A Daunting Task Of Becoming A Nurse

Becoming a nurse can be a daunting task, the thought of being responsible for the education of patients can become overwhelming. This project brought to light that before we can help patients we must start from within and make sure we are healthy. It is a likely assumption that most people are unaware of their daily food intake. The website Choose My Plate allows users such as myself to simply enter food and physical activity and then the website determines dietary surpluses and deficits. Once I noted my excesses and deficiencies I was able to come up with a plan of action to counter the numbers and help push them into a more acceptable value. Physical activity is another component essential for a healthy lifestyle. Choose My Plate allowed …show more content…
I discovered that I had excess amounts of total fats, saturated fats, and a protein overage. The first two excesses can be unhealthy, however I do not believe that an overage in protein is considered to be negative. To counteract my total fats I would limit the intake of items that provide empty calories, meaning they do not provide much nutritional value. Such efforts would include eliminating cheeses like those found on nachos and in chees dip, and also selecting a lighter alternative to common dipping sauces for chicken nuggets from Chickfila. Modifications for saturated fats would include adding a more colorful diet by incorporating fruits and vegetables. I would also continue to cook with lean meats to eliminate added saturated fats. As for my protein overage I cannot say I would really change anything other than adding a salad in place of some protein, which would also increase my fiber. My above-mentioned excesses can easily be corrected with a few lifestyle changes, the deficiencies may prove harder to …show more content…
I have learned that I can adjust my diet and in turn this will adjust all of my other negative variables that can contribute to poor health. I can say without a doubt that I want to get my act together and this assignment was just the motivation I needed. I need to eat more like an adult and eat in moderation while consuming an assortment of foods by increasing my fruit and vegetable levels. Now that I know how to assess my own diet and how to make changes I feel confident that I can help educate patients. Because I know how it feels to be overweight and to have unhealthy dietary attributes I will be able to relate to the patient and hopefully better understand