Diet analysis Essay

At a young age, I had always had an aggressive appetite, never caring about what I put into my body because I was young, and it was of no concern to me. Over the last 5 years, I have been more aware of my eating habits, but still not making a conscious effort to change what my body intakes. Throughout, My Diet Analysis research, I was able to identify eating habits that I was unaware of specifically during the weekdays. I decided to record two of my busiest days during the week, Monday and Tuesday and one lacks day, being Sunday. My findings were somewhat surprising, showing me on paper just exactly how unhealthy my eating habits are. My diet analysis gave me just the motivation I needed to fully make a change within my everyday diet. Overall, it is very clear that I need to make some changes within my diet on a daily basis in order become fit and healthy. My results from my 3 day recall shocked me slightly, because I didn’t realize how little I ate, but how unhealthy many of my food choices were. I wasn’t in range with my calorie intake for the 3 days. My calorie intake was over 1500, and my recommended calorie intake was a little over 1200. The foods I ate that consisted of the most calories were foods from fast food restaurants, mainly being McDonalds, and foods that were full of carbs. I generally eat a lot of fast food during the week because my schedule is so hectic and nonstop, I don’t have time to indulge in anything else. My calorie intake was higher on Sunday and Tuesday than it was on Monday. My overall calorie intake on Monday was 100.1, Tuesday it was 2312.7 and on Sunday 1258.7. I was a little surprised to see that my calorie intake on Monday was lower than on Sunday, but after reviewing the foods I consumed, it made sense. Out of the 3 days, Monday was the day I consumed the most vegetables, green tea, and water. I typically drink a lot of water and green tea every day, so that wasn’t a surprise, but according to my di et analysis my vegetable intake for Monday was excellent. My vegetable intake is usually higher on Sundays because my mother usually cooks, and makes at least two green vegetables for that particular meal. As I continued to review my diet analysis I noticed I barely ate any fruits, which was very clear to see considering over the 3 days I had only eaten chunked pineapples, and the fruit that was in a smoothie. According to the USDA dietary guidelines my fruit intake should be at least 33% a day. It’s obvious that I need to substitute snacks, such as cookies, and chips for an apple or a fruit cup every day to meet my fruit  requirement. I wasn’t too surprised to find that my fruit intake was low because I don’t tend to eat fruit on a daily basis. I would defiantly say I indulge more vegetables than I do fruits, and that probably won’t change too much when it comes to my diet. Even though I’m aware that I have a slight addiction to salt and salty foods I was still disgusted at my sodium intake. My average sodium intake came out to be 12263.4 over the 3days. I am now more than ever motivated to stop adding salt to everything I eat because not only is it a bad habit, but it can do much damage to my body in the long run . Along with having a high sodium intake, my Trans and saturated fat intake was high. Trans fat is something I never want in my system, but consuming fast food doesn’t necessarily help me met this goal. My average intake of saturated fat over the 3 days was 13.7 and my overall trans-fat intake was 1.5. Although my trans-fat intake wasn’t exceeding, it’s not something I want to ingest/digest even in small amounts. I typically drink a lot of water, but according to my diet analysis, I need to be drinking twice as much as I consume. I don’t drink sodas or juice at all, so my beverage intake only consists of wate r and green tea; so seeing that I still need to consume more water was shocking. My average intake over the 3 days was 1,607.19 and I need my recommended number is 2,700.00. This will probably be one of the easier changes to make because I don’t mind drinking water, and prefer to drink water over any other beverage. I believe if I become more active this will help me consume more water throughout the day. Drinking the recommended amount of water every day is important to me because water helps your body work to its greatest potential, and helps with skin, hair and nails. I usually find myself exhausted and extremely tired throughout the day, and never really knowing why or exactly how to change that aspect of my life. When reviewing my Vitamin intake, it all began to make sense. My Vitamin levels are very low, especially my Vitamin D level, which goes hand in hand with my energy; explaining why I’m always tired. My Vitamin D intake was 1.13 which is extremely low compared to my recommended amount, which was 15.00. In order to help increase my vitamin D level, I have to first research which foods have a high level of vitamin D. I do recall when I was 18 my doctor explaining to me that my Vitamin D level was low, but seeing it makes it much more real. The weather has an effect on my Vitamin D level being low as well. The sun is a great source of Vitamin D, but because it’s  winter my exposure to sun is limited. Milk also has a great amount of Vitamin D, but unfortunately I am lactose and tolerant, which probably has a great effect on my Vitamin D level. It would be in my best interest to consume Vitamin D supplements to help increase my Vitamin D levels efficiently. I currently do no t exercise as often as I should considering the foods that I eat on a daily basis. I do however; have a job that consists of being active with children three time out of the week, which is a nice benefit. Once the spring is here it would be in my best interest to go running every day for at least 30 minutes. This will help with my physical activity and sun exposure, helping with my Vitamin D levels. I would like to continue to monitor my eating habits using my diet analysis because I do believe it is hard to determine my eating habits with only analyzing 3 days. But it is still very evident that I need to make some changes. The Diet Analysis project has taught me a lot about my own eating habits and has inspired me to modify them for a healthier lifestyle. Probably the biggest change I will make after having done this project is to increase my intake of vegetables, fruits and Vitamin D. Fruits and vegetables will provide more fiber in my diet (something I am lacking) as well as cert ain other vitamins and minerals that I am deficient in. I will also try to limit my fat intake, especially saturated fats, trans-fats, and fats from animal sources. I may even start packing my own lunches since most of the flaws in my diet are from of convenient and fast foods.