Wondering what should be the proper nutrition, it is necessary to understand what is embedded in this concept, to have an idea about the ways of cooking food, about the value of the constituent elements of products, about the regime and the amount of food that is required depending on the constitution, weight, age, sex, physical activities etc. If a person has developed and sticks to a proper habit in this area, and combines it with the systematic physical exercise, such person will probably have an excellent body metabolism.
After reviewing the analysis of my three days diet, I have noticed that on different days I had different strengths and weaknesses. To the common strengths that were present during all three days, I can point out the fact that I did not exceed the allowed amount of calories on any of the days, and that the amount of vegetables I ate each day was always in accordance with the plan. Besides, the amount of added sugars never exceeded the target limit. Speaking about weaknesses, it is necessary to mention first of all oils and dairy products – on all three days the amount of those products that was consumed by me was lower (and sometimes even much lower) than the norm that was planned. Fruits and grains can also be considered as a weak point of my diet because during two out of three days the consumed amount of these products was below the planned amount. With protein foods the situation was even more complicated: on one day the amount consumed was below the norm, on another day it exceeded the norm and on the third day it was fine.
In my opinion, my diet includes a variety of foods; there were different meals each day, different fruits and vegetables. But surely it is not perfect. To improve the variety of foods in my diet I would add steel-cut oatmeal with some berries for breakfast, more dairy products (like cottage cheese, yoghurt, sour cream – in the vegetable salad), and a small quantity of nuts. In order to consume more fruits, I would consider having a fruit salad as a snack once every few days; to ensure variety I would vary the fruits I use each time. At the same time, I would like to reduce the amount of so-called junk food that I eat, such chips, burgers etc. – these foods are high in fat, but they do not provide any healthy nutrients to the organism instead.
Based on the diet analyses, it must be stated that I do not meet my calorie needs – on all three days the total amount of calories I consumed was below the limit; on two out of three analysed days it was about twice lower than the target of 2000 calories. I feel that this caloric goal is realistic but that such amount of calories is too high for me. I felt perfect consuming much more than that and I did not feel hungry – I did not even have a snack on two days out of three. It is highly probable that if I start consuming more calories, I will gain extra weight which I would prefer not to. For that reason I consider that it is better to consider these 2000 calories per day not as the target that has to be achieved, but as an upper limit that cannot be exceeded: everything below it is good, everything above is bad.
The analysis has shown that I do not include enough dietary fiber in my diet; sometimes it was more than two times below the target amount. While dietary fiber is necessary for healthy functioning of the organism, and namely it helps prevent weight problems, heart disease and diabetes, it is desirable to include more of it in my diet. The products that are rich in dietary fiber are vegetables, fruits, nuts, wholegrain products and beans (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015). Therefore, I will add a piece of wholegrain bread to my daily diet; also once in a while I will make a fruit salad consisting of kiwi, oranges, apricots, grapes and yoghurt. Besides, I will start eating steel-cut oatmeal with some fruits (grapes, raisins, or oranges), nuts and yoghurt for breakfast. From time to time I will also eat beans.
My sodium, protein and fat intake exceeded the target limit most of the time. In order to reduce my sodium intake, I will try to put less salt into my meals. Besides, I will try to eat more fresh vegetables without making any salads out of them – that way I will not consume any sodium with them. I will try to use different new spices in order to make my meals taste good without salt. To reduce fat intake I will not eat any fast-food meals, such as hamburgers or hotdogs; I will also limit the amount of croissants and pastry to one or two per week. In addition to that I will eat poultry instead of beef and pork. Besides, I will keep an eye that the dairy products I will consume are low fat. I do not think that there is a need to lower my protein intake; it was mostly only slightly above the target level. It is worth mentioning that if I successfully follow my plan to reduce sodium and fat intake, it will also allow me to simultaneously lower my protein intake as well. Therefore, I consider that it does not require any additional measures.
In accordance with the results of my diet analysis, my added sugar intake is low. I also feel that I do not consume much added sugar because I try to avoid products that have high level of it, such as soda drinks, cakes, candy bars, sugar, honey, sweeteners and syrups. Therefore, my diet does not require any adjustments concerning reduction of added sugar intake; it is only necessary to make sure that in the future I also do not consume big quantities of those products that include high amount of added sugar.
I feel that the results of this three days diet analyses can be called predictable in my case. The results are more or less satisfactory, but still there is a lot that can be improved in order to make my diet healthier and more beneficial for my organism. The most important change that I need to make right away to improve my diet is to start eating more fruits and dairy products; now it is the perfect time to do this because there are plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables that did not undergo any processing and thus are the most useful and nutritious for the organism. Another important change that it is necessary to make is to stop eating junk food and to reduce the amount of salt in my dishes.
The process of using the website was more or less intuitive; I did not encounter any significant difficulties when I was inputting information about the meals I consumed each day. The only small challenge was to search for the most appropriate meal in the list of the meals that are suggested on the website that would be the most similar to the one that I actually ate. But such website is very useful; someone who uses it for a long time will already know the amount of calories, nutrients, vitamins, etc. that their most popular meals contain, and will consider whether to eat those meals or to prefer something healthier instead.
References
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2015). Dietary fiber: Essential for a healthy diet. Mayoclinic.org. Retrieved 26 August 2016, from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/fiber/art-20043983
