Week 4 Individual Project 1

Deliverable length: 200 – 250 words

Course Objective(s):

• Apply nutritional analysis to student’s own eating pattern and explain the implications
• Describe the effects of diet and exercise on wellness and disease

Assignment

A busy lifestyle can often lead to stress, which often leads to overeating or eating poorly. As a student, you have a lot of stresses to manage while still managing your health. Adjusting to a new profession can lead to many new stressors as well. With the stressors in your life, how have you been managing your eating habits?

Evaluate your eating habits by recording and analyzing your typical intake for two to three days and comparing the analysis to dietary recommendations. Choose a day that is indicative of how you eat, and record all foods and beverages you consume. Remember to track portion sizes, too. Follow the instructions found in the “Student Resources” section of “Class Content” for My Plate Tracker, and type in your food list for the day. Print out a “Food Record” and “Nutrient Analysis Report,” and evaluate how your diet compares with recommendations given. Use the questions below for your critique.

• http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ How does your caloric intake compare with the My Plate Total Calories recommendations? If your intake differs from recommendations, has your weight changed recently? Is the change consistent with the difference in caloric intake? If the day recorded was typical for you and your weight has been stable over a long period, why don’t they agree? (Consider the data for this question. Did you find all of the foods you consumed in My Plate? Did you remember to include all foods and beverages, including kitchen tastes? Do you think your activity level is commensurate with My Plate calculations for your intake needs? How does activity factor into caloric intake?)
• Did you meet the recommendations (RDA) for protein? Using a percentage of total calories (same as kilocalories), calculate your intake and compare with recommendations of 15–35% of total calories as in this example in which total caloric intake is 1,800 kilocalories, with 50 grams of protein:

50 grams protein x 4 kcals/gram = 200 protein calories

200 protein calories / 1,800 total Calories = 0.11 = 11%

Did you meet both recommendations? If you met only one recommendation, how do you account for not meeting the other?

• How did you do with sodium, saturated fat, and cholesterol intake? For nutrients that are high, give an example from your food choices that contributed to your intake level. What are the health implications of a diet high in these nutrients?
• Did your dietary fiber intake meet or exceed guidelines? What are the health implications of not meeting daily fiber intake recommendations?
• List 3 vitamins and/or minerals that you consumed in amounts greater than the RDA. Give an example of food choices that contributed to your intake for each.
• List 3 vitamins and/or minerals that you consumed in amount less that the RDA. What possible consequences could you incur from long-term deficiency in these nutrients? What foods could you add to increase your intake of these nutrients?
• Turn in your My Plate Food List and Nutrient Analysis Report by either cutting and pasting into a Word document or printing as a PDF document.

Please submit your assignment.

You will be graded on the following: