Personal Diet Modification Plan

As adults, many of us are stuck in our ways and changing our eating habits and exercise frequency can be a difficult task to tackle.   I agree with Sizer & Whitney (2013) that in order to make a life change the person must be willing to do so.  Change is never easy but that is because it is well worth the efforts.  Anyone that has quit a tobacco product will understand this very well, as I have.  It is important to realize that every person is different.  So what works for a friend might not work for you. 

We now live in an age in America that meat can be served at every meal.  Talking to older relatives in my family, this was not the case when they were younger.  Overall, food is plentiful in America which makes it profoundly easy to overindulge in any delight that one might have (Sizer & Whitney, 2013).  So my word of advise, stay active, get plenty of sleep, and mostly eat foods according to government agencies such as the USDA for proper nutrition and you will look and feel better than ever (Sizer & Whitney, 2013;NADA, 2014). 

Before recently learning substantially more information about the importance of nutrition and exercise I decided to make a change in late January of this year to become more active and eat healthier.  In that time I have lost 20 pounds and can run 5 miles in about 40 minutes.  I am not breaking any records but that is not the point.  The point is to be better everyday.  

My wife and I also lowered our daily intake of meats to 3-4 ounces at dinner.  We also integrated more fresh, frozen, or no salt canned vegetables as well.  We also tried to buy less processed snacks and mainly try to eat whole food snacks such as Kashi bars, Triscuits (not flavored), Wasa crisp breads, cheese, hummus, and popcorn.  We certainly need to expand upon this list for fear of boredom.  We also treat ourselves regularly to treats that we may desire.  In moderation of course! 

I use a application that counts all of the food that I consume.  It allows me to know exactly how many calories and what nutrients I have consumed daily.  It is called MyFitnessPal and it has been very helpful in attaining my daily nutrition goals (MyFitnessPal, 2014). My daily calorie goal is 1840.  This will allow me to lose about a half pound per week.  My goal is to attain a weight of 130.  I also would like to lower my consumption of alcohol per week.  

Here is the list of my daily meals and snacks.  Hope it helps.  

Breakfast  (most recent change)

• plain quick oats oatmeal with fruit, honey, and cinnamon
• fat free, lactose free milk

Snacks

• banana
• apple
• orange

Lunch 

• 3 ounces canned lean chicken, mayo, slice of tomato, 2ounces of avocado, 3 pieces of romaine, on whole wheat bread
• baby carrots with 2 tablespoons of hummus
• 1 diet soda 

Dinner

• 3-4 ounces of a lean meat 
• 1/4 bag of frozen vegetable or 1-2 cups of fresh when available
• starch such as wild rice or plain baked potato

Snack

• 2 ounces of cheese
• 1.5 servings of Triscuits
• 4 cans of light beer

References:

MyFitnessPal (2014).  Calorie counter app.  Retrieved on September 22, 2014 from

            http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

NADA (2014).  Dietary guidance.  Retrieved on September 22, 2014 from

            http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/dietary-guidance/myplate-and-historical-food-pyramid-resources

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

Cengage Learning.