Diet Analysis: Creating a Nutrition Plan with Multiple Health Issues

I am a 35 year-old healthy female, and I do not have any health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, or any types of chronic conditions. I am currently a full-time student at USF. My height is 5 feet 10 inches, and I weigh 165 pounds. My BMI is 23.672, which falls within the healthy range for my height and weight. As indicated by the National Institutes of Health: BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered to be a normal. My waist measures 31 inches, which is considered acceptable.

I am not pregnant, and I am not currently on any dietary restrictions. I have one daughter who stays at home with me and keeps me busy. I do not have enough time to cook, therefore, I eat unhealthy food from fast food restaurants. I was on a diet three months ago; however, I gained more weight back after I finished my diet because I consumed food that was high in kcalories but low in nutrition such as chocolate, ice cream, cakes, cheeseburgers, hamburgers, and sweet beverages.

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I do some moderate physical activities such swimming, running, walking, and bicycling. For example, I like to swim in the swimming pool for one hour twice a week and run for 30 minutes every other day. My daughter and I love to ride bicycles together for two hours every weekend. Also, I like to walk at moderate speed for thirty minutes every day. However, I spend a lot of time at the library reading books and studying for my classes.

I am very interested in analyzing my diet because I should change my eating habits as they affect not only my health but also influence my family members.

To keep my body in a good shape, I have to make sure that I can balance my protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamin, and mineral intake with my physical activities. I need to consume healthy food that includes dairy, fruits, grains, vegetables, and proteins. My goal is to learn the analysis process and compare my average daily intake for three days with The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendations to write my personal healthy diet which will help me lose belly fat and stay as healthy as possible. I am going to use 'Diet and Wellness Plus+' in MindTap to do personal average daily diet analysis from 6/19/2019 to 6/23/2019.

Data and Diet Analysis

In my opinion, 'Diet and Wellness Plus+' was very useful program that helped me to review my calories intake through the energy breakdown report, which included the total amount of kcalories. Based on my 'average daily intake' and the DRI's goals, I exceeded my estimated daily consumption for kcalories by 18%.

My 'average daily intake' of carbohydrates was within DRI's recommended 'goals': 45-65% of the kcalories in my diet came from carbohydrates. I consumed 282.69 grams of carbohydrates that represents approximately 1,130.76 kcalories. The amount of carbohydrates contributed to the total amount of kcalories equaled to 50.668%.

My 'average daily intake' of fat was slightly higher than the DRI's recommendation of 20-35% of my total calories should come from fats. My average total fat intake was 79.905 grams, which equaled to 719.145 kcalories. Fat accounted for 32% of my daily calories The amount of fat contributed to the total amount of kcalories was approximately 32.224%. The amount of saturated fat has to be less than 10% from the total kcalories. According to my diet analysis, I consumed 214.4 kcalories of saturated fat, which was slightly higher than the DRI's recommendation.

By dividing my weight - 165 lb - by 2.2 then multiplying the result by 0.8, I was able to calculate my protein Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). My protein RDA was 60 grams. My 'average daily intake' of protein was also higher than DRI's recommended range: 10-35% of the total kcalories in my diet should come from protein. My average daily protein intake was 93.026 grams which represented 372 kcalories. The amount of protein contributed to the total amount of kcalories equaled to 16.674%.

By using 'Diet and Wellness Plus+', I was able to track the amount of dietary fiber, fatty acids, cholesterol, and sodium. During the studying, I consumed 19.046 grams of dietary fiber daily which was slightly below the DRI's goals of 25 grams per day. I was 6 grams under the recommended dosage. Based on my 'average daily intake', the consumption of the essential fatty acids was extremely higher than the DRI's recommendations. I consumed 16.258 grams of omega-6 Linoleic fatty acid and 1.485 grams of omega-3 Linolenic fatty acid, which was higher than the DRI's goal by 35%. My average daily consumption of cholesterol was 339.615 mg, which was slightly higher than the normal value of 300 mg. My average daily sodium intake over the past three days was 237% of the DRI.

I exceeded my estimated daily intake by 346 kcalories because I consumed a lot of junk food which was low in nutrients and high in calories. Based on my BMI and fat distribution, I am at lower risk for obesity-related medical issue. Regardless of my normal BMI, I still need to make some correction to my diet and enhance physical activities in order to lose belly fat and stay healthy.

My meals and snacks were high in processed sugar, which gave me extra calories. When I was stressful, I drank sprite and ate a lot of chocolate, candies, and cakes. Instead of soda and sweetened beverages, I can drink more water or green tea. Also, I can replace glazed doughnut with watermelon or any kind of fresh or dried fruits. Fruits provide not only vitamins but also they are good source of antioxidants.

I should replace saturated fat with healthier monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, which include the food rich in omega-3 or omega-6 such as tuna, almonds, and salmon. Instead of fried beef, cheeseburger and hamburger, I can eat chicken liver or stewed beef. I can replace butter, which is highly saturated with extra virgin olive oil.

Moreover, I should reduce consumption of food that is high in protein because overconsumption of protein can cause coronary heart disease, weight gain, kidney disease, and cancer. I should cut down on food that is high in proteins food such as chicken, boiled eggs, and peas.

Unfortunately, I realized that I did not have enough whole grains in my diet, which could provide dietary fiber and help to reduce cholesterol. I should include in my meals whole wheat bread, whole grain pasta, bulgur, whole oats, and brown rice. Also, I have to cut down cholesterol in order to improve my heart health: replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats and eliminate trans fats. I can include in my lunch beans, whole grain rice, or eggplants. I was really surprised that my diet was high in essential fatty acids. Overconsumption of essential fatty acids can cause bleeding, heartburn, or rash. I have to reduce sodium intake because food high in sodium increase blood pressure and cause swelling body. Food such as condensed chicken noodle soup, cheeseburger with condiments, salad dressing, and ham are high in sodium. Based on the information from my diet analysis, I have vitamins and minerals deficiencies such as vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin E, calcium, iron, and potassium. To increase my vitamin C level, I should eat tomatoes, pineapple, cauliflower, raspberrieskale, kiwi, and other fruits and vegetables. To increase vitamin D level, I should eat tuna, salmon, soy milk, mackerel and other fatty fish and dairy products. To increase vitamin A level, I should eat carrot, spinach, sweet red pepper, black-eyed peas, cantaloupe, and other vegetables. To increase vitamin E level, I should eat more avocado, peanuts, peanut butter, almonds, butternut squash, or broccoli. To increase calcium, I should include in my diet dairy products as well as non-dairy products like poppy seeds, beans, lentils, and almonds. To increase iron, I should consume more lean red meat, chicken and fish. To increase potassium, I should eat kidney beans, soybeans, lentils, dried fruits, and beets.

Not only my dietary intake has to be taken into consideration but also the level of my physical activity. I definitely should exercise more because it will help me to keep my blood pressure within a normal range, prevent heart disease, keep my cholesterol level low, and stay as healthy as possible. Also, a healthy diet together with exercise will accelerate my weight loss and have a lean body. I intend to run every day for thirty minutes with my sister, and I plan to work out for thirty minutes every day. This is my healthy choice dietary prescription for one week that should satisfy all nutritional requirements of my body.