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HEALTH ASSESSMENT ASSIGNMENT

BAYLEY MAY

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

22 March 2019

Physical activity and proper nutrition are the essentials for living a healthy lifestyle. In

today’s time most Americans struggle finding a balance between their work schedules, family

life, and trying to eat right and exercise. Appropriate amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, fats and

minerals are the key to a healthy diet. Carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice, bread, etc. are the

most important source of energy. Proteins including meats, vegetables, nuts, cheese, etc. are

needed in our body for growth and repair. Fats fuel the body and help absorb vitamins while

minerals build strong bones, teeth and control bodily fluids. A balanced diet also keeps the

number of calories needed in check. For women, a healthy calorie intake is 1500-2000 and 2,200

for men depending on your age, height, and weight (Newman).

Throughout my life, I have been very lucky to have very minimal health problems. In the

past, I never had to worry about gaining weight because I was so active with sports, working out,

and walking my dog every morning. When I started college, it was hard for me to find a happy

medium between working, school, extra-curricular activities, and exercising that I started to

gaining weight. After a couple months, I hit my all-time low I hated how I looked and felt and

wanted to change it immediately. I started out by downloading an app that tracked my food

intake along with calories just like the one that was recommended for this project. I kept in mind

that change would not happen overnight but if I worked at it every day, I could reach my goal.
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Now a year and a half later, I am thirty pounds lighter and so much happier in my own

skin. Through that low, I learned a good nutrition and healthy lifestyle is key to promote your

overall health. According to the CDC, being active and fit reduces your risk of depression and

helps you maintain a healthy brain while also slowing down age-related effects (Rose). Not only

does living a healthy lifestyle make you feel better, it also gives you the likelihood to live longer

and feel better about yourself.

For this specific project, I continued to do what I have done every day for the past six

months tracking my food intake and how much activity I have done throughout the day. I have

found that this works great for me because I am to see what my normal diet consists of everyday.

In the past, when tracking my food and exercise I only cared about my calorie intake and I tried

to make sure that I did not meet the daily limit. I believed that if I ate less, I would lose weight.

This health assessment assignment made realize that my food intake was not healthy, but in order

to get all the nutrients needed my diet needed to change.

Over the past three days, I set a goal for myself to eat lots vegetables, protein and eat

minimal carbs. Also, I set another goal to get in bed by nine, run two miles, and drink a gallon of

water every day. Looking back over the past three days I have never felt healthier. Living a

healthy lifestyle does not just mean eating right and exercising, you have to rest and take care of

your mental health also. This assignment was very beneficial in helping me with my weight-loss

journey. My strengths would include being focused in order to reach my overall goal but also

giving myself flexibly because not everyone is perfect. I found out that I do better running in the

morning than at night because I seem to get fatigue easily. I also learned that it better to plan out

my meals so I can have more self-control over myself.

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In order to better myself, I knew that stepping out of my comfort zone and trying new

things was just what I needed to meet my goal. Eating right is not easily especially when you are

a very picky eater and do not like to try new things. This was my biggest weakness because

when you do not like many vegetables or meat it is hard to meet the criteria of “healthy”. Fatigue

also played a huge part in trying to bring me down and not reach my goal. It is not easy going to

school, working full-time, and staying on track exercising and eating right. In order to improve

my diet in the future first, I need to eat more vegetables and meat to improve my protein intake.

Second, I need to continue to plan out my meals, so I know what I am eating each day. To

improve my physical activity, I need to continue to run two miles daily and add a thirty-minute

circuit to get my heart rate going. Also, I believe that if I changed up my workouts and cardio it

will not only keep it interesting for myself but also work out different parts of my body.

Today in America, there are so many people who do not pay close attention to nutrition

facts or what they are putting into their bodies. In order to stay healthy our bodies need the right

balance of different nutrients. Proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals are all needed daily to

keep our bodies healthy. To keep our bodies in shape, it is important that we get at least 30

minutes of moderate aerobic activity. Strength training is also a key component in physical

activity because it gives all muscles a change to be worked. In general, everyone needs to aim for

exercising 30 minutes or more at day, the more active you are the better you will feel. This

project has made me learn a lot. It is very eye opening when you are analyzing your own

personal heath and being able to point out flaws and strengths. I have learned a lot about myself

and pushing myself to the next level is what I need to succeed. Eating and exercising should not

just be a day to day activity, it should be a lifestyle that we all strive to live for.
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Works Cited

Edward R. Laskowski, M. D. (2019, April 27). How much exercise do you really need?

Retrieved March 22, 2020, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/expert-

answers/exercise/faq-20057916

Newman, T. (2020, January 9). Nutrition: Nutrients and the role of the dietitian and

nutritionist. Retrieved March 22, 2020, from

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160774