Healthy Eating Plan

Healthy Eating Progress Report
[Your Name Here]
[Your Class Name Here]
[School Name Here]
January 5, 2008

Insecure would be the best word to fit my feelings as I began this class and received the assignment to document my eating habits and prepare a plan to adjust them.   I have never been a particularly analytical person, especially when it comes to my food intake, and so I realized I was almost completely ignorant about the source, content, and processing of the foods I eat on a daily basis.   Of course, I was not completely unaware of the effect food has on the body:   I knew caffeine was a pick me up, excessive sodium was bad, fatty foods were a no-no, vitamins and minerals were important, and so on.   But it was clear I lacked the in depth understanding of organic versus all natural, the role of minerals in nutrition, and the effects of preservatives on the value of foods, along with many other important concepts related to this most important activity.
Prior to the start of the class I had considered myself fairly fit and my friends liked to tease me for being able to eat almost anything without seeming to gain weight.   But, as detailed in my Healthy Eating Plan, I was keeping my calories down by relying on coffee and soda to get me through the morning, then having a small serving of junk food in lieu of breakfast.   This 'diet' kept my calories down, but I soon realized it caused a number of complications in my diet.   The most obvious effect was that my mornings followed a predictable cycle of hyperactivity and fatigue as my sugar levels rose and fell.   The assignment actually prompted me to look into disorders which can stem from inappropriate sugar intake such as hyper- and hypo- glycemia, which was one of the concerns I hoped to avoid through a sound healthy eating plan.
One additional concern I identified while creating the healthy eating plan was that have to do with what I was eating, but when and how.   I had suspected a problem, but not really... [continues]

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