Dietary intake is a lifestyle factor that has a large effect on health and wellness. After reviewing the required materials for this week, assess your dietary intake by tracking your diet and using appropriate tools to review it. It is suggested you use the MyFitnessPal website or application (app) to assess your diet, but you may select a tool of your own as long as it provides you with an analysis of your diet.
To begin, keep a record of your food intake for at least one day. You may add your food directly into the MyFitnessPal website or app, or you may use the sample in the Food Diary – How to Keep Track of What You Eat (Links to an external site.) web page. You may also create something similar on your own. Assessing your food intake can help you determine which nutrients you are consuming in excess and which nutrients you need more of. Be sure to include serving sizes and all beverages consumed. Review the MyFitnessPal Tutorial (Links to an external site.) and Introduction to MyFitnessPal (Links to an external site.) YouTube videos for assistance on logging your food and analyzing your diet.
Once you have logged your food intake on the MyFitnessPal website or app, scroll down and click on the nutrition tab. At the top of the Nutrition page, “Calories,” “Nutrients,” and “Macros” are displayed. Select each category to review your daily totals. Pay attention to the total amount consumed and your goal for each component. Finally, analyze your diet by answering the questions below in your journal. Your journal should contain the two parts described below.
Part 1: Assess your diet by addressing the following items:
- Analyze your daily fat, saturated fat, sugar, carbohydrates, and caloric intake. Explain how your numbers compared with the goal levels.
- Identify what vitamins and minerals fell below the goal level.
- Elaborate on how your protein intake compared with the goal level. Discuss specific grams.
- Explain the role and importance of consuming each of the following:
- Minerals
- Vitamins
- Carbohydrates
- Water
- Protein
- Fiber
- Fat
Part 2: Examine the effects of your diet on your health and wellness by addressing the following items in your journal entry:
- Identify the effect your diet has on your health and wellness. Does your dietary intake protect you or increase your health risks?
- Explain two chronic diseases directly related to an unhealthy diet.
- Explain two ways you could improve your diet. Be specific and provide examples.
For the journal assignment, write out each question and then answer it. Your journal should be a minimum of one page in length (not including the title page or reference page). As a minimum, include the course textbook and the dietary website you used as references in your response to this journal activity. Include an APA formatted title page and reference page. See the Introduction to APA (Links to an external site.) web page in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.) for guidance. Submit to Waypoint by Day 7
