Healthy_Eating_Plan

| Healthy eating plan | SCI 141Nutrition | | Anne Banks | 12/10/2011 | | My daily eating habits has varied over the last few days due to excess activities I currently have going on in my life. Lately I have been eating all the wrong foods such as fast food, sweets, drinking many carbonated sodas, and eating a lot of starchy foods. In the middle of moving these foods have become my best friend and I have enjoyed eating them daily. Now of course I know that none of these foods fall anywhere in the food pyramid and they are of course unhealthy and unbalanced meals but they feel you up for the time being and comes in handy when riding down the street. It’s much easier to grab a burger and a small fry with a medium coke, then to a serving of green beans, baked chicken, and steamed carrots. Which do you prefer to eat when driving a U-Haul truck' I also am aware of the daily exercises that I must fit into my busy schedule, but with working full time, going to school, and being a full time mother, it’s difficult to have the time to do anything active or at least pertaining to exercising. The only exercise I get is running behind my 1 ½ year old all day, although many will probably say that that’s enough exercise for the week! I recently canceled my gym membership due to lack of participation, and lack of funds but when I did attend I worked out 2 days out of week and enjoyed sitting in the sauna the other 3 days. These were the days of pure motivation from the summer sun shine and cute two piece bikinis that I couldn’t wait to see myself in. After completing the food pyramid activity I realized that my food intake was nowhere near healthy and it definitely did not follow the nutritional guidelines. My milk intake was calculated at 0.6 cup equivalent when it should have been 3 cup equivalent. This of course did not surprise me because I really do not like dairy products that much other than eggs, and cheese and this apparently is not helping me meet my intake. My bean and meat intake was low as well and I found this to be surprising because I love meat and beans. My meat and bean intake was 2.4 equivalent oz when it should have been 5.5 equivalent oz. I must research a little more to find out how to increase my meat and bean intake to a much higher level than it already at, because I honestly don’t believe that I can eat any more meat and beans than I already do. My vegetable intake was 0.8 cups equivalent when it should have been 2.5 equivalent cups. I absolutely love vegetables so this took me for a surprise when I seen how low my numbers really were. Now I don’t eat vegetables all day long but I do enjoy eating them daily with my evening meals. My fruit intake was 0 and it should have been 2 cups. Now I am going to be honest I love my grapes, and bananas, but that is pretty much the only fruits that I will eat on a daily basis. I am not to fund of oranges, and apples, although an apple a day will keep the doctor away. Lastly, my grains were 2 oz when it should have been 6 oz. When I think grain I think bread and I can’t imagine eating that much bread in one day. To me that is just too much bread. I have been put on a diet that has decreased my bread intake to absolutely none at all so I wasn’t surprised at all when seeing my bread intake was low. I am currently on a diet that consists of me taking a diet pill called phentermine that increases my energy and decreases my appetite. I have been taking this pill now for about 5 months and I have lost a total of 40 pounds. I take this pill 30 minutes before breakfast daily and it literally has me energetic all day long thinking nothing about food what so ever. One down fall to this medication that a lot of people would say is not good does the fact that it suppresses your appetite for the entire day leaving you not want to eat anything. One down fall I have faced with this dietary supplement is the way it makes me feel when my sugar dropping. I start to get the feeling of light headedness, and I have the shakes up until I put something sweet in my stomach. One good thing about this pill is the amount of weight I have loss since taking this pill. After having my son and gaining over 40 pounds I am happy to say that I can finally fit back into my clothes that I was wearing before having my son. I currently work for a doctor that specializes in weight loss and he had a number of weight loss regiments that he prefers his patients to try that are interested in losing weight. He has a natural water pill that he prescribes that helps reduce the amount of water that your body contains, being that I don’t eat as much due to the appetite suppressant this water pill should help me manage the access weight I am trouble losing. One of my major weaknesses is sodas and bread. I am guaranteed to get my 320 calories from my two cans of sodas and my sodium of 55mg per can. This is one weakness that I must gain control over before it gets worse than it already is. Another weakness I named was bread, which I have gained some sort of control over. I remember being a young child and going out to eat at restaurants where they served you these nice, hot, buttery rolls. I would eat at least two of them before my main entrée came out and then turn around and eat one with that. I was a bread fanatic and probably would still be if my doctor hadn’t put me on these pills. One way I am going to change up my habits is by cutting back on the sodas and drinking more water in its place. I am also going to exercise more and stay as active as I can with my 1 year old so that I can continue to lose weight without have to be on an appetite suppressant. According to the activity I also need to remember to increase my milk intake, my fruits and vegetable intake, my meat and bean intake, and my grains intake. This should put me on the road to success with my weight loss and goals to being healthy for the New Year.