So I’ve been looking more closely at some of the data I’ve collected since I began this inquiry. Here is what I found out about my nutritional habits:
I used the Canada food guide to determine serving sizes and got the data from the food I recorded eating using the weightwatchers.ca site. I didn’t do this super-scientifically, but if it was a food like a croissant or a cake – which could both be counted as “grains” – that has little to no nutritional value I classified it as “other”.
My big learnings:
- I need to eat a lot more vegetables!!! They should make up 40%-50% of my daily intake, and yet vegetables only accounted for 13% of my daily intake.
- I eat a lot of avocado. More than half the fruit servings was avocado. Part of it is because they are in season right now and we have a short season of availability here, but that is still a little alarming.
- Most of my dairy was the milk in my coffee and cheese. I should substitute some of that cheese for plain non-fat yoghurt a little more frequently.
- My protein was 37% pulses (beans, tofu, nuts) and the rest was a combination of chicken, fish, ham, and beef in descending order.
- I need to reduce my protein and dairy consumption a little bit as they both should be about 10-15% but were well over.
- Most alarming of all, I eat as much “other” as I do vegetables. About a third of these servings were butter and olive oil, but the rest was dessert items. I can definitely reduce these.
This is what I found out about my exercise habits:
As a result, it is clear I do not need to make exercise part of my goals. I am usually getting two hours of vigorous physical activity (Zumba) and two hours of strength training (Pilates). According to the CDC this is enough for someone my age. That is not to say I wouldn’t benefit from more, but it is enough for now that I can remove exercise from my distal goal.
One thought