Thoughts on My Diet

In my previous post, I covered the topic of nutrition requirements over a person's lifespan.  This brings to mind my own nutritional requirements beginning today and ending at a time yet to be determined.  Indeed, my newly acquired nutritional knowledge has made me reflect on my own dietary habits many times over the past several weeks.  Although I have already made minor adjustments to my diet, as I have learned nutritional concepts, it has also become clear that I must embark on an effort to seriously the strengths and weaknesses of my current diet and how I can modify my behaviors to increase the likelihood of long-term health.  In this post, I will analyze my own nutritional strengths and weaknesses, as well as identify the changes necessary to improve my own health and meet the USDA dietary guidelines.

Strengths

While I do not consider myself the epitome of health, there are many things that I am doing right.  Coming from a family that has a high incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), obesity, and diabetes, I have maintained a reasonable weight of 173 pounds.  Medical professionals use the Body Mass Index (BMI), a ratio between height and weight, to roughly ascertain if someone's weight is within a healthy range.  Generally speaking, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight.  BMI doesn't tell the whole story, however, as the amount and location of body fat is also a necessary consideration when determining healthy weight.  In particular, visceral fat, or fat deep within the abdominal cavity, is associated with elevated risk for health issues (Sizer & Whitney, 2013).

With my height of 5 feet, 11 inches, my calculated BMI is 24.1.  Although this is near the top of the range for normal weight on the BMI scale, my waist size is only 33 inches, well below the 40 inch threshold for elevated risk due to visceral fat.  Therefore, I am considered to be of a healthy weight.  While not particularly athletic, I am relatively strong and participate in some physical activities each week.  From a dietary perspective, I eat chicken and fish several times per week and have cut back substantially on fattening and sugary foods, which is important for maintaining good health (Sizer & Whitney, 2013).

Weaknesses

I have been fortunate to have had good metabolism throughout my life, allowing me to eat large quantities of food without directly seeing the consequences.  However, as I have aged, I am no longer as immune to poor dietary choices as I used to be.  I can easily gain several pounds in a short amount of time, due to eating poorly.  Further, my family has high incidence of CVD, poor circulation, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes.  In other words, the genetic odds are stacked against me, in terms of potential for development of chronic disease.  Until taking this class, I have had only superficial knowledge of how refined sugar and saturated fats affect the body and the mechanisms by which they cause harm.  Despite my family history and lack of nutritional knowledge, I have historically followed very poor eating habits, particularly with portion control and the consumption of excess sugars and fats.  As a result, my intake of calories, saturated fats, and sugars are beyond dietary guidelines.

Research has shown that excess fat in body tissues hinder the effectiveness of insulin, resulting in diminished uptakes of blood sugar into the tissues.  As blood glucose levels rise, the development of Type-2 diabetes may result, leading to a wide variety of health risks, such as higher likelihood of death, blood glucose instability, risk of diabetic coma, neuropathy, and loss of limbs (Mayo Clinic, 2013).  Moreover, being overweight, and particularly obese, is associated to much higher risk of other chronic diseases, including CVD, gallbladder stones, and cancer (Sizer & Whitney, 2013).  The amount of time I spend on the computer each day, both for work and school, has made it difficult for me to participate in sustained physical activity on a regular basis.  Consequently, I do not get enough exercise.  Too maintain optimal health, it is recommended to exercise at least five days per week at 30 minutes per session (Sizer & Whitney, 2013).

Modification Plan

It is clear that I am headed down a risky path, if I continue to make the same dietary and physical activity choices that I have in the past.  To increase the likelihood that I will live a long and joyful life, I must make changes in my diet and get more physical exercise.  From a physical exercise standpoint, I will begin to chart my daily activities to understand precisely how much time I really am spending on exercise.  Currently, this is simply a wild guess, although I know it is not enough.  Once I have a better understand of actual values, I will know how much adjustment needs to be made.  That said, it is hard to imagine getting too much exercise, so perhaps charting my current activities provides little value.

My strategy for ensuring I get enough exercise is to begin cycling for at least 30 minutes each day during the fall, winter, and spring seasons.  This is particularly doable in the mild Arizona weather during those seasons.  When it is much hotter during the summer, I will swim laps in the pool every day.  I also wish to build up my lean tissue and muscle mass, so I will be purchasing some weights and begin strength-training.  During this time, I will ensure I have sufficient iron and protein intakes, which are essential for muscle development (Sizer & Whitney, 2013).

From a dietary standpoint, my primary focus is to create and follow a diet geared for diabetics.  Although I am not yet diabetic, I have been diagnosed as prediabetic, with a rising A1C blood sugar level.  Focusing on a diabetic diet will allow me to cut back on fat and sugar intakes.  Reducing sugar intakes will have a short term effect of lowering 3-month average blood sugar levels, while reducing fat intakes can improve efficacy of insulin in maintaining blood sugar levels.

Following a healthy diabetic diet consists of smaller portion sizes and eating balanced meals of foods with high-nutrient density, such as fruits and vegetables.  It also means to eat more fish and fiber, while cutting back on saturated fats, such as that found in red meats and baked goods.  Consumption of saturated fats should be no more than 7 percent of daily calories (Mayo Clinic, 2013).

Through the use of dietary planning tools, it will also be much easier to determine the proper quantities of foods to consume each day.  There are many graphical aids available online, which can be helpful in this process.  I will evaluate several diabetic food charts and choose one that works well for me.  An example of a daily diabetic food chart is illustrated below.

Food List for Diabetes (Gray, 2009).

Finally, I will regularly measure my weight and BMI, to ensure that I am headed in the right direction with my health.  The increased exercise will assist in heightening my metabolism and provide me with more energy.  Because my doctor has already scheduled A1C checkups with me, this will provide feedback as to whether I am achieving my goals of lessening my risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Conclusion

Although I have been lucky in health thus far, despite my poor dietary choices, I cannot expect my luck to last forever.  It is crucial that I begin to take steps now to stack the cards in my favor and increase the likelihood that I will be here for many years to come.  I owe it to my loved ones and myself to make every effort to live a long and joyful life.  By making wiser choices in diet and physical activities, I can make a positive change in direction.

References

Gray, A. (2009). Medical Nutritional Therapy for the Patient With Diabetes . Retrieved from DiabetesManager: http://diabetesmanager.pbworks.com/w/page/17680273/Medical%20Nutritional%20Therapy%20for%20the%20Patient%20With%20Diabetes

Mayo Clinic. (2013). Diabetes Diet: Create Your Healthy-Eating Plan. Retrieved from Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/in-depth/diabetes-diet/art-20044295

Sizer, F., & Whitney, E. (2013). Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.