Eva Torres

H.E.D. 044
09/28/2014
Project #2
Calorie Intake with Reflection


I quite enjoyed doing Project #2. Keeping track of what I ate took a little getting used to. I started
a week earlier trying to keep track of my food to find a way to keep better track of my intake. At first, I
started with waiting until the end of day, before sleeping, to input all of my calories. I found that doing
my input like this caused me to eat more calories than what I was supposed to. I then switched to
inputting my information at the end of each meal. This was a little better since I was conscious of how
many more calories I had left. Yet, I found myself still eating more than what I was supposed to. I then
switched, again, to inputting my food information before eating. Doing it in this manner allowed me to
stay within my allotted calorie daily intake of 1200-1550 calories.

The program I used for my calorie entries is SparkPeople. It was easy and accessible to use. I am
able to log not just my food intake but also track my exercise. I was able to input my current weight along
with my weight loss goal. Once I did that, it was able to tell me how many calories I needed it to eat and a
time frame of when I would be able achieve my goal. Along with tracking my calories and exercises, it
also provides top stories, inspiration/motivation, threads of other users, a counseling trainer, and allows
you to make friends with other users in order to provide support to each other.

What I found interesting and what I learned was that I can't and shouldn't look at just calories.
What's the point to eating my target calories if I'm still eating unbalanced meal. I need to also look at my
protein, fibers, sugars, and especially my carbs. That's the neat part of using an app or program to help
you track your food because it gives you all the information you need. Along with my calories, it also
gave me how many grams of the above mentioned categories I should be eating a day.

I found that I kept skipping breakfast, not because I would wake up late, but just because I wasn't
hungry. I also found that there were times that I would skip lunch or would only have dinner in one day. I
learned about my bad habits once I did my table them. So I was able to make an easy alternative to
breakfast which was to at least have a protein shake. My protein shake is Muscle Milk, which I found to
be a good alternative for me, although I know there are better brands but this is what is more accessible to
me. I thought that I had found a perfect excuse to go to Jamba Juice every day, yet I found that I was
having more of my ideal daily sugar intake just in their protein smoothies. These are just some
examples of what I have learned through this exercise.

I admit that I'm a little embarrassed to share my food intake data because it is horrible, but it is
eye opening to find exactly what I am consuming in order to make a healthier change. So here is my
table;

Monday Tuesday Wed. Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
B/F
Muscle Milk
(160)
Muscle Milk
(160)
Muscle
Milk (160)
Muscle
Milk (160)
Muscle
Milk
(160)
1. Muscle
Milk (160)
2. Yoplait
Greek
Blueberry
Yogurt(110)
Nothing

SNACK
Red
Grapes(104)
Red Apple
(100)


LUNCH
Oven Roasted
Chicken
Sandwich(470)
Tuna
Sandwich
(Subway)
(1060)
McDonald's
Big Mac
(550)
French
Fries (340)
Coke (310)
Half
Turkey
Sandwich
(300)
Salad w/
Ranch
(76) Bowl
Gumbo
Soup(56)
Spaghetti
w/Meatballs
(412)
Cheese
Lasagna
Roll (140)

SNACK
Cucumbers(11)
Radish(4)
Banana
(105)
Milky
way (103)
3
Musketeers
(100)

DINNER
Chicken Breast
(158) Steam
Rice(320)
Scrambled
eggs (140)
Tomatoes
(13)
tortillas(110)
Red Bean
Soup (201)
Steam Rice
(320)
Little
Caesar's
Pizza ((270)
Crazy Bread
(270)
Spaghetti
(209)
Roast Beef
Sandwich
(576)
Supreme
Pizza Slice
(573)
Calories 1123 1483 1986 994 744 1358 813 8501


As you may see, I was all over the place with my so-called calorie diet. However, I have been
able to learn so many things by just acknowledging this table. My next step that I'm taking is changing the
way I input my food again. I'm actually going to input my food at least one prior day before. I'm hoping
that it will help me make healthier meals and have a more balanced diet. I'm hoping that planning and
preparing my meals ahead of time will help me speed up my weight loss and easy enough to not just plan
one day before but maybe for the whole week. I have one day already prepared which is this;

HEALTHIER MEAL PLAN
Monday
Breakfast Snack Lunch Snack Dinner Cal
2 Scrambled Egg Whites
(34)
4 oz Cottage
cheese (80)
Chicken Breast
(158)
Cucumber (16) Whey Protein
Powder (120)

4 Tomato Slices (17) Steamed
Broccoli (110)
1 cup celery
(20)
8 oz. Whole Milk
(150)

1 slice Wheat Bread (62) 23.6 oz. Water
bottle
23.6 oz Water
bottle

12 oz. Coffee w/ creamer
& Sugar (127)


240 80 268 36 270 894

I know I still need some more extra calories, however, I will be adding to it if I need to. If I workout I will
be adding more, most likely another protein shake in order to keep my energy up.

Overall, I have enjoyed this project while I've learned how to think about what I'm consuming without it
taking a lot of time from my busy day. It is a fairly easy process but it takes a lot of motivation and
commitment, hopefully I have those two factors.