Reflection/Feedback on other blogs

Jessalyn's blog - http://blogyourdiet.tumblr.com/

Jessalyn's blog is easy to read and follow. She could have included more details in her record of her 3-day diet, such as specific amounts of each dish. I also think she could have done a deeper analysis of her diet by using more tools from the Health Promotion Board website since she only used the Food Intake Assessment. She put in a lot of effort for her suggested healthy 1-dish meal. It is evident because she took information from a lot of sources, showing that she did a lot of research. She even analysed the recipe and attached not only photos of the final product, but also photos of each and every ingredient. This visual aid will help those who wish to use her recipe to cook that dish. Her reflections show that she really learnt a lot from doing this PT.

Min Yi's blog - http://cooking-up-my-storm.blogspot.com/

Min Yi gives a very detailed record of her diet and she analyses it day by day, which I think is a very good way to specifically know the roles that the food she consumes plays in her diet. She also attached an easy-to-follow recipe for her improved dish. Her reflections are insightful and honest, but I think that she should have further elaborated on why she considers her diet a rather healthy one and how she plans to strive towards a balanced and healthy diet.

Audrey's blog - http://audreyandfood.blogspot.com/

Audrey's blog is well-organised, but like Jessalyn, she only used the Food Intake Assessment to analyse her diet, which does not a give a very comprehensive analysis. Her healthy 1-dish meal looks not only healthy, but also delicious! It is evident from her reflections that she got to know her own diet better and she has straightforward plans on how to improve her diet, and these plans are based on her analysis of her 3-day diet and are also achievable.

Reflection on process and learning points

What have you learnt about your eating habits?

I have learnt that my eating habits can be improved on a lot. I realised that I have been putting a rather lot of unhealthy food into the body, thus my sodium intake is so high. Even though sodium is essential in small amounts, too much will cause blood volume to increase because sodium attracts and holds water.Increased blood volume will cause your heart have to work harder in order to move blood through the vessels, thus increasing pressure in the arteries. In order to not further harm my body, I should lower of sodium intake and increase my calcium intake.

Do you consider your diet a healthy one? Why?

No, I do not consider it a healthy one. I think I eat a lot of junk food throughout the day and my meal times are also inconsistent. Potato chips are present in my diet for 2 out of 3 days, and they are not the healthiest food to snack on. I do not have a specific timimg for my meals, and I even skip some of my meals. For example, I did not eat dinner on Day 1 since my lunch was taken rather late. That is not very good for your body. I need to cut down on my junk food in order to lower my sodium intake which is currently exceeding the Recommended Daily Allowance by a rather big amount. Since the 3-day diet was recorded during the holidays, I think the timing problem will solve itself when school starts and the meal times are fixed for us.

Are the suggested nutritional tools useful? How?

Yes, they are useful. They allow me to analyze my diet by looking deeply into it. I was able to learn how unhealthy my diet was and which items I consumed were causing it to be unhealthy. For example, I never knew that I was greatly exceeding the Recommended Daily Allowance for sodium, and that my calcium intake was also too low. The nutritional tools are rather detailed, thus making the analysis more precise.

Why is your suggested one-dish meal healthy?

It has healthy ingredients like a variety of vegetables and most of its ingredients are also a healthier choice.

Instead of normal rice, brown rice is used. Brown rice has many health benefits, including aiding in the control of blood sugar and cholesterol level, providing carbohydrates requirements and being rich in mineral thus supplying nutrients to the hair, teeth, nails, muscles and bones.

The chicken it uses is uncooked, boneless and skinless chicken breast. Although chicken skin adds flavour, it is usually the most unhealthy part of the chicken, thus the meal is made healthier by removing the chicken skin.

Also in replacement of normal cooking spray, non-fat cooking spray is used. Low sodium soy sauce is used instead of normal soy sauce.

With this combination of healthy ingredients, the meal also becomes healthy! :)