nutr 115 1

Task 1- Food Log

You will keep a 3-day food log, where you will record the meals and snacks that you ate, along with their nutrients, throughout each day. You can choose to track this using Cronometer or the provided Word document

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This week’s focus: fat, cholesterol, and protein

You may record calories and carbohydrates; however, they are not required for this week.

Please see the Everything You Need to Know About- DIETARY ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENTS page for more specific details on this process.

Task 2- Analysis

Please answer the following questions in complete sentences:

1. In regard to last week’s ‘challenge’-
   1. Did you try some of your carbohydrate additions or replacements? If so, how did it go?
2. In regard to fat (general)-
   1. What was your averageLinks to an external site. fat intake over the 3 days? Was your fat intake within the daily rangeLinks to an external site. (the AMDR is 20-35% of your caloric intake)? Were you surprised by your averages, why or why not?
   2. What did you eat the most of: saturated fat, trans fat, monounsaturated fat, or polyunsaturated fat?
   3. Which foods contained the most fat? Were you surprised by the fat content of some of your foods? If yes, which ones surprised you?
   4. Reflect on the fats consumed this week. Did some affect the way that you felt (i.e., mood, satiety, etc.)? Which ones?
3. In regard to cholesterol-
   1. What was your averageLinks to an external site. cholesterol intake this week? Is this above or below the recommendation of less than 300 mg per day (200 mg if you are at risk for heart disease)? Any surprises?
   2. Were there any foods that you ate that help in lowering cholesterol? If yes, what were they?
4. In regard to protein-
   1. What are your recommendedLinks to an external site. dietary protein needs?
   2. What was your average protein intake over the 3 days? Based on this average, are you meeting your recommended protein needs?
   3. What are problems with diets that are low in protein? What are problems with diets that have excessive protein?
   4. Would you say that the majority of your protein comes from animal- or plant-based sources?
   5. How difficult would it be for you to switch to plant-based proteins? Why?
5. Looking forward-
   1. How has learning about fat and protein affected your motivation to eat a healthier, more balanced diet?
   2. What are two foods that you can swap in order to:
      1. reduce saturated and/or trans fat;
      2. increase monounsaturated and/or polyunsaturated fat;
      3. reduce cholesterol;
      4. reduce animal-based sources and/or increase plant-based sources;
      5. increase protein intake (if protein intake was too low); or
      6. decrease protein intake (if protein intake was too high)?

Purpose

In short, the purpose of these assignments is to practically apply what you are learning in your day-to-day life.

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Assignment Components

Assignments 1 and 6

The only task for you in these two assignments is to answer a series of questions. Assignment 1 will assess your current understanding of nutritional topics, and will allow you to examine your current dietary practices. Assignment 6 will involve a reflection of what you learned via the course and the dietary analysis assignments.

Please complete both of these assignments using complete sentences. More specific instructions can be found in the assignment pages.

Assignments 2-5

In assignments 2-5 you will have two tasks and a “challenge”:

Task 1- Food Log

You will complete a 3-day food log during Weeks 2-5 of the course. We are doing 3 days in order to get a basic understanding of our eating trends, although you are welcome to track for more days in order to have more robust data.. You can choose which consecutive days you complete the log; however, I would strongly encourage you to do the log between Monday and Friday since we are generally more consistent in our eating habits during these days (example- parties and other celebrations are more likely to occur on weekends).

You will be responsible for recording a list of the foods/beverages from each meal/snack, as well as their serving sizes and nutrients. Students have several options for accomplishing this:

1. Using the Word document provided for the week 2-5 assignments.
   1. I have created a space for you to record your meals, and specify which nutrients you need to track for that particular week.
   2. Pros of this option– This option is best for students who are less comfortable using technology, and would prefer a simpler form of tracking. This also provides students the opportunity to print the document for easy recording access throughout the day.
   3. Cons of this option– Nutrition analysis is done manually. In other words, it requires an understanding on reading a food label. Also, you will need to type everything up at the end of the week should you choose to print and record manually.
      • One tool that can help in obtaining nutrient values for fresh foods is the FoodData CentralLinks to an external site. from the USDA.
2. Using the website CronometerLinks to an external site..
   1. You also have the option of utilizing an online tracking tool. For this class we will be using Cronometer, since it provides more information compared to other free nutrient trackers. If you already have a paid subscription to a service like MyFitnessPal then you are welcome to use that.
   2. This is similar to using the Word document; however, you will track your nutrition using their database. I provide step-by-step instructions for how to use Cronometer on the following page.
   3. Pros of this option– This is best for students who are more comfortable using technology. Also, you can save meals that you commonly eat, which makes the tracking process faster in the long run. The biggest pro of this option is that the nutrition analysis is done for you, as opposed to manually logging each nutrient,
   4. Cons of this option– There is a slight learning curve when it comes to how the tracking process works. Also, you will need to keep in mind that the food selections and nutrient information are based on the site’s users, which means that they might not be 100% accurate and they might not have certain brands…this will require you to use your best judgment. Finally, you will need to remember to take screenshots or download a file for assignment submission.
3. Using a combination of both
   1. Finally, for some of you it might be easiest to utilize both the Word document and Cronometer.
   2. Pros of this option– This allows for the greatest flexibility. During the week you can simply write down the foods that you ate in the Word document (printed or online). Then you can use Cronometer at the end of the 3 days so that you don’t have to figure out the nutrients on the food label.
   3. Cons of this option– This option will require the most work, since you are essentially recording your food twice.

Task 2- Analysis

This is similar to Assignments 1 and 6 in that you will be answering a series of questions in complete sentences. Questions will be based on the specific nutrients that I am asking you to focus on for that week. Here are examples of what some questions will look like:

• What was your average [nutrient(s) for the week] this week? Is this within the daily intake range? Were you surprised?
• What foods contributed to these values?
• What type of [subcategory of nutrient] did you consume the most of? Did this affect how you felt physically?

The Weekly “Challenge”

In Task 2 I will ask you to think of 2 food swaps that relate to the nutrient focus for that week. I then present you with the challenge of actually implementing those swaps during the next week’s food log. You aren’t required to participate in the challenge; however, I will ask you about it in the following week’s Task 2 questions.

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