With each Rocky Food Diary, we ask nutritionist Jackie Berning to analyze the week's menu for habits, both good and bad.

Berning holds a doctorate in nutrition and is a registered dietitian and an associate professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. She has spent more than 20 years as the Denver Broncos' nutritional adviser and is in her 11th season in the same role for the Cleveland Indians. We didn't give her any information about who completed the diary.

"At first I thought it was one of my freshman students . . . hamburgers, chips, Doritos, candy bars, bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast. The only thing missing is the alcohol!" she wrote in an e-mail. "Then I looked at the pattern of eating. . . . Breakfast, late-afternoon lunch, snack (gum and sunflower seeds usually) and then dinner. Then it sank in: This has to be either a baseball player or someone involved with baseball. I have seen this pattern before - sleep till noon, get up and eat breakfast, eat a late lunch at the ballpark before batting practice, gum and seeds during the game and then a dinner after the game, then to bed by midnight (if they're lucky) and start over the next day."

It's a pretty rough life, she says, which makes a healthy diet even more important.

Berning's concerns:

• Cholesterol: Francis' average dietary-cholesterol intake for the seven days was 620 mg. It should be 300 mg or below. "Even if there is no family history (of high cholesterol), this is way too high."

• Sodium: Too high - 5,981 mg daily. If there is any hypertension, then he is really headed down the wrong path.

Berning's recommendations:

• More whole grain. For breakfast, whole-grain cereal such as oatmeal to provide energy and fiber and hold him over to lunch; add some fruit and whole-grain bread.

• Fewer eggs. The American Heart Association recommends up to four a week. "When he wants an egg," Berning suggests, "use one regular egg and one egg white to cut the cholesterol in half."

• Less food that's high in saturated fat. Bacon, ham or sausage should be limited to once or twice a week. Try some other breakfast foods, such as whole-grain waffles, fruited pancakes or a yogurt parfait. "On the plus side, it is great that he is eating breakfast, and I would encourage that because most of the players and coaches I see do not eat breakfast."

• Up the fruits and vegetables. At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Francis' average daily intake of 3,400 calories is about right, Berning says, though he could stand to go higher on days when he pitches. But the percentage of calories from fat - 46 percent - is too high. Some alternatives:

- an apple instead of apple pie

- salads with low-calorie dressing instead of chips

- bananas instead of chocolate bars

- grapes, strawberries and cherries

instead of high-calorie snack foods

• Drink more water. "I like the idea of a sports drink if he is in the hot sun performing, but I would suggest drinking more water throughout the day and then using the sports drinks for before, during and after the games."

• Increase calcium and magnesium. "It's nothing that a carton of yogurt or glass of skim milk could not cure," Berning said. Otherwise, his intake of vitamins and minerals is fine. "The sunflower seeds are great and are an excellent source of vitamin E."