Nutrition Journal

Food Journal:
--Lunch:
---- 2 oz. Penne Pasta
---- 1/4 cup Alfredo Sauce
---- 8 oz. Blueberry Lemonade
---- 50g Caesar Salad
---- 4 Chocolate Chip Cookies

--Dinner:
---- 2 oz. Salami
---- 1.5 oz. New Zealand Cheddar Cheese
---- 2 oz. (1/4 loaf) Baguette
---- 8 oz. Blueberry Lemonade

--Snacks/Water:
---- 20 Roasted Plantain Chips
---- 3 cups Water

CARBOHYDRATES:
1. Grams of Carbohydrates consumed: 213g
2. Calories from Carbohydrates: 852 calories
3. Percentage of total calories: 49%
    * Compared to the recommended 45-65%, this number fits perfectly in that range.
4. Complex Carbs: Pasta, Caesar Salad, Baguette
    Simple Carbs: Salami, Plantain Chips
     Concentrated Simple Carbs: Alfredo Sauce, Lemonade, Cookies

FAT:
1. Grams of fat consumed: 81g
2. Calories from fat: 729 calories
3. Percentage of total calories: 42%
    * Compared to the recommended 20-35%, this number is pretty high. The cookies contributed to a large portion of this number. I could eat less cookies to reduce my fat intake per day.
4. Amount of cholesterol consumed: 142.5mg
    * Compared to the recommended 300mg max of cholesterol per day, this number is good.

PROTEIN:
1. Grams of protein consumed: 47.5g
2. Calories from protein: 190 calories
3. Percentage of total calories: 11%
    * Compared to the recommended 10-35%, this number fits in perfectly.

VITAMINS/MINERALS:
1. I am definitely lacking nutritional value when it comes to the vitamins and minerals section. I got 86% of the daily recommended Vitamin A needed. This was my highest percentage and it came mostly from my salad. My Vitamin C intake was the lowest with only 18% of the daily recommended value achieved. I received 38% of my recommended Calcium intake, with most of that coming from the cheese I ate. I consumed 31% of the daily recommended Iron intake and consumed 220mg of Potassium. 
2. I consumed 6 grams of sodium which is the maximum amount recommended daily. The salami I ate majorly contributed to this number. Salami is salty by nature, so I would just need to eat less of it to get my number down. The cookies, baguette, and alfredo sauce also had lots of sodium. I could eliminate the cookies from my diet or eat less of them to reduce the amount of sodium in my diet. The pasta sauce I used was in a jar which increases the amount of sodium, so next time, I could make my own sauce to cut the sodium down a bit.

CONCLUSION:
    I learned a lot from tracking what I ate on an average day. I usually eat more than this, but I was busy running errands most of the day so I didn't get a chance to eat much. It was kind of an eye opener on how much I consume and the nutritional value of it all. My fat intake was pretty high, which made me think about how much higher it would have been if I hadn't been running errands and I ate like a normally do. Something else that really caught my attention was the lack of vitamins and minerals I eat daily. That is definitely something I will be thinking more about as I make my decisions on what I want and need to eat. The last thing I would change would be to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Not only would that help me satisfy my sweet cravings, but I also think that it would help boost my vitamin and mineral intake.