Increased abuse of food has increased awareness among people and professionals. The topic of healthy diet has attracted many debates from allover the world especially among young people who want keep fit and maintain desired body shape. Most of the habits learnt in the lessons were hard to adhere with initially and posed a lot of difficulty among many students who wanted to change including me. There have been considerable changes in my diet since the first week when we started the healthy eating plan comparison. The perceptions that I possessed there before concerning weight loss could not work since I would skip meals and then resume by eating too much or eating a lot of fat. I realized that most of the time that I ate, I was not hungry but was psychologically motivated by sight of food, advertisements or idleness and loneliness.
My eating habits have changed considerably because I have stopped impulse eating. From week one when I started filling the food diary, there has been increased awareness of the type of food I need and what value it adds to my diet due to the constant jotting down of every food taken. In the first week sue to forgetting I found myself succumbing to impulse eating of especially starch in form of chocolate, candy and cakes. Towards the end of first week I was able to control my eating habits and I avoided starch. There was no significant change in weight at the end of first week (Ferguson, 1997).
As weeks passed, I was in control of eating habit and diet. I am always reluctant to eat when I am not hungry. The awareness in following a balanced diet and avoiding starchy snacks has brought significant change in my weight. By the end of second week I had lost 1.5 pounds because of reduction in calories intake in my diet (Esther, Winterfeldt and Bogle, 1998).
There has been increased intake of fruits and vegetables in my diet. I usually take fruit and/or vegetables fives times a day which is approximately 80g per day. I mostly take fresh fruits and pure juices, spinach, pulses and lentils. I usually take five portions of cereals or bread and potatoes. However, due to fibre content I mostly take a lot of whole grain cereal.
With passage of time, I have decreased intake of milk and dairy foods like cheese and milk. I have regulated the intake of meat, fish with approximate intake of three servings daily, but prefer plant proteins such as nuts, tofu and kidney beans due to less cholesterol level. Due to increased awareness of my eating habits and commitment to weight loss, I prefer taking foods with fewer calories and hence prefer plant proteins to animal proteins in my diet.
I have reduced fats and sugar containing foods intake in my everyday meals. In fact I do not take any fat or sugar containing foods in most days. I usually prefer cooking my food with unsaturated fat like corn oil and sunflower oils. This is a resolution I made in relation to the mission of losing weight and living a healthy life. I only take cakes and pastries during special occasions like birthdays and friends’ parties.
The lessons I have learnt have really made an impact in my life. I have increased intake of fluids especially fresh fruit juices, water and decreased intake of caffeine containing beverages like coffee and tea. Increased intake of fluids in my diet had reduced digestion complications that were frequent before. In addition, the increased fluid intake has contributed to the smooth skin that I have developed. The changes in my skin texture are remarkable.
Increased awareness due to the daily scribbling has contributed greatly to my choice of foods to take in every meal. My diet is rich because it’s always balanced. Regular exercises are usually accompanied with my diet. I usually involve myself in light exercises like jogging, washing windows, and playing volleyball. Exercises enhanced my lifestyle because I feel relaxed and had constant appetite.
Daily food diary scribbling has contributed greatly to the choice of foods that I include in every meal as my diet. When making food choices I have become aware of the fat content and sugar content of the different foods that I intend to take. In reducing fat content I avoid meals rich in animal fat and prefer to prepare my meal with unsaturated fats like corn oil and sunflower. Food rich in sugar like cakes and biscuits are rarely in my meal.
I am usually aware about increasing vegetable and fruits intake in my diet. My choice of food usually takes a short time because I usually plan for the whole week. Vegetable are usually kept in the freezer.
Bread, cereals and potatoes have become an important consideration in my choice of food. These are usually important because of their contribution to energy needed for performing everyday activities.
When making food choices about the proteins to include I n my meal, I usually prefer including plant proteins more often than animal proteins. Plant proteins are cheap to obtain and usually have fewer calories as compared to animal proteins.
My choice of foods is usually in relation to my mission and objective of living a healthy life and losing weight hence low calories and less fat content. The choice of food is sensitive to the objective and hence I have seized impulse eating practice.
My food choices too are affected by the occasion for which I am preparing the food for. However, even in parties, I have strong preference for vegetarian meal choices which seem to be healthier.
In my food choices I have, I have realized that breakfast is the most important meal in a day hence I usually make a food choice of heavy breakfast which may include fruits and/or vegetables, cereal or bread, cheese and milk.
I usually include plenty of fluids to accompany the foods. The choice of food has raised awareness in my eating habits. I only include the healthy foods in my food choice, for example, I only take little wine in my diet just enough to enhance digestion process.
Choice of foods is also based on our culture because from which the individual descend from. Mexicans for example, usually include animal organs like liver, kidney and pancreases, potatoes and vegetables.
References
- Esther, A., Winterfeldt and Bogle, L. (1998) Dietetics. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
- Ferguson, J. (1997). Habits Not Diets. Bull Publishing Company.