How did adding more fruits/vegetable/legumes/nuts to your diet go?

Posted: June 7th, 2022

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Learning Goal: I’m working on a nutrition writing question and need a sample draft to help me learn.
ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
Purpose
For this assignment you will learn to track your dietary intake using a food journal and evaluate the nutrient content of what you eat. You will learn how to use Cronometer (Links to an external site.), entering data from your food journal to create reports summarizing the nutrient content of your diet during the four-day period. You will assess your intake and compare to standards set by public health policy.
Outcomes
You will produce:
A 4-day food journal, describing:
what you ate
when you ate it
daily physical activity
A set of screen shots of the reports (listed below) from Cronometer based on the information from your diary. These reports include:Calories Summary
Macronutrient Targets
Nutrient Targets, and
Highlighted Nutrients
A 3-4 page personal essay in which you interpret and assess your nutrient intake values. You will also address any changes to your diet you would like to make.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Four-Day Food Journal and Cronometer Reports
1.a. Food Journal.
Record/write everything you eat and drink and estimate (as close to accurate as you can be) of the amounts of each food item for four consecutive days. One of these days must be a Saturday or a Sunday. Use the suggested “tips” for estimating portion sizes in chapter 2 of the textbook. (After measuring the first few food items you should be able to visually estimate the amounts of each food you eat.) If you are taking supplements (vitamins, minerals, proteins, etc.) record the type of supplement and the dosage you are taking but DO NOT enter this as part of your data.
As you record your food intake, you need to also keep a separate journal of your daily living and any organized exercise and activities; your feelings and emotions; when, where, and why you choose the foods you eat. The daily journals must be kept during the same days you are recording your food intake. There is no specific format for the journal; I prefer a short daily narrative. The information in your journal will help you examine your food habits and help you interpret and analyze the results of your food intake record. (The printout of your entries in the computer is only your raw data
* Nutrition Challenge: See if you can increase your plant food (fruit/vegetable/legume) intake as you complete this project.
1.b. Cronometer Data
Enter your food journal data into Cronometer, and get summary reports for the four days of your journal.
Instructions for using Cronometer:
Visit www.cronometer.com (Links to an external site.), and set up a free account, entering your height, weight, and age information.
In the “Diary” tab, enter your food consumption for each day, by clicking “Add Food,” and typing the foods you’ve had into the search engine.You can also add physical activity by clicking “Add Exercise.”
Once you’ve completed your 4-day diary, you can get your averages for the 4 days by doing the following:
Select the “Trends” tab, at the top of the page.
In the “Daily Averages for” field, the software will only show averages for the last 7 days, so select that option, and then in the field to the right, select the option “Non-Empty Days.”This will prevent your averages from being distorted by days with no data.
Scroll down and you will see the information from the last four days summarized.
Take screen shots of the reports.You can paste these directly into your assignment, or you can attach them separately as PDFs.Note: the “Print Report” function only works for paid subscribers, so you will not be able to access it.The screen shot option will allow you to use this software for the assignment without having to sign up for a paid subscription.
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Personal Essay
What does review the data mean? How do I analyze data?…….
Read and review the data reports (listed above). These results will help you assess your eating habits and nutrient intake so that can write your observational “first person (I) essay.”
In reviewing your nutrient intake results (printout) note any variations in your daily intake. Look at energy and individual nutrient intake values and determine adequacy compared to the recommendations.
Examine your daily journal and look for habitual consumption of the same foods at certain times, with whom you eat, when etc. Look for consistencies and inconsistencies in your food and beverage intake as well as your activities. For example: On the day you were so tired and sleepy by 2:30 in the afternoon is this also the day you only had a doughnut and coffee for breakfast and you skipped lunch? The day you went out for pizza and beer was also the day you had the highest Calorie consumption. Was it the pizza?
All these observations will help you determine not only how much or how little you eat, but also will help identify the circumstances when you choose to eat certain foods and other factors that might affect the overall adequacy of your energy and nutrient intake. The data can be very revealing.
What to write about..the “I” essay..: analysis and interpretation of results
Based on the results of the computerized nutrient intake analysis and the notes in your daily journal you must write a 3-4 page first person essay about the adequacy of your diet, your eating habits and the varying patterns you observed from your daily food consumption. In your essay reflect on and address the following:
How did you do with the “Nutrition challenge”:
How did adding more fruits/vegetable/legumes/nuts to your diet go?
What were the stumbling blocks you noticed?
What are some changes you could make in the future to ensure success?
Please do not write things to be hard on yourself but rather share some of your insights and ideas that are empowering.
What nutrients came up low (Calories, protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc.)?
What foods could you include in your diet to increase each of these nutrients in your diet? (List each nutrient that you are low in, one by one, and some rich food sources for each). (Refer to your computer printouts when answering this question. Use your text and resources provided to help answer this.
How “Heart Healthy” was your diet (review what nutrients are specifically important to heart health in your text)?
List any heart healthy foods that you ate; how do these foods impact your health
How did you do on your computer printout with total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium compared to the recommendations?
Comment on your personal risks and goals.
Give practical ideas to address your heart health.
What have you learned about yourself from keeping your dietary intake record and journal of your daily activities?
What surprises and insights about your eating habits have you made?
What nutritional principles do you feel secure about? What would you like to work on?
What aspect of your eating is affected or controlled by your emotions? When do you notice you eat more; when you are alone or in the company of others? How does stress impact your food habits? How does consuming alcohol impact your food behavior? What did you notice about eating at work/school vs. at home?
What time of day do you consume the most of your calories? Where do you consume most of your calories?
How did your physical activity impact your hunger? Appetite?
Did calorie intake match your activity levels? How did they differ?
How did your eating habits change in the last 5 to 10 years?
What possible factors or situations triggered these changes?
Are you satisfied with your eating habits and overall nutrient intake?
What improvements might you want to make on your diet and lifestyle so as to promote longevity and a good quality of life?
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Cronometer Reports
By now you should be acquainted with the software, Cronometer.
Enter your personal profile.
Enter each food item in the computer according to the instructions. Remember NOT to enter the supplements, otherwise the nutrient values of your intake will be skewed.
When you have entered the information for all four days, get screen shots of the summary results, including the following:Calories Summary
Macronutrient Targets
Nutrient Targets, and
Highlighted Nutrients

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What do I submit?

To be submitted via Canvas upload:
Four-day food journal in narrative form describing food consumed, dining times, and activities of daily living.
3-4 page personal essay that addresses the questions from the instructions above.
The following reports from Cronometer:
Calories Summary
Macronutrient Targets
Nutrient Targets, and
Highlighted Nutrients
Upload the reports onto Canvas in a word document or pdfs, as part of your assignment.
While it is helpful to examine the nutrient content of each food you have eaten please DO NOT submit the nutrient spreadsheet for each food.
SAVE all your work….just in case.

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