Reflection/Feedback on other's blogs

Vernice Tan (31) 207
http://blogmydiet.blogspot.com/

Fantasic! This blog has a very nice mysterious background! The information is well-organised and the blog looks very systematic. After each day of recording the food consumed, her diet is analysed. By doing this, it will enable Vernice to have a better idea what she had consumed and she will be able to control her diet well.

Vernice had cleverly include useful apps like the HPB Diet Tracker or Healthy Chef to analysed her food intake. She is very much in control of her own diet and can adjust accordingly on her next meal if there is a need for it.

Her one-dish meal of Spaghetti Aglio Olio Piccante with Broccoli and Ham looks very appetitising and should definitely worth a try even though I do not like to eat broccoli. Well, I could just substitute broccoli with other green vegetable.


Nicole Yee (34) 207
http://blogyourdietpt-nicoleyee207.blogspot.com/

Wow! This blog is very nicely done up! It is very detailed and interesting, almost like a diary on her diet! You can tell that a lot of effort has been put into creating this blog! The blog reflects on the diet taken by Nicole Yee over the few days and how she felt about her own diet.

I am very fascinated by how she re-invent a healthier version of the Alfredo Sauce pasta. She has listed down  a detailed recipe of how to make Alfredo sauce pasta in a healthier way. This dish looked very appetitising. I really like the pictures of the different ingredients used because it not only allows us to know specifically what to use to make the dish, but it also makes the blog look more interesting. I am sure that I will try to cook this dish one day.... yum yum


Yvette Tay (35) 207
http://aestheticsptfoodforthought.blogspot.com/

Yvette had kept her blog very simple. The 3-day diet and the food analysis is done very well and is very detailed. She had a very interesting one-dish recipe "Buckwheat Linguine". She had clearly explained why is this dish healthy. She had indicated that buckwheat is used because of its goodness over the traditional pasta.

After going through this PT, similar to all others, she had also benefitted a lot. She became more conscious and aware what she had been eating. In this way, she will be able to work towards a taking a more balanced diet.

My Reflections

After submitting my 3-days meals through the online "Food Intake Assessment" from the Health Promotion Board website, to my horror, I realised that I had not been eating healthily. Though I have learnt about all the type of food our bodies needed to function properly, I had not been disciplined enough to ensure that my diet complies with the requirements.

Based on my diet, it is not balanced and I am not taking in enough minerals. My energy, fat, saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol intake are far too high, and my calcium intake is too low.

The suggested nutritional tools are very useful. From the nutritional tools, I can find out how much of each mineral I am taking in and if they are sufficient to maintain my daily activities. The analysis given is also very detailed as it shows clearly which mineral I need more and which mineral I should reduce my intake. From the lessons given, I know which minerals can be derived from what kinds of food so that I can adjust my diet accordingly.

My suggested one-dish meal is healthy because it contains less oil and salt, so the diet would contain less fat. Less body fat can reduce the chances of getting high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers. I have also included more vegetables in my suggested one-dish meal. With more vegetables, there would be more fibre, which would aid in digestion and bowel movements. It also contains vitamins like vitamin C, which would build up our immune system. From the receipe analysis, it can also be concluded that my suggesteed one-dish meal would be a wiser and healthier choice.

Receipe Analysis of my suggested one-dish meal

Making use of the Recipe Analysis from HPB, the analysis of my one-dish meal is listed below:

Porkball macaroni

Ingredient	Energy (kcal)	Protein (g)	Total Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Carbohydrate (g)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
Meat ball, pork, steamed	188	10	16	5.6	21	1	0.0	302
Soup, pork tail	280	22	21	7.2	126	0	0.9	838
Celery, raw	2	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.4	8
Carrot, boiled	9	0	0	0.0	0	2	0.7	13
Mushroom, boiled, drained	3	0	0	0.0	0	1	0.2	0
Macaroni, boiled	197	7	1	0.1	0	40	1.8	1
Total (per serving)	679	40	38	12.9	147	44	4.0	1,162

After replacing the porkball and pork tail soup with chicken and chicken soup, the analysis is
shown below :

Chicken macaroni

Ingredient	Energy (kcal)	Protein (g)	Total Fat (g)	Saturated  Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)	Carbohydrate (g)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Sodium (mg)
Macaroni, boiled	197	7	1	0.1	0	40	1.8	1
Stock, chicken, skimmed	19	3	1	0.0	0	0	0.0	478
Mushroom, boiled, drained	3	0	0	0.0	0	1	0.2	0
Celery, raw	2	0	0	0.0	0	0	0.4	8
Carrot, boiled	9	0	0	0.0	0	2	0.7	13
Chicken, breast, boiled, lean only	15	3	0	0.1	8	0	0.0	6
Total (per serving)	245	13	2	0.2	8	43	3.1	507

Comparing both the analysis, the chicken macaroni is a much healthier choice. It contains much less cholesterol and sodium.

From this, we can conclude that if we are mindful of the type of ingredients that we use in a dish, we can have a much healthier meal and it will also taste just as delicious. So let's make an effort to chose wisely...

One-dish Meal

Wow! A bowl of meatball macaroni! It looks really appetising, and it is delicious, but it is not healthy! It contains pork (meatballs), macaroni, mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery and chay sim. The broth is very salty and it contains lots of seasoning. It is also very oily as lard was used to add on to the flavour. Due to use of salt and lard, this can really be rather unhealthy! Instead, I have come up with some modification to this recipe for macaroni and it tastes just as great!

Instead of using pork in the dish, we can use slices of chicken breast meat without skin,  which contains much less fat compared to pork. For the mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery and chay sim, we can add more of them as they are all very healthy, and they can add more flavour to the broth! We will also use vegetable oil insteaad of lard. We also do not have to add so much salt in the soup because it already has lots of flavour!

Food intake assessment

The analysis of the diet using the online “Food Intake Assessment” from the Health Promotion Board is shown below:


Food Info Search

Based on the information you have provided, your daily energy requirement is estimated to be 1,936 kcal. This energy requirement is the level of calorie intake from food that will balance the calories your body burns, thus maintaining your weight. For weight loss, you should consume fewer calories and be more active. If you need to gain weight, consume more calories than your body requires.

Period of Analysis: 05/08/2011 - 07/08/2011

	Energy (kcal)	Carbo (g)	Protein (g)	Total Fat (g)	Sat Fat (g)	Choles-terol (mg)	Ca (mg)	Dietary Fibre (g)	Na (mg)
Average intake per day	2,060	248.5	72.4	86.5	39.4	405.2	422.4	17.1	2,373.3
Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)	1,936	290.4	60.6	64.5	21.5	193.6	1,000.0	19.4	1,291.5
% of recommendation met	106	86	119	134	183	209	42	88	184

View breakdown of actual nutritional intake compared against RDA
Energy  = 106%
Carbohydrate =  86%
Protein =  119%
Total Fat =134%
Saturated Fat  =183%
Cholesterol  =209%
Calcium  =42%
Dietary Fibre  =88%
Sodium  = 184%

Table showing the % of total calories of diet versus recommendation % of total energy intake
Your diet Recommendation


Total Carbohydrates 48%  (55 - 65% )
Total Protein 14%   (10 - 15%)
Total Fat 38%   (25 - 30%)

Nutrition messages based on results

Energy
Your intake of energy from your diet was more than you need. Frequently eating above your energy needs can contribute to excess calories, which will be stored as body fat if it is not being used for physical activities. Excessive body fat leads to blood pressure, stroke diabetes and even certain cancers.

Energy in the foods we eat comes from three categories of nutrients - carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Fat is the most concentrated source of energy. Gram for gram, fat (9 kcal/g) has more than twice the energy of carbohydrate (4 kcal/g) or protein (4 kcal/g). Hence, foods high in fat are generally high in calories. Alcohol also supplies more calories (7 kcal/g) than carbohydrate or protein.

Know your daily energy allowance, and balance the energy from the food you eat with the energy your body uses for physical activities.

Total Fat
Your total fat intake was more than the recommended amount. A diet high in fat is associated with overweight, high blood cholesterol, heart disease and other related health problems.

To reduce total fat in your diet, use less oil or fats when cooking and use fat spreads sparingly. Use lean cuts of meat and poultry, and remove visible fat and skin. When eating out, ask for less fat or oil in your food. As extras add up, make your food choices wisely. Choose reduced fat or skimmed milk and dairy products instead of full cream varieties. Choose plain rice over flavoured rice, and cut down on the use of sweetened condensed milk or creamers.

Saturated Fat
Your intake of saturated fat was higher that the recommended amount. An excess of saturated fat can raise your blood cholesterol, subsequently increasing your risk of heart disease.

The main sources of fat in our diet are also the sources of saturated fat! These include coconut-milk based foods, blended oil (usually used in commercial cooking), flavoured rice (e.g. chicken rice, nasi lemak, nasi briyani) and creamer/whitener/condensed and evaporated milk in beverages. Cutting down or limiting such sources of fat will also help to reduce saturated fat intake.

Sodium
Your sodium intake was greater than the recommended amounts. Sodium acts like a sponge, holding water in our body. Excess sodium increases the blood volume, which then raises the pressure in our blood vessels. Hypertension or high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke and heart attacks.

The main source of sodium in our diet comes from salt (sodium chloride) and sauces added during cooking or at the table. To cut down on sodium intake, gradually reduce the use of salt and sauces when preparing or cooking food so that your taste buds have the chance to adjust. Try flavouring foods with natural seasonings like lemon juice or herbs and spices. Choose fresh food over processed foods over processed foods and enjoy the natural taste of foods. When eating out, ask for less sauces or gravy in dishes.

Cholesterol
Your intake of cholesterol was more than the recommended amount. Excessive cholesterol intake, especially as part of a high fat diet, can increase blood cholesterol level and put you at risk of heart diseases.

To cut down the intake of cholesterol, replace meat with beans, peas, lentils or bean products 3 times a week. For healthy adults and adolescents, limit eggs to 4 per week. In recipes, try to replace part of the use of whole eggs with just the egg white. Shellfish, prawns, shrimps, crabs, cuttlefish etc as well as organ meats should be eaten no more than twice a week and in small portions.

Calcium
You were not getting enough calcium in your diet. Without adequate calcium, you may be at risk of developing osteoporosis, a condition where your bones become weak and brittle. If left untreated, osteoporosis can worsen until a fracture (crack or break in the bone) occurs.

Increase your calcium intake from a variety of sources. Consume calcium-enriched breads and biscuits, green leafy vegetables, calcium-fortified juices, high-calcium soya bean milk, ikan bilis, sardines (with bones), tofu, as well as milk and other dairy products. Vitamin D helps our body absorb calcium. Your body can make this vitamin after sunlight hits your skin. You can easily obtain enough by getting at least 30-60 minutes of sunlight a day.


Aside from eating wisely, remember to make exercise a part of your life. Exercise helps to burn fat, tone your muscles, improve your stamina, relax and sleep better, as well as keep you alert and study better! Exercise at least 20 to 60 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week, until you sweat and breathe deeply without getting breathless. Choose an exercise that you enjoy, and try a variety so that you don’t get bored. Keep your exercise routine simple, fun and interesting.

When shopping for food, look out for products with the Healthier Choice Symbol. These products are lower in total fat, saturated fat, sodium and/or dietary fibre content compared to other products in the same category.

Note: The messages provided here are only intended as a guide - see a qualified health professional for more advice and information