find the book, Drawing the Line on Calories, Carbs, and Fat — The Food Lists a good purchase as it is an electronic version of the Food Lists. Load it onto your phone or other electronic device so you have the information you need wherever you are.

Here's to your healthy journey!

Roberta Schwartz Wennik, MS, RDN

P.S. Please leave your feedback for others to see how this system works. Thanks.