New Diet Plan
Purpose
The purpose of this part of the project is for you to create a meal plan for at least one day that meets your personal needs and goals. Most people want to improve their diet or try a new way of eating and this is your chance to do it for credit! You may have found in Part 2 that your current diet meets your needs quite well and you only need to change a few things and perhaps structure your eating times in a way that better suits your natural rhythm and schedule. You may find that your current diet is too high in some nutrients and too low in others and you may just want to try a different pattern of eating like vegetarian or vegan to see how you feel (very low kcal diets, Keto or other high-fat/low-carb diets do not work for this project as they put you out of a healthy range for fiber and micronutrients). Planning a day of eating can be fun and rewarding, though it does take time. I want you to know how it feels to eat the right quality and quantity of food that your body needs.
Since the goal is to consume this meal plan for one day and then write or record your reflection on the process and the meal plan itself, it is important for you to really think about what is doable for you at this particular time. That means you need to consider a variety of impacts such as financial constraints, cooking ability, transportation to purchase foods, seasonal variations, preferences, cultural impacts, as well as changes in mood, health, or performance you may want to make. I want you to really pay attention to how you feel when you consume this food and get a good idea about what you can do. It is nice to see that you can still meet your needs on a budget and with including some of your favorite foods or staples, even if they may not be considered the most nutritious. Remember that there is no “perfect” diet!
One thing I ask is that you DO NOT add fortified foods like breakfast cereal or multivitamins. I want you to see what food alone gives you. If you use a protein shake of some kind, only enter the macronutrients and not all of the micronutrients as they often serve as a multivitamin (just check the label).
Note: If current circumstances are preventing you from consuming the diet you really want to, I encourage you to create the meal plan you know you can consume once as things change for you. This way you still have a project and a diet planned and waiting for you. You can check in with me so I can help you tailor your reflection on the process for your particular situation.
Evaluation will consist of the following SLOs to some extent:
SLO #1: Identify, compare, and use different guidelines, patterns, and plans for assessing and ensuring nutritional adequacy for optimal health for self and others.
SLO #3: Apply the principles of nutrition to daily food selection throughout the lifecycle for yourself and to those under your care.
SLO #4: Evaluate food fads, trends, and resources for accuracy, reliability, validity, and identify potential harm using a sound scientific rationale.
Resources
Links to an external site.
Diet Analysis Evaluation Form
Actions
Submit Part 3 Here
Due Friday, June 21st by 11:59 pm
Submission includes:
New Detailed Menu
New Nutrition Report
This is the most time-consuming and difficult part of the project. You need to “fix” your original diet plan (the food you ate and recorded for the 3 days) to meet your needs for one day. Use the Cronometer program to enter foods that you; 1. Like, 2. Can afford, 3. Will actually eat. You may have to look up foods in your book, make some guesses, and check and use outside resources to put together the meal plan that meets your needs for one day.
A. Type up a meal plan that includes:
Time food is to be eaten
Description of food/beverage-DETAILED
Amount to be consumed -DETAILED
Your one-day nutrition plan needs to accommodate your personal DRIs for the following nutrients (meet the minimum DRI for each nutrient without exceeding the UL and without exceeding your calorie needs based on your EER calculation):
Calories (within 50 kcals for full points)
Carbohydrates (minimum g and 45-65% of total calories)
Protein (minimum g of 0.8g/kg and up to 2g/kg of body weight)
Fat (minimum g and 20-35% of total calories)
Iron (mg)
Vitamin E (mg)
Folate (ug)
Calcium (mg)
Vitamin C (mg)
Fiber (g)
** Sodium at or below 2000mg for 5 points extra credit**
B. Enter your meal plan into Cronometer and save the PDF of the Nutrition Report
Read feedback from Part 2. Kcals ranges must be set in a safe range at least 300 kcals above your estimated BMR.
Look at the Evaluation sheet while completing your assignment.
To get full points you need to be within 50 Kcals of your goal.
To figure out your calorie goal you can choose the one you calculate on your Project Worksheet or the one recommended by the Cronometer program. Note: if you enter that you want to gain or lose weight it will automatically add or subtract calories so be aware of that and do not add or subtract more from that. I can help if you are struggling.
You do not have to meet all your goals perfectly. You need to at least meet your minimum recommended amount but not exceed the Upper Limit for the specified nutrients listed above.
For example, if your calcium is recommended at 1000mg and you have 1300 mg you are fine. Just do not go above 2500 mg
Your protein can be anywhere between 0.8 – 2g/kg body weight so it will likely be above the recommended amount but that is OK.
If you are over 100% in other vitamins/minerals that are not on the Evaluation Sheet, that is ok but try not to go over the Upper limit for your own sake.
Do not add fortified cereal or multivitamins as they falsely boost your micronutrients, I want you to see what you can meet with whole foods.
Check out the grading rubric for the exact points.
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