Body mass index (IBM) is an index of a person’s weight in relation to height used to estimate relative risk of health problems related to weight, a healthy body mass index is 18. 5 to 24. 9. My calculated IBM is 22. 5 which puts myself in the healthy weight range. The Hammy method calculates a person’s ideal weight for their height. According to the Hammy method ideal weight for my height of 65 inches is 125 to 137 pounds (Duke, 2014). I weigh 135 pounds which barely places my weight in the ideal range.
After recording my daily intake of food, I compared my consumption to the DOD pyramid which shows the recommended servings of each food group. According to the food pyramid, milk, yogurt, and the cheese group recommend 2-3 servings a day. My diary shows that my consumption of this food group varies. There are days that I would consume more than the recommended amount and other days I would consume within the normal range. My consumption of meat, fish, nuts, eggs, and poultry are within the recommended 2-3 servings.
My consumption of fruits and vegetables are shown to be insufficient. Ironically, I love fruits and vegetables, but I do not have it in my daily diet as I should. For the bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group are shown to be within the recommended 3-5 servings daily. I have realized that when I eat foods with less carbohydrates and fats, I feel healthier on the inside and out. When I do eat foods that contain high fats and crabs it is as if I can feel the oils ad fat going through my body, which makes me fatigue and drowsy .
When I eat sweets and pastries, I first feel the sugar rush and feel awake, but after a few hours I feel the crash and decreased ability to concentrate on tasks. When I eat vegetables and small portions of foods with high carbohydrates and more greens I feel happy, energetic, healthy, and alert (Choose My Plate, 2014). Being a student has a lot to do with my daily decision of what I eat because it is usually has to be quick and on the go, instead of eating a prepared meal with a consideration of daily nutrients, I Just eat what I can afford if I am out, or grab snacks from home.
Luckily I can come home to prepared meals by my mother, but being Armenian, my culture has an influence on what we eat. In my culture, meats, food high in cholesterol and sodium are very common. Our main dishes almost all include meats. On a brighter note, the Armenian culture also has a variety of tasty salads with healthy grains, one specifically known as tabulate and ICC. In order to eat the healthier foods, I can take the time to pack a lunch to take with me with choosing the healthier choices of food in my fridge at home.
At home, I can refrain from adding extra salt to my food or extra sauces such as ranch or mayonnaise to prepared sandwiches as well as moderate my intake of high fat and high Carr meals. Two strengths of mine is knowing I have the ability and will to eat in moderation and the ability to fight the temptation of eating Junk food. I use to weigh 25 pounds more than I do now, and I motivated myself to cut crabs and calories and incorporated exercising in the regimen and earned my results which is another strength of mine.
My weakness is not putting in the effort to prepare healthy meals for the days I know I will be spending most of my day outside of home, this is when I tend to make the unhealthiest choices of foods to eat. Another weakness of mine, is not eating proportionally throughout the day, Vive learned that I usually do not eat until I am starving and then have a big meal, which is extremely bad for your body diabolism. My diet plan will consist of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and lean sources of protein to provide plenty of energy and lifelong health and weight control.
Exercise is also an essential to add to my diet plan because I have had a sedentary lifestyle ever since I started the nursing program. My overall health a IBM are normal, but through this assignment I learned that if I do not make a change in my eating habits I will be on the path to developing health problems in my later years. I learned it is important to prevent health and nutrition imbalances from occurring, than trying to fix them after a health issue has arisen. When the body suffers develops a health issues, it won’t be restored back the same.
Here are my goals and implementations to improve on my nutrition, as well as the obstacles I will encounter: 1) Pre-pack my lunch for days I will spend most my time outside of home. I will prepare my meals the night before so they are ready to go in case I am running short on time. An obstacle for this goal is having to shop more often for my healthier choices of meals, rather than eating something prepared at mom that may not be as nutritious. 2) Read food labels and monitor my daily intake. I will record my intake of food into an application on my phone called My Fitness Pal.
An obstacle with this goal is trying not to forget to do so. 3) If I must give into sweet cravings, I must exercise for an hour within 48 hours. I will go to the gym at least twice a week. An obstacle with this goal is the ability to managing my time to incorporate exercise. Day 1: I had my cereal and milk with a cookie when I had woken up from my sleep. I ate this because I was craving something sweet. I ate a veggie urge for lunch at Everest with my mom. I had almonds as a snack at home while I was studying. I ate it because I wanted to have a snack before I studied with my coffee.
I ate salmon for dinner because that was what my mother had prepared and I was at home. I later had my protein bar when I was at home while studying. Day 2: I had cereal in the morning when I woke up because this is m normal routine. I later ate rice pudding and had a cup of coffee around noon to begin to study. I had my oatmeal at school because I was hungry. Later I snacked on some fried at my friend’s house. For dinner I went out with my boyfriend to Cheesecake Factory and had fettuccine Alfred. Day 3: I woke up and had a granola bar and orange Juice to start my day.
I had an Armenian dish called karmic pilaf, chicken kabob, and baked potato for lunch at home to spend time with my parents. Later while studying I had rice pudding and a granola bar at my classmates house for a study snack. For dinner I went out on a date with my boyfriend to Friday’s restaurant and had a lime margarita with two fish tacos because they are my favorite choices there. Day 4: I had a cereal in the morning to start my day. I took my dog out to the park for a walk and grabbed a granola bar for a snack. For lunch, I had cup of noodles because I was on the go.
I took a bag of strawberries and turkey sandwich with me to school as a snack. For dinner I had lentil soup and had black tea while I was studying. Day 5: In the morning I had yogurt and coffee before heading out to pick up my grandpa. I later had coffee to wake me up so I can begin studying. For lunch I was at home and ate chicken and rice because that was what my mother had prepared. Later I went over to my cousins house and had salted popcorn and pizza and watched a movie. Day 6: In the morning I had cereal and coffee at home.
I went to my friends house to study and took with me oatmeal and rice pudding as well as aloe Juice to have as a snack. I ate these because I was craving sweets. Later that night for dinner I prepared a homemade meal of fettuccine Alfred. I had some more coffee to continue studying. Day 7: I woke up and had a granola bar. For lunch I went to a coffee shop to study and had a cup of noodle and some fruit. Later for dinner I had a buffalo wild wings with my boyfriend and as a dessert had honeydew frozen yogurt from Yogurts.
