Carey von Wartburg

Professor Apiafi
Health Education 044
20 June 2015
Project 2: Calorie Intake

Day
Sunday
June
14th

Breakf
ast
None

Lunch

Dinner

Snacks

Mustard Potato Salad

(570)
Pizza Slice (280)
Water (0)
Macaroni & Cheese
(720)
Water (0)

Macaroni & Cheese

(720)
Hot Dog (320)
Lemonade (120)
McDonalds Third
Pound Sirloin Burger
(750)
Large French Fry (510)
Dr. Pepper (270)
Macaroni & Cheese
(720)
Lemonade (140)

Sees
Candy
(480)

McDonalds Third
Pound Sirloin Burger
(750)
Large French Fry (510)
Dr. Pepper (270)
Panda Express Plate
(Orange Chicken,
Beijing Beef, Broccoli
Beef, Fried Rice)
(1760)
Dr. Pepper (270)
Sushi Restaurant Meal
(Tuna, Salmon,
Yellowtail Nigiri,
California roll, Spicy
Tuna roll, Philadelphia
roll, Baked Salmon
roll) (1577)
Dr. Pepper (540)
Five Guys Hamburger
(two) (1570)
French Fries (244)
Coca Cola (280)

Monday
June 15th

None

Tuesday
June 16th

None

Son of a Bun
Hamburger (774)
Raspberry Lemonade
(120)

Wednesd
ay
June 17th

None

Thursday
June 18th

None

Panda Express Plate

(Orange Chicken,
Broccoli Beef, Fried
Rice) (1070)
Dr. Pepper (270)
Beef Cup Noodles
(300)
Water (0)

Friday
June 19th

None

Hot Dog (320)

Water (0)

Saturday
June 20th

None

None

Tota
l
2490

None

2250

Coca Cola
(280)
Sprite (140)
Water (0)

2174

None

2870

None

2330

None

2437

None

2094

This project was very illuminating for me, and frankly, a bit scary. Ive never paid any
close attention to the nutritional value and calories of the foods I was putting into my body. Now
that I have it laid out above, its a stark picture of what I eat and how I eat it. The fact that I never
eat breakfast is, I would imagine, most likely contributing to the high calorie value of my lunch
and dinner meals. As is very evident above, I eat too much fast food and frozen dinner food
which is the major contributor my calorie values. Instead of making pasta or rice at home, I make
a run through the McDonalds drive-thru or Panda Express for the same meals several times a
week. The sodium and fat values of these foods is also terrible and leading me towards possible
or even likely eventual heart and/or diabetes related problems. I need to change this as soon as I
can.
My three nutritional goals would be, first and foremost, to eat breakfast. By eating a good
breakfast, I reduce my midday hunger and eat a smaller lunch. It should also help me feel more
awake and alert during the work day. My second goal is to replace my usual snack of a candy bar
(funnily enough, I didnt eat any this week) with an apple or other fruit. Fruit has far less calories
in addition to being much healthier. For example, if I ate an apple at 80 calories instead of a 420
calorie Kit Kat bar, Id be saving myself 340 calories and even 23g of sugar. For my third and
final goal, I need to cut out soda cold-turkey. Its an empty calorie with no nutritional value, and
it accounts for a huge percentage of the total calories I intake. If I cut out soda, Ill be healthier,
at less risk for diabetes, and my dentist will thank me. Well, not the part of him that wants my
money. In the end, even if I didnt do anything else, cutting out soda would gain me more than
anything else I could do.

My healthy, low calorie meal options for a future day consist of the following: For
breakfast, a Greek yogurt parfait with granola and blueberries at 250 calories. For lunch, a turkey
bacon lettuce tomato sandwich (TBLT) at 375 calories. Finally, for dinner, baked honey mustard
chicken at only 282 calories. I found easy recipes (that I can actually cook!) for all of these
online. Additionally, its easy to toss in snacks like an apple for 80 calories as well. Staying away
from soda and only drinking water or flavored water base drinks also helps reduce the calorie
counts significantly. With water for two meals and a lemonade (100 calories) for dinner, the
above meal plan comes out to only 1087 calories. Thats a whole day of meals for the cost of one
lunch at Panda Express. Not to mention the huge amount of fat and sodium in my current diet
that I could be avoiding.