Healthy Eating Plan Essay

In comparing my diet to the recommendations received by the Food Guide Pyramid, it is nothing like what I thought it was. I am over and under on most of the food groups breakdown. I was expecting to see more positive results in my diet; I thought that I ate a healthy diet most of the time. The grain food group as a whole, I was just one ounce under. I ate ½ of an ounce of whole grains, whereas I ate 4 ½ ounces of refined grains. Therefore, I need to consume more whole grains and less refined grains. Vegetables I was ½ of a cup under for the four day analysis. The fruit group I was under; I consumed ¾ of a cup, and it should have been 2 cups. The dairy group I should have consumed 3 cups and I only consumed ½ of a cup. As far as the protein group, I was over by 2 ½ ounces. Although, all of my protein consumption was meat, poultry, eggs, and a small amount of nuts. I should have had more seafood. I was under in oils; I consumed 4 teaspoons, and the recommended amount is 6 teaspoons. As far as total calories are concerned I received a good status with a total of 1826 calories. However, many of those calories included empty calories, solid fats, and added sugars. After seeing the overview of my food groups and calories report over a four day period, I realize that I need to make some changes in my diet. I need to replace refined grains with whole grain foods, such as whole grain breakfast cereals, breads, and pastas. Vegetables include five sub-groups that include dark green, red and orange, beans and peas, starchy, and other. Typically, I do well with the dark greens and red and orange sub-groups because I eat many salads with tomatoes, carrots, and dark green leafy greens. However, I am the type of person that uses too much salad dressing on my salads. Although, I do use light, fat free, and lower calorie salad dressings. The beans and peas and starchy groups I usually don’t do well with. Maybe I could start adding some beans and peas to some of my salads to incorporate those into my diet more often. Taking my starchy vegetables into consideration, I could eat more corn and potatoes. I already steam my vegetables when cooking, so that is a lower fat habit. My fruit consumption is often a hit and miss category. I need to keep more fresh fruits on hand and eat those for snacks throughout the day. My protein category consists of meat, poultry, and eggs in which case I am over the recommended amounts. I need to take some meats out of my diet and replace with some seafood options. As far as empty calories, solid fats, and added sugars I basically need to pay closer attention to the Nutrition label on the food packages to reduce these intakes. Another issue that I am aware of is that I know that I do not drink enough water throughout the day. The average person should consume 8 glasses of water a day. I drink only one or two. I have chosen to examine food labels for a few of the things that I use on a consistent basis. The first is my Coffee House White Chocolate Mocha creamer that I use daily in my morning coffee. The serving size is 1 Tablespoon which has 35 calories (15 of those calories are from fat), 2% total fat; 5% saturated fat, 6 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of protein, and 0 grams of dietary fiber. My second choice is Light Balsamic reduced fat salad dressing. The serving size is 2 Tablespoons which has 45 calories (40 of which are fat calories); 6% total fat; 3% saturated fat; 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat; 1.5 grams of monounsaturated fat; 2 grams of carbohydrates; no dietary fiber; and no protein. My third choice is spaghetti noodles. The serving size is 2 ounces dry, ½” circle which has 210 calories (10 fat calories); 2% total fat, no saturated fat, trans fat, or monosaturated fat; .5 grams of polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, and 7 grams of protein. The process in which I created my customized nutritional

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