Healthier Food Observation

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After completing the three-day food log for my project, I realized that keeping track of food that I consume daily is very beneficial in identifying habitual eating patterns. I was amazed to find out that I was not choosing healthier foods as well as not enough calories in my diet. The Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) committee has set an equation to calculate Estimated Energy Requirements (EER) based on gender, age, physical activity, and body size and weight (Sizer, Whitney, & Piche, 2012, p. 372). EER estimates the energy needed to meet the daily requirement to improve health. My daily activity places me in the "low active" category, which means my physical activity factor (PA factor) is 1.12 (Sizer et al., 2012, p. 373). Since, I am …show more content…
Based on this observation, theoretically, I should be losing weight by 0.84 lbs per week. In this case, I have noticed gradual weight loss in reality too. People eat periodically to refuel and spend energy continuously. Excess energy is stored as fat, which is used for energy between meals (Sizer et al., 2012, p. 384). Accordingly, when my intake is less than needed, my body gets energy from stored fuel. Likewise, gradual weight loss occurs, if a person is physically active because the body uses stored fat for energy (Sizer et al., 2012, p. 384). Physical activity plays a huge role in my life influencing on the weight loss. I perform a regular exercise and spend about 30 to 60 minutes in moderate physical activity daily. Thus, physical activity and moderate restriction in Calories helps me to maintain and achieve a healthy body weight. Body Mass Index (BMI) "often correlates with degree of fatness and disease risk" associated with underweight or overweight (Sizer et al., 2012, p. 368). BMI is calculated by dividing person 's weight (kg) by height (m²). Based on this formula, my BMI would be calculated as 56 kg/ (1.63m) ², which is equal to 21.1 kg/ m². According to the Canadian BMI categories and level of health risk, BMI between 18.5 to 24.9 kg/ m² is considered as normal weight (Sizer et al., 2012, p. 368). This means, I am under normal weight category and possess least level of health risk such

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