NFS 100/101 – Winter 2015 DIET SELF-ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS Objective: This assignment will enable you to: Assess your current food/nutrient intake and to suggest realistic changes that you could make to meet nutritional goals and promote good health. Incorporate topics discussed in class and relate them to your own nutritional intake. Part 1 Self-Analysis Due: Check Syllabus 1. Complete a three-day diet record For 3 days write down everything you eat and drink. A form is included on pages 6-8 if you would like to use it to record your information. Record ALL food items eaten and the amounts eaten. Be as specific as possible. Use ounces, cups, grams, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc. Include all meals, snacks, morsels of food put into your mouth, water, beverages, condiments added to foods, etc. Do not record any vitamin taken, so that you can assess the value of the food you have eaten. If you take a daily vitamin, however, you can consider that when discussing your vitamin and mineral intake. You can record three continuous days or three varying days. The best information usually comes from continuous days. Choose at least one weekday and at least one weekend day to see any differences in intake. 2. Input your three-day diet record into a diet analysis program Go to the USDA MyPlate website at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-tools/supertracker.html Click on the “Create a Profile” button in the middle of the home page. Follow Steps 1-3 to create your personalized diet profile. Save your user name and password. Once you are returned to the home page, click the “Track Food & Activity” link on the top toolbar and select the “Food Tracker” link. Entering your recorded foods: o In the “Today” box on the upper left-hand side of the site, select the date of the first day of your food record. You will have to enter each day separately. o You can now begin entering foods in the Food Tracker section. Simply type in a food item in the Search box, select the closest food to what you ate from the list provided, and then record the amount of that food that was eaten. If you cannot find the food you want to enter try a different term. Also indicate the meal time (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks). The more accurate the information, the better the analysis will be and the more you can learn about your food intake. o Repeat these steps for your second and third days of food records. Printing your Meal Summary Reports: o Click the “My Reports” link on the top toolbar and select the “Meal Summary” link. o In the “View Report from:” boxes enter the first date of your diet records in both boxes (i.e., 1/10/12 thru 1/10/12) and click on the “Create Report” button. Be patient, as the report may take a few minutes to appear. o Once your Meal Summary report appears, export it to a PDF using the “Export Report As:” option in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Save this PDF in a safe place, and also print the PDF. o Repeat these steps for your second and third days of food records. Printing your Food Groups & Calories Reports: o Click the “My Reports” link on the top toolbar and select the “Food Groups & Calories” link. o In the “View Report from:” boxes enter the first date of your diet records in both boxes (i.e., 1/10/14 thru 1/12/14) and click on the “Create Report” button. Be patient, as the report may take a few minutes to appear. o Once your Food Groups & Calories report appears, export it to a PDF using the “Export Report As:” option in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Save this PDF in a safe place, and also print the PDF. o Repeat these steps for your second and third days of food records. Printing your Nutrients Reports: o Click the “My Reports” link on the top toolbar and select the “Nutrients Reports” link. o In the “View Report from:” boxes enter the first date of your diet records in both boxes (i.e., 1/10/14 thru 1/12/14) and click on the “Create Report” button. Be patient, as the report may take a few minutes to appear. o Once your Nutrients Report appears, export it to a PDF using the “Export Report As:” option in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Save this PDF in a safe place, and also print the PDF. o Repeat these steps for your second and third days of food records. Printing your 3-Day Average Food Groups & Calories Report: o Click the “My Reports” link on the top toolbar and select the “Food Groups & Calories” link. o In the “View Report from:” boxes enter the first and last dates of your diet records (i.e., 1/10/14 thru 1/12/14) and click on the “Create Report” button. Be patient, as the report may take a few minutes to appear. o Once your 3-Day Average Food Groups & Calories report appears, export it to a PDF using the “Export Report As:” option in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Save this PDF in a safe place, and also print the PDF. Printing your 3-Day Average Nutrients Report: o Click the “My Reports” link on the top toolbar and select the “Nutrients Reports” link. o In the “View Report from:” boxes enter the first and last dates of your diet records (i.e., 1/10/14 thru 1/12/14) and click on the “Create Report” button. Be patient, as the report may take a few minutes to appear. o Once your 3-Day Average Nutrients Report appears, export it to a PDF using the “Export Report As:” option in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Save this PDF in a safe place, and also print the PDF. 3. Analyze the data When all three days are done, review your printed sheets. If there is any nutrient or calorie level that seems exaggerated (high or low), review your list of entered foods for accuracy and portion accuracy. If you have questions, make an appointment to discuss with TA or instructor. Do this early if you have questions!!! 4. STAPLE ALL PAGES TOGETHER WITH YOUR NAME ON EACH PAGE (to submit each part of the assignment, keep all of your assignment papers in this folder throughout the course.) Please include all of the required printouts to turn in for Part 1 of the assignment: o […]