Reflections

What have you learnt about your eating habits?
Through this performance task, I have learnt more about what kind of food I take in (previously I just eat when I'm hungry and do not observe what is taken in.) I'm quite surprised to have found out that I have been eating over the recommended daily required amount as I thought I was a healthy person (this may be due to the fact that I'm in competitive swimming thus needing more energy then normally required.) I also realised that I have been consuming too little vegetables and too much sodium. This is habits I would try to get rid off.


Do you consider your diet a healthy one? Why?
Before this performance task, I thought my diet was a healthy one. However, after tracing 3 days of my diet, I realised that it was very messy and disorganized (some days I eat breakfast at 5.30am and sometimes at 7.30am. - there is a lot of difference in time-wise). Furthermore, I only consume vegetables at home (and only the ones I like - which is very little) and rarely out of home. Furthermore, the amount I consumed is more then the RDDA (one reason could be that I am a competitive swimmer, training from 6am to 8am and 4.30pm to 7.30pm daily.) However, the reason why I consider my diet unhealthy is that the meals are not balanced (one example is eating noodle soup - I will eat everything given except the spring onions or parsley.)


Are the suggested nutritional tools useful? How?
The suggested nutritional tools were not useful as some of the food I've eaten were not able to be calculated. (one example is Vitamin C - they do not have Vitamin C in their list of food eaten). Although it did help me calculate the amount of nutrients (carbohydrates etc) I still had to do manual work finding out what Vitamin C contains and adding it to t he equation (my calculations could be incorrect for the analysis of the diet part...) As a result, I find that the nutritional tools are more trouble then help.


Why is your suggested 1-dish meal healthy?
My one dish meal would be healthy as it contains less oil and sodium in meals of the same kind (the fried stuff...). Furthermore, it would have more vegetables thus enabling one to make up the lack of vegetables they have in their diet when they consume it.

A healthier 1 dish meal

The dish I'm modifying is FRIED RICE - this is eaten on Day 1 at a hawker centre.
Ingredients used:
- 4 cups of rice
- 1 cup of frozen peas and carrots
- 1 third of a corn, grated
- 1 cup of chicken, diced
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3 tablespoon of oil
- 4 tablespoon of soya source
- 2 pinch of salt and pepper each
- 1 bunch of spring onions
this serves 3 servings

With help from my mother, I cooked this meal using 1 tablespoon of oil. This thus reduces the amount of fats taken in as excessive intake of fats cause heart disease and an increase in weight.
I also reduced the amount of soya source used by half and used 1 pinch of salt instead of two. This would reduce the amount of sodium (salt) taken in. Excessive amount of sodium taken could result in an increase in blood pressure. I have also added in more green vegetables (1 more) this would increase the calcium and fiber intake in my diet. I also did not reused oil (hawker centres always reuse their oil when frying food for customers) this reduces the carcinogens take in, thus reducing the chances of getting heart related diseases.

I have taken a photograph of the modified dish I cooked. However, due to a error in my phone (which is where I took the photo of the food), the picture has been deleted. I will thus try to upload it as soon as I can.

Healthy food pyramid (what's 1 serving)

1 serving
- 1 cup of yoghurt
- 1half ounce of natural cheese
- 2 ounce of processed cheese
- 2-3 ounce of cooked lean meat, poultry or fish
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables
- half cup of vegetables cooked or chopped raw
- 3/4 cup of vegetable juice
- 1 apple, banana, orange etc.
- 3/4 cup of fruit juice
- half cup of cooked cereal, rice or pasta
- 1 slice of bread
- 1 ounce of ready to eat cereal

Diet analysis (average intake per day)

energy (kcal) : 2824.9
protein (g) : 93.4
total fat (g) : 64.5
saturated fat (g) : 24
carbohydrate (g) : 467.7
cholesterol (mg) : 256.8
calcium (mg) : 84
dietary fibre (g) : 13.3
sodium (mg) : 1745

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDDA) is:
2392 kcal of energy
96.5g of protein
79.7g of fats
26.6g of saturated fats
358.8g of carbohydrate
239.2mg of cholesterol
1000mg of calcium
23.9g of dietary fibre
1595.7mg of sodium

Analysis: For the diet I have taken for the 3 days, the amount of energy, carbohydrates, cholesterol and sodium is more then the RDDA and the amount of dietary fibre is less then the RDDA. According to the food pyramid, I should consume 5 to 7 servings of rice each day. However, I am eating too much (eating 9 servings - this excess is burnt off during training ). Excess amount of sodium will increase the risk of heart related problems. Excess amount of cholesterol will increse the risk of getting high blood pressure, which would put you in danger of getting a heart attack. Dietary fibre should be increse as it helps reduce the risks of sickness. I also do not have enough calcium from the food I eat (although I'm outdoors most of the times - travelling to the pool and back home.) This might cause bone related problems

Day 3 (2 June)

0715 2 pieces of bread
0718 1 glass of honey
0721 Vitamin C
0920 orange
1130 Macaroni soup
1340 1 cup of Milo
1340 6 pieces of biscuits
1910 1 bottle of Gatorade (lemon-lime)
2110 rice with pork (2 bowls of rice)
2120 black chicken soup (1 bowl)
2159 vitamin C

water: 4 bottles of water

Day 2 (1 June)

0525 bread (3 piece)
0530 1 cup of water
0534 Vitamin C
0800 1 bottle of gatorade (lemon-lime)
0830 vitagen LB flavour
1000 milo
1003 biscuit (6 pieces)
1030 luo han guo
1130 nasi lemak (set A)
1200 orange
1423 chocolate (a cube)
1940 1 bottle of gatorade (lemon-lime)
2120 soya milk with pearls
2140 chicken rice
2200 Vitamin C

water drank: 4 bottles of water

Day 1 (31 May)

0520 2 pieces of bread
0521 1 cup of water
0540 Vitamin C
0800 Gatorade (1 bottle) - lemon lime
0920 apple aloe Vera (250ml)
0923 Qoo white grape (330ml)
0925 fried rice (1 plate)
1114 Mi tai mah soup (1 bowl)
1136 vitagen apple (125ml)
1221 orange (1 whole orange)
1315 Milo (1 cup) and 3 biscuits
1940 Gatorade (1 bottle) - lemon lime
1943 1 piece of bread
1943 H-two-o (can)
2000 rice with chicken and fish (2 bowls of rice)
2010 a bunch of grapes
2103 Vitamin C

Total water intake: 3 bottles of water