Nutrition

Nutrition is a very important part of life for every individual. The key concept of this though is that nutrition needs to be a healthy nutrition. People who do not eat healthy can be at a higher risk for health problems and become overweight which can affect a person’s life majorly. People can indulge from time to time but it cannot be any everyday thing if you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle as well as a healthy weight. People who have healthy eating habits feel bad during the day and are not as drug down. This is something that I have learned from experience. My current eating habits are not very healthy for myself or my family. I have gone back to work after being a stay at home mom for the past seven years and it has desperately changed my eating habits. I usually skip breakfast in the mornings because I do not give myself enough time to have breakfast in the mornings not to mention I am just not hungry in the morning. This is a huge mistake from what I have been told because breakfast is the most important meal of the day. What someone eats for breakfast can defiantly impact his or her day. Furthermore my lunch habits are awful as well. Instead of taking the time to pack my lunch I usually eat out. Although most days I do eat Subway there are days that I have Taco Bell and Steak and Shake. Any fast food that is eaten on a daily basis is not healthy for anyone because of the low nutrient content as well as all the fat and calories that it contains. I am on a schedule for lunch and I do not get that much time so I find it easier to just run through a drive threw and grab some lunch. I was raised that families always sit done and eat dinner together to talk about their day and spend family time together. Although when I did not work I made dinner from scratch every night I just do not have time to do that anymore since I have started working. Most nights I do cook dinner for my family but other night we do end up eating out. When we do eat out for dinner it is usually pizza or Mexican and neither of these is very healthy. I guess that I am just not used to working so when I get off I am so tired that I take the easy way a lot. I know that this is no excuse to not make a healthy meal for me and my family and that is why I want to change that. Nutrients that are in my current diet would be iron, vitamin B and Folate. According to My Pyramid.gov (2009) these are all important nutrients that everyone needs in his or her diet. Irons main functions are to carry oxygen into the blood. Also according to My Pyramid.gov (2009) Folate helps a person’s body to form red blood cells and vitamin B plays a huge role in metabolism. Vitamin B helps the body release energy from fats, protein and carbohydrates. All of these nutrients are important and essential to live a healthy lifestyle with healthy eating habits. Fruits are one of my favorite’s foods. Oranges, bananas, strawberries and cantaloupe are foods that I could eat every day. I also love pasta which is good for me when it is whole grain pasta eaten in moderation. Foods that I consume on a weekly basis that are not healthy or lack nutrients are chips, candy and donuts. I eat a lot of sweet food that completely lack any good nutrient value. These types of foods are the ones that I need to cut out of my diet because they are causing me to gain weight as well as feel sluggish during the day. Based on the recommendations from my customized food pyramid results I need to make a lot of changes in the way that I eat. According to these results I should be consuming six ounces of grains, 2.5 cups of vegetables, 1.5 cups of fruits, three cups of milk and five ounces of meat and beans a day. It is also recommended on my food pyramid results that at least three ounces of my daily grain intake should be whole grains. It is recommended that I limit my oil intake to five teaspoons a day or less. Furthermore it is recommended that I have three cups of dark green vegetables a week, two cups of orange vegetables and three cups of dry beans and peas. In addition to this it is stated that I should be in taking three cups of starchy vegetables and six and ½ cups of other vegetables every week. Lastly it is recommended that I should limit my intake of fat and sugars to only 195 calories a day. In addition to the diet plan results I am also supposed to partaking in at least 60 minutes of some type of exercise daily. All these recommendations are things that I know I need to do and will be a big change from what I am consuming on a daily basis. There are going to have to be major changes in my life for this eating plan to work for me. I am committed to doing what is needed to maintain and keep a healthy eating plan for me and for my family. The very first thing that I am going to change to help implement this program into my life is to take the time to eat breakfast even if I am not hungry. The reason why I feel this is important is because if I am eating breakfast then I am less likely to be snacking before lunch. Another way that I plan to implement this eating plan into my life is to start taking my lunch. Not only is this going to safe me money throughout the week, it will make my lunches a lot healthier. If I take my lunch to work then I am controlling what I am eating and the nutrients that I am consuming. I will be able to pack soups and sandwiches as well as fruits and vegetables. Snacking is a huge problem for me as well and the snacks that I have been consuming have been very unhealthy. One thing that I can do to change this is by taking fruits to sit on my desk at work instead of bags of candy and chips. When the chips and candy are sitting there and I am hungry then I will eat them so I need to eliminate that problem. This will help me to get my intake of fruits and vegetables that was recommended in my pyramid eating plan. Another change that I am going to have to make in my life is to start cooking supper again. One thing that I can do is get up in the morning and put food into the crock pot and then when I get home from work dinner will already be done. Also, I can start to prepare meals during the weekend and freeze them that way when I get home from work all I have to do is put it in the oven. This will help to ensure that my family as well as I is getting healthy nutrients that our bodies need instead of greasy takeout foods. A plan that I am going to set into motion today is that my family chooses one night a week to eat out and that is it. Maybe if I can stick to this plan it will help break the habits of going for the quick drive threw food that is not healthy for us. I do not want my children to grow up with bad eating habits that could stick with them their whole lives because I have went back to work. This would not be fair to them. In concluding I am looking forward to implementing this new eating plan into my daily life. This is something that I know I have needed to do since I started back to work I just haven’t given myself the push to do it. By changing my family and I’s eating habits I hope that it allows us to live healthy and happy lives.