Completing a three day recall of all the food a person eats can be time consuming, .
I wrote down everything I ate for 3 days, entered the .
information into the computer and was in for quite a shock. You must first have a little .
history about my current eating habits. I am enrolled in a weight loss program called .
Weight Watchers. Therefore, I already write down everything I eat. Then I assign the .
foods point values based on WW calculations. I can eat as much or as little as I want, as .
long as I remain in the points range. I also figured my that my BMI is 23, and I should .
receive 1500 to 2000 calories per day to maintain a healthy weight. After completing this .
assignment I truly had a better understanding of what I was eating, not just how many .
points' it was worth. I also quickly decided that even though I was losing weight I .
needed to make some changes.
The first thing that I noticed was the amount of calories I was eating per day. I .
realized that I was eating less than 1000 calories per day. This would explain the weight .
loss. However, I also realized that even though I was low in calories, I was also very low .
in important categories. .
The first that struck me was calcium. The recommended daily Ca intake for my .
age/sex group is 1300/mg per day. I am consuming less than 25% of the recommended .
intake. This is concerning when you think of diseases like osteoporosis.
Next I realized that my Iron levels were very low. Again the recommended daily .
intake of Iron for my age/sex group is 18/mg per day. I am getting less than 50% of the .
recommended intake on some days. I have had numerous problems with iron-deficiency .
anemia and the problem appears to be in my diet. .
I did note that my daily fat intake is low, less than half of the maximum allowed .
per day. This would also help explain the weight loss I've had over the past 5 weeks. .
Prior to completing this assessment I was concerned about my sodium intake.