Expectations and Results

NUTR 376: Principles and Applications in Nutrition - Diet Diary Project

Reflection Statement:

The goal of the Diet Diary Project is to use our current technology to understand one’s diet and discover what nutrients my individual body needs. The project used MyDietAnalysis, which analyzes my diet so I can see where changes are needed to make in my personal diet.

I analyzed if my diet met the key principles of healthy eating, Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025. I also compared my actual intake of nutrients versus my recommended intake of nutrients as well my protein, cholesterol, calcium, iron intake, and how much water I was drinking per day.

I learned that I was consuming more calories than the recommendation, but I was meeting the goals of having a diverse diet and avoiding foods high in sugar and sodium. My higher than normal calorie intake was a decision that was due to my workouts, where I was trying to put on more muscle.

By understanding and using the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI), I was able to understand what my diet was meeting and lacking. Then, I was able to take time to understand how to fix what I was lacking. For example, I did not know to limit my saturated fat to less than 10% of calories per day, but then I understood the dangers of saturated fat (heart disease and stroke) so I began a plan to eat leaner meats.

I learned the importance of meal prepping and making time one day to have healthy meals for a week, so I have easy access to meals full of nutrients.

I learned the importance of protein and where I was exactly getting my protein from and how I could add more protein to my diet, such as peanut butter powder or hemp seeds, some things that I normally would not have considered.

Overall, a complete study of my diet gave me the chance to change certain habits and set myself up for a cleaner diet. It provided me with new opportunities and decisions and by completing a project myself, I can later show others how to do the same. The project was a way for me to be a mentor in a healthy lifestyle by first knowing what I could improve on.