Personal Nutrition Analysis

From tracking my food using Super Tracker over the span of three days, I have learned about the deficiencies in my diet and what I need to cut down on. As I entered in the food that I ate, there was a bar graph showing my progress in fulfilling my daily requirements for each of the food groups (whole fruit, grains, vegetables, protein, dairy). According to my weight, height, sex, and age, Super Tracker calculated that I needed 1600 calories a day. For the first day, I did not have enough grains, having only fulfilled 61% of my daily requirements. Furthermore, almost all the grains I ate that day were refined, from the crust of my pizza from lunch. I also did not have enough vegetables, dairy, or protein. However, I had an excess of fruit, eating 115% of my daily requirement. For the second day, I fulfilled my daily requirements much better than the previous day. I ate an excess of grains and vegetables, while I had just a little less than my daily requirements of protein, fruit, and dairy. Although I was closer to meeting my nutrition guidelines this day, I surpassed the allowed amount of empty calories by 34 calories, meaning that I should cut down on refined grains and foods that have no real nutrients in them, like processed foods. For the third and last day of my tracking, I was also quite close to meeting my nutritional requirements. For once, I had an excess of vegetables and basically met my requirement for grains. However, for fruits, protein, and dairy, I needed almost 50% more of my recommended amount to meet my requirements. Overall, over the span of three days, I realized that I definitely eat enough vegetables. However, I do need to increase my intake of the other four food groups, especially proteins. I should be eating seafood two times a week and be getting a full 8 ounces of seafood, but I only ate 1.5 ounces, well under the requirement. Furthermore, I need more dairy in my diet; over the three days, I had 2.25 ounces, when the requirement for me is 3 ounces. From this, I know that I should eat more yogurt/cheese, or in general low fat dairy. Lastly, my overall calorie count is low; on average, I only ate 1198 calories a day, when my recommended amount is 1600 calories. From this, I know that I should fill up the rest of my needed calories with non-empty calories, while also filling up the food groups that I need.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

I also learned a lot from the Falcon Market activity we did during class. From the Falcon Market activity, I looked up the nutrition of a lot of the foods that I eat every day (fast food, Starbucks, processed food) and realized that they added lots of unnecessary fat and sugar in order to make the food taste better. I also discovered that although many foods say that they have zero trans fat, they in fact have a small amount in the form of hydrogenated oil listed in the ingredients. For example, in peanut butter, which is a supposedly somewhat healthy food and one that I eat very often, has hydrogenated oils listed in the ingredients although the trans fat on the nutrition label says zero. From the Falcon Market, I also learned about the benefits of seasonal produce, both nutritionally and financially. I also learned about the importance of glycemic index and load in determining how healthy a food is. Furthermore, I learned about the inaccuracy of BMI, since a muscular and healthy person can have the same BMI as someone who is morbidly obese. 

In order to improve my diet, I could replace many of the refined grains that I eat with multi/whole grains in order to reduce the number of empty calories that I consume and increase my intake of dietary fiber. From my nutrient report of my intake of vitamins, it shows that I need more Vitamin A, which I can get in carrots to also contribute to my intake of fiber. I also need much more choline, which is found in fish. In order to meet this requirement, I should eat more seafood (recommended 2x per week) to fulfill my choline and protein requirement as well. Furthermore, when ordering drinks, I should order the low fat/nonfat version in order to cut down my intake on empty calories and oils. 

If I had the opportunity to coach someone on proper health and nutrition, I would advise them to eat only foods that have nutrients in them, or foods that are not processed with no added sugar. Furthermore, I would tell them to eat more protein than vegetables if possible, since from the Falcon Market, I learned that consuming protein is more important to maintain a body's energy than consuming vegetables. I would also tell them to eat more fresh and raw foods, since they retain more vitamins than cooked vegetables; if they buy produce to eat, then they should also buy seasonal produce for better taste, more vitamins, and a lower price.