My Nutrition Goals

I have struggled with nutrition throughout my whole life, as I am sure many people have. I still struggle with maintaining a healthy diet. I have been very educated for the last 5 years on nutrition and fitness and it is a huge part of my life now. I do not always eat the right foods, in fact my weakness is sweets and as most of us can relate, simple sugars are very addicting. I have gone through many tries to get off of sugar, however it is in so many foods and I have a very hard time giving up my favorite foods. In addition I love salt on my foods and like to put a little too much butter on certain foods.

In contrast with my nutritional weaknesses I have many nutritional strengths. I do not like fried foods; in fact I despise fried foods. I love vegetables and get excited about going to a restaurant that has a massive selection of veggie dishes. I can easily go without eating meat and would rather have plant based proteins such as beans and grains. If I do have meat I prefer lean meats like ground turkey instead of ground beef, salmon, and chicken. I rarely have red meat and never have fried meats.

            After identifying my strengths and weaknesses in my diet I have been able to develop a diet modification plan for myself. I am at a weight, despite being very physically active, where I should loose around 10lbs. In this case I need to eat a diet that consists of 1500 calories. My plan is to eat breakfast in the morning, which I almost never do. My daily breakfast plan will consist of a variety of egg whites, veggies, fruits, oatmeal, nuts, nut butters or whole grain bread. I plan to have a healthy snack two hours after my breakfast and lunch, which will consist of healthy nuts and fruit or veggies. My lunches will consist of sandwiches made with whole grain bread, lean meat, avocado, and veggies or salads with lean cheeses and light healthy fat dressings such as olive oil and vinegar. For dinner I plan to eat dinners with beans, quinoa, fish, lean meats, and more veggies. I also plan to reduce the amount of salt I add to my food and decrease the amount of butter I use on foods. I plan to let myself have a sweet treat each day but in a small portion. In my best nutritional stages I would have one piece of dark chocolate after dinner. I hope to follow through with this nutrition plan by using my husband to keep me accountable and incorporating this plan into the meals I make for my family. Nutrition is a choice, whether we choose to eat nutritious foods or foods that do not do us any good we must realize the benefits of a nutritious diet to ensure a long healthy life. 

Nutrition Througout Our Stages of Life

Nutrition is important in all stages of life, from pregnancy to childhood and adolescence to adulthood. It is important to understand the nutritional requirements and needs for each of these stages. Pregnancy is perhaps the most important stage of the lifecycle. According to, (Kushkituah, 2014), “Approximately 3.6 million deaths of newborns from birth to 28 days old occur due to poor nutrition.” Pregnant women need 50% more protein and carbs than they normally do and also need to increase their fiber intake. Pregnant women also need to take iron supplements, as it is almost impossible to provide the body with the required amount of iron when pregnant just through diet. In addition certain vitamins need to be increased, this is why pregnant women take prenatal vitamins. Lastly a woman needs more energy as her pregnancy progresses; this is why it is important to increase their calorie intake to maintain the appropriate amount of energy.

After the baby is born it is important to understand the needs of an infant. Breast milk has all of the nutrients that the infant needs, which is actually much more than an adult. An infant needs a massive amount of vitamins and much more than adults do.  Infants need more vitamin A and C than an adult and 7 times more vitamin D as well as many other increases in vitamins. Infants also need an increased amount of energy, protein, vitamin E, folate, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, B12, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc.

When the infant becomes a child their nutrition needs change. Now the child is eating whole foods they require a good balance of fruits, vegetables, protein, grains, and milk. Depending on their physical activity, age, and gender their calorie needs vary. It is important, however, to ensure that a child maintains a well balanced diet to ensure the proper growth and development they need at this crucial stage of life.

After childhood adolescences start to go through big changes in their body. They go through perhaps the biggest growth spurt of their lives and their hormones start to change. This is a very important time of development, basically to ensure a more confortable change in their bodies. Energy seems to be one of the biggest issues during teen years. Because more energy is needed the nutrition recommendations are that teens should have an increase in foods that provide energy. Furthermore they need an increase in calories, almost double the calories they needed as a child. They should also have more calcium and iron.

Lastly there is adulthood. Adults do not require as much vitamins and nutrients that they required as a child, however it is very important to the health and well being of an adult. Adults still need to consume a well balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, protein, water, fats, and carbohydrates. Women and men have different nutrition needs. Both need to consume foods with the needed vitamins and minerals to maintain strong bones and tissues however their amount needs vary. The RDA charts give us the recommendation needs for each individual depending on their sex, age, weight, and height.

Kushkituah, Y. (2014). Raising nutritional awareness during pregnancy. International Journal Of Childbirth Education, (3), 33.

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013).  Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.).  Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Can Your Diet Make You Obese, Overweight, or Underweight?

          The most important role in preventing underweight, overweight, and obesity is diet. Our diet is the main contributor to developing these conditions. Although other factors can affect our weight such as stress, exercise, and sleep the one that tops this list is diet. According to, (Seaman, 2013), “In particular, refined carbohydrates negatively impact metabolism and stimulate neural addiction mechanisms, which facilitate weight gain. As adipose tissue mass accumulates, satiation centers in the hypothalamus become resistant to insulin and leptin, which leads to increased caloric consumption.” The scary part of all of this is that people who are overweight and obese have a much higher rate of disease. They have been shown to develop diabetes, cancer, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and a number of other issues.

The food we consume will either help us or hurt us. Developing a nutritious diet and following through with it will help us develop a healthy weight. The best way to do this is to identify your own diet, recognize the problem in your diet, develop a nutrition plan, have someone keep you accountable to follow the plan, and finally follow through with the plan. Nutrition is not always easy, it is very hard in this day and age to follow a nutritious diet. This is why millions of Americans are overweight or obese. As I pointed out in my other blog, obesity is the main contributor to the development of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke. Having a healthy diet gives our body the fuel and nutrition it needs. Having a unhealthy diet throws everything off balance causing the body to become confused and results in either becoming overweight and obese or underweight depending on the diet. So make a good nutrition plan, follow through with it, and choose to live a life that is healthy and thriving. 

Seaman, D. R. (2013). Original article: Weight gain as a consequence of living a modern lifestyle: a discussion of barriers to effective weight control and how to overcome them. Journal Of Chiropractic Humanities, 2027-35. doi:10.1016/j.echu.2013.08.001

Micro and Macronutrients and What They Do For our Body

There are six classes of nutrients that our body requires; water, carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals. We consume macronutrients and micronutrients on a daily basis. The majority of the food we eat is called macronutrients. Macronutrients are protein, fat, and carbohydrates and they are what we consume in large amounts and are what provide us with energy. Macronutrients are energy-yielding nutrients that constantly have to be replaced in the body. Carbohydrates and fats are most importantly what provide the body with the most energy. Protein also provides energy but it also provides materials that assemble structures and parts of the body tissues.

Micronutrients are the vitamins, elements, and minerals that we consume in small amounts. These nutrients are not energy producing nutrients. They work to regulate and form some structures of the body. Vitamins and minerals work to assist in processes in the body such as moving muscles and bones, healing wounds, digesting food, growing tissues, removal of waste, and help to absorb the energy from the macronutrients.

Of all the nutrients I want to discuss how macronutrients are digested, absorbed, and metabolized in the body. Carbohydrates are not all the same and do not all do the same things to the body. There are simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are the carbs that are turned into sugar and provide glucose for the body. Simple sugars are not all the same nutritionally. Fruits work very differently in the breakdown and absorption process than soda and candy; however, both of them provide the body with glucose. Complex carbohydrates are the starch and fiber that provide the body with energy, glycogen, glucose and digestion. Glucose from carbohydrates are what do most of the fueling for the body. Complex carbohydrates are the best carbohydrates to consume to not only fuel the body, but also provide good digestion with fiber and a good source of glucose.

Protein also provides energy, however it is not the best source of energy. Protein works to rebuild the protein in our bodies, as we are constantly losing it, it needs to be replenished. Protein feeds our muscles and tissues and most of all gives us amino acids. Our body can only produce a small amount of essential amino acids therefore we need to consume protein that provide us with the rest of the amino acids we need. These amino acids are what build the protein in the body and are used in a number of ways.

Lastly fats are also a source of energy however they are not only producers of energy they are best at helping store the energy to use when the body needs it. So when you feel like your starving but you still have the energy to finish that hike, just remember that the fat you consumed before has packed that extra energy just for times like this. The best fats to consume to do the job are unsaturated fats. According to the course text, in the stomach fats are separate from other foods and when the fat moves through the small intestine bile emulsifies the fats and enzymes digest them. These fats are more easily move through the body and provide the appropriate function without the risks of disease.

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013).  Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.).  Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

What Exactly is a "Healthy Diet"?

We all ask ourselves what kind of a diet do I need to be eating? Well, with the easily available and inexpensive food provided for us in society today its tough to determine if we are eating fine because everyone eats this way, or are we all doing it wrong? And what exactly is a "healthy diet"? In order to determine this we should identify the characteristics of a healthy diet. The dietary reference intake (DRI) standards say that our diet should consist of 45-65% of calories from carbohydrates, 20-35% of calories from fat, and 10-35% of calories from protein. In order to determine the amount of calories you need you can use the basal metabolic (BMR) rate calculator. Your BMR will tell you how many calories your body needs to function properly if you spent the entire day sedentary. To calculate your BMR you can use the equation: BMR = 10m(weight) + 6.25h(height) - 5a(age) +s(sex). For males add 5, and for females subtract 161. You can also find a number of calculators online as well as ones where you can include your physical activity if you are not sedentary. Here is a link for a BMR calculator: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Well now that we know the balance of intake and how many calories we need we should understand the kinds of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to consume. The carbohydrates we should consume are whole grains and fruits and vegetables, we should avoid refined grains and added sugars. The proteins we should consume

should be plant-based proteins such as beans, grains, vegetables, and seeds or nuts and lean meats, fish, and other seafood. Lastly the fats we should consume should be unsaturated fats, or as I call them healthy fats. Some examples of these fats are avocados, nuts, and olive oil.

Sounds simple enough right? Well eating a well-balanced healthy diet in the United States in this day and age is actually very difficult. With the massive over-portioned foods, fried foods, easy grab foods, and every other food on the shelf with added (trans) fats and high fructose corn syrup and a million other ingredients foods, it’s almost impossible to buy and consume everything healthy. Our whole lives society has trained our brains to want junk food and lots of it. Every social event we attend usually is surrounded around food, and we all know it’s not always the healthiest. Physically, socially, and psychologically it is hard to constantly choose to eat the healthiest foods possible. The best solution to this is to surround yourself with people who want to lead a healthy lifestyle as well. Know the kinds of foods you can eat at social events, and know your portion sizes when you eat out. Don’t buy the foods with a million added ingredients and fill your fridge with a massive selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. And lastly write out a diet plan and plan your whole days worth of food.

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013).  Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.).  Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Wikihow. (2014). “How to Calculate How Many Calories You Need to Eat to Lose Weight”. Retrieved from: http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-How-Many-Calories-You-Need-to-Eat-to-Lose-Weight

Are You Eating Disease?

Nutrition and disease for the most part rely on each other. Well what if I told you that some of the foods you eat are linked to the majority of diseases we see every day? As we all know everyone can get diseases for a number of reasons, however the main contributor of many chronic diseases is our nutrition.There are many chronic diseases that are linked to improper nutrition. Some of these diseases are cancer, hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerosis, obesity, and stroke.

Obesity is caused by the over consumption of foods that are usually high in trans and saturated fats and sugar. Obesity is linked to each of the chronic diseases I listed. What many people do not realize is that every time they consume bad foods it is like they are consuming part of a disease. This is why it is important to understand the link between nutrition and disease.

One other factor I would like to point out is malnutrition. Malnutrition is a serious condition you can develop if your body is lacking in the nutrition it needs. Being to under weight can cause a number of issues. Malnutrition can affect your skin, digestive tract, lymph tissues, and its overall response to invaders to fight them off. In addition malnutrition can lead to death due mainly to the bodies inability to fight off diseases.

 Not being aware of what is in the foods we eat and the lasting effects the foods we eat have on our overall health can be a critical error. As I discussed earlier we can develop a number of diseases and one I listed was cardiovascular disease.

Well did you know that, (Lin, Chang, Wang, & Ho, 2013, p.1), “Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the worldwide?” Guess what causes cardiovascular disease? Well, cardiovascular disease is a general term for disease in the heart and blood vessels. Arteries can become blocked with plaque interrupting the blood flow through the heart eventually leading to a heart attack or stroke. According to the course text, (Sizer, & Whitney, 2013, p.429), “A diet high in saturated fat is a major contributor to the development of plaques and the progression of atherosclerosis.” People are just consuming too much sodium, trans and saturated fats, cholesterol, and calories.

So, when you pick up that greasy hamburger and french fries, imagine them turning into plaque and building a wall in your arteries, it might make you think twice about how nutrition effects your health.

Lin, Y., Chang, C., Wang, Y., & Ho, T. (2013). Acute and Prolonged Adverse Effects of Temperature on Mortality from Cardiovascular Diseases. Plos ONE, 8(12), 1-8. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0082678

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013).  Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.).  Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.