What is Nutrition?

Nutrition is the process of taking in food and using it for growth, metabolism and repair” (Medical net). Our body depends on the about of nutrients we eat from carbohydrate, protein, fats, water to function well. The nutrients we eat helps our body to work together to it full capacity. During my 24-hour diet tracking it seems like my eating habits are not the best. I do not eat bad food daily, but I am not getting all of my nutrients.

Due to me working, school, and hanging out with my friends I do not make the best choice when it comes to choosing what to eat. For example, during the 24-hour diet recall I notice that most of my food intake was not part of the five-food group. Most of my food was not heavy food, it was mostly snacks. Tracking my food intake during this 24-hour diet recall help me to realize that my diet is poor. It was hard for me to remember to recall my food intake during the 24-hour because I did not eat a lot daily, but my reminder helps me to recall the food that I ate.

Hunger and fullness diet tracking reminds me of when I was younger. I remember eating naturally without worrying about anything. For example, when we were born our parents did not count the able of calories or measure the amount of food we were eating. I remember when my little brother was born, my parents will know that it’s time to feed him when he cries and that he’s full when we stop crying. Even though babies have nothing to do with the assignment, but they are a perfect of hunger and fullness diet tracking. For example, most of the time we eat when food is available. It is something we have being doing since we were younger. Sometimes we eat without being hungry, but because we are hanging out with our friends, family members, or at a social function we decide to eat something even though we might be full. During my hunger/fullness food tracking I discover that when I eat certain food my body reacts to it differently. For example, when I eat Jamaican bee patty for breakfast, I will usually feel tired and heavy, but when I eat blue berry muffin two hours later, I felt excited and had more energy. Whenever I eat noodles for dinner, I felt sleepy. I also notice that I ate a lot of chips, and fruit snacks while I was on campus because I was around my friends and will eat them even though I was not hungry. The pros to doing this assignment was me observing how my body feel after eating most of the food I eat daily. One con I notice while during this assignment was, I had a had time trying to stop myself from eating when I was not hungry.

The past two assignment enough me to improve a little bit on my diet. In my one-week diet tracking on my fitness pal, I recorded all the food I ate during that week with accuracy. I recorded my nutrients, vitamins, carbohydrate, and fats. While tracking my food intake for that week, I notice that my calories level was not high as I expected it to. For example, somedays I was not meeting my daily calories requirements. One factor that made my diary interesting was that I was able to see the able of vitamins, sodium, potassium and other nutrients I eat regularly. When doing this I discover that I have been lacking two of my vitamin’s intake, like vitamin A, and vitamin C. One cons I notice while doing this assignment was that it was hard and disturbing because I have never track what I ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner or for snacks. I found the one-week tracking log useful because it helps me to watch and realize what I have being eating regularly.

For example, my total calories for one day was about 1,533 compare to the daily goal of 1,490. This assignment was my favorite and it made me very emotional because I knew that my eating habit was not the best, but I did not realize that I was lacking my major nutrients for my body to function well. On the third day, I remember telling my mom that we need to start buying more healthy food because I felt depressed that I was not meeting my daily goal for my nutrients. Especially since I was eating food that are high in fats, because of that I felt like I was gaining a lot of weight while tracking during that one week. It was my favorite assignment because this one help to observe my diet for a longer period. As compare to the other assignments that was for a day, this assignment gives me account for the number of vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and other nutrients that your body will need to function properly.

Micronutrients is when things are required in a small amount. They consist of our vitamins, potassium, iron, sodium, calcium and water. Because of the name micronutrient our body only need small amount or it to function properly. While doing this assignment I notice the essential need for micronutrients in our body. Each nutrient has a specific job in our body. While tracking my micronutrients I notice that I was always over my daily limit for sodium, which I discover might maintain my fluid proper balance. I discover that I was lacking in vitamin A, and C. day 1, I was 88% under my daily limit for vitamin A. I am also lacking with iron and a few cups of water. This assignment was an eye opening for me to make a better choice in my food choice. One pro to tracking my micronutrient is being inform of my health risk if I continue to lack my daily nutrients. This assignment also made me emotional because I did not know about the major health risk of lacking my daily nutrients. While doing this assignment I felt like the information was being through at me, I was shocked when I discover the pros and cons of lacking your micronutrients.

My smart goal was to eat breakfast that has all the four food groups everyday still thanksgiving. While doing this goal I had to plan out my daily breakfast food. For example, most days my breakfast will be a whole grain bagel, peanut butter, apple and a glass of milk. Some days I will eat fry eggs, waffles, banana, and apple juice. My goal was successful till the day before thanksgiving when I skip breakfast and did not following my smart goal. I chose this smart goal because of the past four assignments. I discover that my daily meals did not include the four different food groups. Some unexpected barriers that arose was me running out of food that had the four-food group in it. Another was that I forgot to eat breakfast at home is I had to get something to eat at trinity deli I ate corn flakes and milk. In the future when face with these barriers I will make sure to go grocery shopping for a lot breakfast food before starting the goal. I will choose the same goal in the future because it helps me to move closer to a healthy lifestyle. While doing this goal I will add another goal to it. probably decide to eat more dark vegetables like spinach and broccoli for a week first.

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