In general, my typical use of the five groups of food and those that I take at my discretion fulfills health standards, but improvements can be made. My intake of vegetables is satisfactory considering that daily I take more than the recommended amount by the Australian Dietary Guidelines set at five servings in two days.
My genuine love for almost all of the foods contained in this food group makes me feel very lucky, and also I am economically able to buy them ordinarily. It was also easy to attain the daily intake (RDI) as per the recommendations, except less severely, with fruits I had a minimum of 2 servings a day for a person my age and gender according to the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Sad to say, my intake was significantly lower than the recommendations of the Australian Dietary Guidelines for the quantity of foods in the grains group averaging at less than three servings a day. In spite of the fact that it was not my conscious decision to shun this group’s food, I am aware that it is to a greater extent crucial to raise my consumption of foods in the grains group in order that I can keep on optimizing my athletic achievements and attain my exercise fitness goals as suggested by Hargreaves, 2009. Dr. Hargreaves also argued that high caliber athletes are advised to uphold a carbohydrate-rich since this will enable me to “optimize availability of muscle glycogen in the course of lengths of vigorous exercise and competition.” Besides, it was also possible for me to meet the amount recommended of 2.5 for serving lean meat and related foods, with an intake of nearly double this quantity of food that the Australian Dietary Guidelines set. I am incredibly thrilled about this accomplishment considering the number of people who doubt the ability of a vegetarian
or vegan to keep a regular protein consumption. Contrary, several people to a drastic extent roughly assume at very high levels the quantity of protein they need on ordinarily in a diet. According to McNaughton et al. 2007 excessive use of protein in the Australian diet can be attributed to these estimates particularly who should preferably take an average of 0.8-1.8 g/kg of my weight for athletes at the upper level of this RDI. Concerning the addition of products of soy to my daily intake, I find this very simple, for example, tempeh and tofu, combined with a large number of legumes, seeds, and nuts. Sadly, I did not meet the 2.5 serving minimum dairy and related foods, taking only one serving.
Question 5
To meet the recommended amounts, I majorly need to improve the total amount of food I take daily. Intake of higher quantities of calories will ease my process to meet the RDI’s for every nutrient. The most practical method to include that type of an objective into my way of living is to begin taking small meals and extra snacks daily and between meals. I will be filled with energy and get healthier muscles. In addition, I will try to include new sources of iron in my diet so that I can be able to meet the recommended levels daily. It’s important that I achieve this goal in order to be in the most optimal level of health as an athlete, a student and with the hope a mother one day. Besides, I think it is of great value to include higher quantities of water into the daily intake. It is essential to take a lot of water always particularly because if you live in a very warm place like Sydney for example. If I acquire a reusable bottle for water, I will most probably not only take more water but also, to be able to monitor the quantity I take so that I can avoid getting dehydrated at any given day. The other area of my diet that needs improvement is an increase in my dairy or any other related sources of calcium. From my dietary intake record, I realized that a very simple way to meet the recommended levels would be taking almond
or soy milk fortified with calcium in the place of water when taking smoothies.
It can also be increased by taking tea or coffee with added milk. Finally, inclusion of a little more grains in my diet would go a long way in helping my dietary intake reach recommended levels. I might have been not aware of the importance of grains I was adding into my dietary intake. I am hence appreciative of this chance to include the food group in my diet. I choose to accomplish this by taking more sandwiches during my lunch meals and including toasts to my breakfast in the morning more than three times weekly. Having these objectives, I am certain it’s possible to make improvements to dietary intake such that I can elevate myself to a level where I can be said to be healthy relative to the recommendations of the Australian Dietary Guidelines.