Nutrition and Diets

Reflections...

2011-09-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

Through this PT, I really learnt more about my diet and food composition! Since young, everyone has been talking about the food pyramid and how it affects us. However, the food pyramid is only one way of judging how healthy one's diet is. For example, the food pyramid states that we need at least 5 to 7 servings of rice or alternatives, mainly suppliers of carbohydrates. However, how much is a serving is subjective and as I have learnt, this may not be true for certain people. For example, a child would need more protein and calcium for their bones and body to be stronger, but perhaps an athlete would need more carbohydrates and protein, because that would help boost his performance when he is doing rigorous exercise.

I think that the tools I used for the PT were very useful, because it gave a more accurate reading on what and how much of everything I am consuming on average, which is more accurate than using the food pyramid. Also, it is more specific because it lists out things such as the amount of sodium, carbohydrates and dietary fibres I consume. It would help me to improve my diet because it tells me specifically which types of components I should cut down on and which to increase. So from now on, I know that I have to cut down on the salt intake and on salty food and eat more fruits and vegetables. ^^

I think overall, I eat rather healthily, just not enough. xD The percentages shown state that though I am obtaining sufficient amounts of energy I require daily, I am lacking slightly in the fats content. :P Though I don't really intend to increase in that. The calculations are not accurate, because of the estimations in portion sizes and also, the options are SEVERELY limited, so I only picked those that were closest to the item I ate. :P

Besides eating habits, it is also very important to have a healthy lifestyle! We must have sufficient exercise and must not drink, smoke and have sufficient sleep! (So cut down on late nights spent on PTs and AAs! ><)

Comments! :)

2011-09-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

http://i-eat-healthy.blogspot.com/

Hey Desiree! ^^

I think your blog is very detailed and organised. For example, you even gave a guideline on how much is 1 serving according to the food pyramid! :D Also, the table you constructed for your daily diet is very impressive! :O It shows precisely what you ate and what constitutes the final values you get from using the online tools! (:

However, it seems like you are lacking (severely) in calcium! (that's probably why you are so...small) You need to get more calcium! Perhaps drink a glass of milk everyday? (: Also, I seem to notice that a lot of food you eat is fried or uses larger amounts of oil, so I guess that's why you have a higher fat percentage in your average meal than what is recommended. xD I guess the first step would be to cut down on food that uses a lot of oil? Like the potato cutlets, though they are really nice to eat! xD

(p.s. your font is a bit hard to read and the text is a bit small :P)

Comments! :)

2011-09-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

http://insidemystomach.blogspot.com/

Hi Shu Ying! :D

Your blog is very very detailed! I like the way you use the tools, because you have really listed everything down neatly and the information you show is really useful in showing us the food type! (You even count the amount of calories each type of food you eat ><) The organisation is also very good, because everything is put very nicely together in tables. (: Oh, and nice use of visual tools like pictures! :D They help to capture attention and for readers to visualise what you are talking about. xD

On the other hand, I think that its kind of unhealthy to skip lunch (day 3, was it?), but sometimes it is inevitable, especially if we have to go to school, right? ): Still, perhaps you could have squeezed in a sandwich? Or maybe a fruit or two. Like apples. Then not only will you be able to get at least 1 serving of fruit, but you won't have to go through the rest of the day with an empty stomach xD

Overall, I think you eat quite healthily! :D Which is why you look healthy in school too! xD So in the future, don't skip lunch, kay? (:

Comments! :)

2011-09-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

www.oatcookiesandmilk.blogspot.com

Hi Geeps!

You eat too little! Why don't you eat dinner? That's really unhealthy you know! >< Haha, but in general, I think you need more carbohydrates, calcium and dietary fibre. I think that at this age, it is important for us to take sufficient amounts of all these, because it will help us to grow and stay healthy! (:

The diet you listed out seems to be almost absent of vegetables! Perhaps you are not a large vegetable fan, but I think it is quite important that you eat some. If not on its own, perhaps in the form of soup? (eg. mushroom, minestrone etc.) Or fresh juice? Such as carrot juice? :)

Also, your energy intake is quite low, so it probably means you need more carbohydrates. Perhaps in the morning, for breakfast, have bread instead of cookies? From your blog URL, I can tell it would be quite sad to change this habit, but it might benefit you to eat more bread. Or more food in general. ><

On a side note, I like your background, it's so colourful! xD And the way you comment after your posts show that you have really thought through the information presented to you! :D

A Recommended (healthy) Dish! (:

2011-09-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

I found this on a website, and I thought that it would improve my diet! (:

Dish!

Vegetable Lasagna

How to cook it!

Prepare Tomato-Basil Sauce.
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add carrots; cook and stir 4 minutes. Add zucchini; cook and stir 8 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add spinach; cook and stir 1 minute or until spinach is wilted. Stir in salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat egg in medium bowl. Stir in ricotta cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
Spread 1 cup Tomato-Basil Sauce in bottom of 13X9-inch baking pan; top with 4 uncooked lasagna noodles. Spoon 1/3 of ricotta cheese mixture over noodles; carefully spread with spatula.
Spoon 1/3 of vegetable mixture over cheese. Top with 1 cup Tomato-Basil Sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup each mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses. Repeat layers 2 times beginning with noodles and ending with mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese.
Carefully pour water around sides of pan. Cover pan tightly with foil.
Bake lasagna 1 hour or until bubbly. Uncover. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes. Cut into squares. Garnish, if desired.

According to the website, this dish's dietary exchange includes:

Meat: 2

Starch: 1

Vegetables: 4

This will improve my diet, because I have very low amounts of dietary fibres. ): Also, it provides starch, which I am also lacking slightly of. So this is one dish I can try! :D

This is a photo!

Cited from http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/vegetable-lasagna-recipe.htm

(Go check it out! There are also many other recipes for healthy dishes!)

The Food Pyramid

2011-09-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

This is the food pyramid! :D It shows us the number of servings that we should consume of different types of food. Also, the placement shows which types of food we should consume more (carbohydrates, fruits & vegetables) than others (fats, oils, sugar and salt).

This is an analysis of what I ate and the number of servings!

Day 1:

Fats, Oils, Sugar & Salt: 2 (I'm not sure if they are servings, though)

Meat & Alternatives: 3

Fruit & Vegetables: 1 & 4

Rice & Alternatives: 3

Day 2:

Fats, Oils, Sugar & Salt: 2 (I'm not sure if they are servings, though)

Meat & Alternatives: 5

Fruit & Vegetables: 1 & 1

Rice & Alternatives: 2

Day 3:

Fats, Oils, Sugar & Salt: 1 (I'm not sure if they are servings, though)

Meat & Alternatives: 2

Fruit & Vegetables: 3 & 1

Rice & Alternatives: 3

Oh dear, it seems like I am not exactly eating the most healthy diet according to the food pyramid. D:

(P.S. The food pyramid was taken from this website

http://www.hpb.gov.sg/uploadedImages/HPB_Online/Health_Topics/Food_for_Health/Healthy_eating_-_the_basics/Healthy%20Diet%20Pyramid.jpg)

Results! (Cont.)

2011-09-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

The results show that I have consumed too much sodium, which means my salt intake is WAAY higher than what is healthy for my body. It means I have to avoid eating food with too much salt ><

On the other hand, the amount of cholesterol, fats, carbohydrate, energy and dietary fibre is below what is recommended. My first step will probably be eating more vegetables, though I thought I ate a reasonable amount of vegetable anyway. As for the carbohydrate, I guess I will eat more bread and biscuits. As for the rest, um...consume more fats? It sounds very unhealthy and weird to need more fats....

Anyway, according to the table of the percentage of energy intake, I actually reached the recommended range for the total amount of carbohydrates and protein. I am just veeery slightly short of reaching the recommended range for the total percentage of energy intake from the total amount of fats. Fats are important for the body, so I guess I have to find a way to increase the amount of fats I consume very slightly. :/

Results! (Facts and Figures)

2011-09-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

This is quoted from the website, http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/ere/ere070306.asp

"Based on the information you have provided, your daily energy requirement is estimated to be 1,848 kcal. This energy requirement is the level of calorie intake from food that will balance the calories your body burns, thus maintaining your weight. For weight loss, you should consume fewer calories and be more active. If you need to gain weight, consume more calories than your body requires."

	Energy (kcal)	Carbohydrate (g)	Protein (g)	Total Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Calcium (mg)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
Average intake per day	1,410	217.9	48.8	37.9	19.1	72.8	1,040.7	12.2	1,656.4
Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)	1,848	277.2	54.2	61.6	20.5	184.8	1,000.0	18.5	1,232.7
% of recommendation met	76	79	90	62	93	39	104	66	134

View graph of actual nutritional intake compared against RDA

Energy

76%

Carbohydrate

79%

Protein

90%

Total Fat

62%

Saturated Fat

93%

Cholesterol

39%

Calcium

104%

Dietary Fibre

66%

Sodium

134%


	50	100	150	200	250	300	350

% RDA Met

Table showing the % of total calories of diet versus recommendation

	% of total energy intake
	Your diet	Recommendation
Total Carbohydrates	62%	55 - 65%
Total Protein	14%	10 - 15%
Total Fat	24%	25 - 30%

That's a lot of info, so the rest will go into the next post! :D

~Day 3~

2011-09-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

This is what I ate for Day 3 (the final day!)

10am

Chocolate-flavoured milk (1 cup)

1pm

Beehoon with fish slices, soup (1 BIG bowl! :D)

Apple juice (1 cup)

5.30pm

Milo, made using powder (1 cup)

8pm

Fried rice (1 BIG bowl)

Coconut juice, fresh, with coconut flesh (1 cup) :D

11pm

Custard apple (1/4)

It looks like I ate lesser than most days, but the proportion kind of balances it out. So let's see what the HPB website says about my diet! :D

~Day 2~

2011-09-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is what I ate on Day 2! :D

10am

Chocolate-flavoured milk (1 cup)

1pm

Chicken macaroni soup (1 BIG bowl! :D)

6pm

Potato chips, PRINGLES! (1/4 canister)

Milo, made using powder (1 cup)

8.30pm

Fried chicken, thigh (1 piece)

Fried chicken, drumstick (1 piece)

Rice, polished and unpolished mixed (1 bowl)

Vegetable, the green leafy kind (1 serving)

11pm

Soyabean curd (1/2 plastic container)

Yoghurt, natural (1 cup)

Pear, raw, peeled (1/4)

Hmm...today's diet was rather unhealthy. EEP! Ah well, moving on to DAY 3! :D

~Day 1~

2011-09-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is what I ate for Day 1

7am

Chocolate-flavoured milk (1 cup)

11.30am

White rice, packed (1 serving)

Fish in sweet and sour sauce (5 pieces)

Cabbage (1 serving)

Tofu (4 little squares)

5pm

Milo, made using powder (1 cup)

Vegetable soup, homemade (1 bowl)

Mooncake, made with nuts (1/4 piece)

8.30pm

Rice, polished and unpolished mixed (1 bowl)

Fish (10 small slices)

Vegetable, the green leafy type (1 serving)

Melon soup, homemade (2 bowls)

11pm

Longans, raw (6)

Meh, I eat quite a lot! O.O So let's see how the rest of the days fare... On to Day 2! :)

Food and its components

2011-08-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

Food consists many components. To list some, they include:
-Fats
-Dietary fibre

-Minerals

-Water

We need a healthy balance of all these different components, thus we would want to plan nutritious meals for ourselves.

These are some background info on these components :)

FATS

Fats form a category of lipids, which is essential for our bodies because fats serve both metabolic and structural functions. Fats insulate our organs and keep our bodies warm, and fats provide the body with the most amount of energy when burnt off.

We consume fats from the food we eat. For example, some forms of edible animal fats include fish oil, butter, and in the meat and skin in the animals that we eat. Also, fats can be found in the form of oil. For example, sunflower oil, vegetable oil and olive oil.

DIETARY FIBRE

We obtain dietary fibre by consuming vegetables. Dietary fibre is the part of food from the vegetables that we eat that is not digested at the end of the digestive process. As such, it helps in our digestion and bowel movements :P So...it would help our digestive system to eat more vegetable (:

MINERALS

Our bodies require some dietary minerals for it to be able to function properly everyday. Some examples include magnesium, potassium and zinc.

WATER

Water is an important and essential part of our diet! :O We need to drink sufficient amount of water to ensure that we are properly hydrated and for our bodies to function properly! (:

There are still many many many more components of food that are very important, but these are just a few, to give a short introduction to the world of FOOD COMPOSITION! :)

How much should I eat? O.o

2011-08-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

About me (:

Female adolescent, aged 14, height of 160-ish, around 162cm I think, weight 42kg (:

So, according to the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowances), which is the recommended daily levels of nutrients needed for a female of my age group, this is what I need daily:

Protein - 66g
Iron - 18mg
Vitamin A (retinol) equivalent - 725mcg
Vitamin D - 2.5mcg
Thiamin - 0.86mg
Riboflavin - 1.29mg
Niacin equivalent - 14.2mg
Vitamin B12 - 2.0mcg
Folic acid - 200mcg
Ascorbic acid - 30mg
Calcium - 1000mg

It also said on the website (http://hpb.gov.sg/foodforhealth/article.aspx?id=2652) that females of my age group are around 161cm tall and 52kg. Guess I'm falling short of that criteria ><