Maraiah Jaramillo

Professor Apiafi

Health 7b

May 30, 2019

Project 2 Calorie Reflection

I have found calorie counting to be both eye opening and scary. My results after a week

of counting were all over the place. I initially begin my week with fewer calories, often skipping

breakfast and eating a late lunch or even an early dinner with snacks in between. The snacks

were generally unhealthy which is the only reason my calorie intake hit over 1324 for Monday

and Tuesday. I ate decent healthy meals like salmon and chicken with veggies and brown rice.

That is my usual go to meal because it fuels me. For Wednesday I ate a little more because it’s

my day off from both work and school and so I spend the day studying and going out for longer

runs with my dog. That usually works up my appetite as well. I ate about 1800 calories that day.

Most of it came from two larger meals and the rest from snacking. My snacks are usually chips

or ice cream. I was never a big fan but I work at an ice cream shop and find myself eating it

much more now. Thursday was a higher calorie count day because I didn’t eat my usual meals of

chicken or salmon. I had a high calorie pizza that brought me up to 2300 calories for the day.

Friday was even more so. I counted 2368 calories because I ate more unhealthy food. The same

followed for Saturday and Sunday with calories going as high as 4200 on Saturday and back

down to a still very high number of 3800 on Sunday.

I learned so much about my bad habits from calorie counting. It isn’t just about the days

where my calories are highest; it’s also the days when they were lower. My calories almost never

hit a good number, which for my height, age, and gender is about 2100 calories daily. My
calories intake has been erratic. I now can see just what that “one bag of chips” and that “let me

just skip breakfast” attitude gets me. I don’t have a good relationship with food. I should use it to

nourish me and not just for when I feel like eating. With that being said, breakfast is important

for my energy throughout the day. My health is not great, I am anemic because I don’t get my

proper nutrition and because of that I am constantly tired and my skin is flawed. All of this can

be remedied with a healthy lifestyle. I exercise about twice a week at least but I would like to

make more time for that. I don’t drink enough water and I know because even though I was only

counting calories I also logged my water intake. I don’t drink very much soda either but my

water intake is lacking. The weekends are hardest for tracking because I am eating out more and

while I can still do that, I should look for the healthier options once in a while. I don’t always

want to count calories though because I know that can also become an unhealthy habit, but I am

glad I started for the time being, to get my body on track. This entire assignment has made me

realize that all of these little food decisions throughout my day are shaping my entire physical

and mental lifestyle and I can change this to a healthier version.