Monday, 26 September 2011

Food Label - Vanilla Coke

What is your food product? 
Vanilla Coca-Cola



1. What is the serving size?
240 mL


2. How many servings per container?
2.5



3. How many calories per serving?
100 kcal



4. How many calories are from fat?
0 kcal



5. What percentage of each serving’s calories comes from fat?(Do the math yourself.)
0%



6. What is the total fat percentage of your food?
0%



Is this content Low/Moderate/High?
Very low, there is none at all



7. What is the saturated fat percentage in your food?
0%



Is this content Low/High?
Very low, there is none at all



8. How much of your diet should come from saturated fats?
Less than 20 grams.



9. What is the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats?
Saturated fat has low density cholesterol and unsaturated fat is high density cholesterol. Saturated fat is the worse kind of fat whereas unsaturated is the better kind.



10. What is the percentage cholesterol in your food?
0%



Is that Low/Moderate/High
It's really low, there is no cholesterol in coke.



11. How much sodium is in your food?

25 mg


Is this content Low/Moderate/High?25 mg is really low as well, it's counted as 1% of my daily value


12. What is the carbohydrate content of your food?28g


Is this content Low/Moderate/High?28g of carbohydrate is 9% of what my daily value should be. Since my food product is coke, just a complementary drink, this is pretty high up. 


13.What is the sugar content of your food?
28g


Is this content Low/Moderate/High?
This is pretty high for a simple drink, it's counted as 9% of my daily value.

14. Why are sugars not good for you?
They raise your insulin levels, they are stored as fat cells over a period of time. They also have loads of calories.


15. How much fiber is in your food?

0g


16.Why is fiber good for you?It really helps your digestive system by keeping it running, and helps you go to the toilet. 

17. How much protein is in your food?

0g


Is this content Low/Moderate/High?This is very low, and since my diet already has a low intake of protein, this is not good for me.


18. What is the Vitamin A , Vitamin C, Calcium, and Iron content of your food?
Vit. A
0g
Vit. C
0g
Calcium
0g
Iron
0g
Are these amounts adequate?
These amounts are not adequate because my diet has these contents in my lowest section, I need more in my diet and coke is not helping me obtain them. 


19. Overall, what would you say is the nutritional value of your food? Is it good for you? Why or why not?

Coke is definitely not the healthiest thing to drink on this planet, barely any food groups are obtained when drinking a can, except for carbohydrates, all coming from sugars. This carbohydrate intake is 10% of what the daily value is, and since my normal daily intake of carbohydrates is 54%, it's already way to high. The nutritional value of coke is no where near healthy. 





Nutrition Analysis

Weekday

On a regular weekday, where I eat what I usually eat and there's nothing else going on, the nutrition im taking in is no where near equal to what it should be. Compared to a very healthy person, their pie chart on their fat, carbs and protein would almost be completely equally divided. Whereas for me, my intake for fat is pretty much ideal but my carbs overtake most of the space of what should be protein. My carbs will have to be cut down quite a lot in replacement for more meat or protein items. This is because since my family is vegetarian, more carbs are being eaten compared to the amount of protein were eating. Other than that, my week day pie chart seems fine. Also since I want to gain a bit more muscle, my protein should be way more than only 16% of my diet, so I will have to start eating more foods containing this nutrients much more regularly on a daily basis.

Looking at my bar graph showing my nutrient intakes, I'm not that happy with myself. Every vitamin that I take in is below then what is needed for my body. On a regular day, I take in no vitamin D at all and most of my nutrients are barely over what is necessary. I don't take in many fruits/vegetables, which might be the cause of my low numbers in the vitamin portion. Fish is also a big vitamin D supplement, and since the sun is also a source of vitamin D, I'll try to go outside more often because volleyball is an indoor sport. I will also start eating more meat, especially fish.  There are also many other nutrients that I have to work on, but mainly vitamins. My magna and selenium levels are also double then the standard, which might be a bit too high, along with my carbs, which also seems pretty high up.

This bar graph shows how much calories I take in and how much I burn on a regular school weekday. I take in about 1,596 calories, which is quite low compared to what I'm supposed to be having (2600 - 2700), plus since I'm burning more calories than I'm taking in, I would be losing weight, but my weight has remained the same for about two months with the same eating habits. There might be a limitation that we don't know about with this website, but if it is correct, it's not a good sign. I should be taking in more calories and losing less because I want to gain more muscle.

Weekends

On a regular weekend, I usually eat junk food for a meal and the rest would usually be normal home Indian food. As seen here, carbohydrates claims the name of the most dominant nutrient that enters my body. 55% of all of my diet is from carbs, which is way too much especially when I want to gain muscles. The extra carbs should be going into protein, which is again my weak point. The fats I take in on a weekday seems pretty regular as all three should be divided equally in the pie chart, making about 33% for each. When I have 32% of fat in my diet I know I'm not taking in too much or too little.


As seen here, the part which stands out the most is again the vitamin section of my bar graph. Everything else seems to be above the average 100.0 line except for a few exceptions other than the vitamins. All the vitamins other than B-6 and B-12 are below the average line by a significant amount. This again is due to the lack of fruits and vegetables in my body. Again, I'll try to incorporate fish into my diet to raise my vitamin D levels because if that's my weakest point, along with other vitamins. A box of juice everyday might help do the trick, but not do it completely. My intake on carbohydrates seems like it's way too much along with the other three above 200, I really got to cut down on my carbs. This would be somewhat of a challenge because since my family is vegetarian, most of the meals made is based off of carbohydrates.

To the left, you will be able to see a bar graph showing you how many calories I take in on a weekend and how many calories I burn on a weekend. Since I don't play much sports on the weekends except for the occasional volleyball tournament, there's not much physical activity. But the calories I'm taking in seems to be reasonable for my age group according to my small research. As long as I'm gaining more calories than I'm burning, I should be fine without losing much weight and gaining much weight.

Comparison Paragraph
According to my information above, I am more happy with my results from the weekend rather on the weekday. I honestly think this is because on the weekday I'm so stressed with work being done, meetings during lunch, studying during lunch and homework after school. This causes my mind always to be on other things rather then what to eat today and making sure it's a healthy meal. But there are two main things which stand out in both weekdays and weekends, my low intake on vitamins and my low intake on protein. Since my family is vegetarian and I only have one meal outside during weekends, I do get some protein in me but not as much as I should be getting, especially when I want to gain muscle and a bit more weight to be more fit for sports. I have to tell my mom to implement some vegetarian protein supplements into my dinner every day of the week allowing my protein to increase and my carbs to decrease. Vitamin D is mainly taken from the sun, I need to get out more during the weekends and practice shooting a few hoops in the outdoor court or maybe even take a swim. More juices need to be added into my diet to increase my intake for vitamin C and lastly for vitamin E, more soybeans and nuts should be eaten. More fruit and vegetables need to be added into my diet to see an increase in the vitamin section of my bar graphs, because right now that's my main problem. 

Friday, 2 September 2011

Decision Making


Decision-making model


a. State the situation that requires a decision.
When there is no JV Volleyball and there is Varsity Volleyball training, should I attend or not?


b. List all your possible choices.
Attend Varsity training or go home and ignore the offer


c. Consider the consequences and your values.
If I attend Varsity training: I get more prepared for next year, I train with more advanced players improving my skill, teacher respect, more volleyball play, stay fit (physical health), will not lose my skill, more chance of making varsity next year, less time to do homework when I get home, make me more tired, feel bad about not making the team when I have fun.

If I don't attend varsity training: I get more time to finish all my homework and catch up on all my work at home, I can focus on JV Volleyball and how to make it better and be the best captain I can be, more time to rest, looked down upon the varsity coaches, less chance of making the varsity team next year.


How will my loved ones react to this decision?
My family wouldn't really mind any of my decisions as long as I am able to manage my time, finish all my work and get enough sleep and most importantly, have fun.

How will this help me achieve my goals? 
One of my goals for next year is to make the varsity volleyball team and this decision will make an impact on that goal. If I go, I'll have a better chance of making the team next year by showing devotion and my love for the game. 


d. Make an informed decision. 
I will attend the varsity trainings only when I don't have JV practice to show the coaches that I love the game and I'm a devoted person. This would improve my chances of making the varsity team next year.


e. Evaluate your decision.
I am proud with the decision I have made because today I attended varsity practice. Both the coaches gave me smiles at how I came and I had loads of fun. I also got some tips at how to improve my game and spotted more of my weaknesses, which I have to work on.