L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

Choose My Plate
Emily Patton
Arizona State University
PPE 310: Health Literacy for Schools
2016-FALL B
October 23, 2016
William S. Hesse, Ph.D

L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

Introduction:
When you do research about healthy eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle you often
flip to the view of your own life. You might find yourself asking, Am I healthy? Do I eat the
way that I am supposed too? Surely I eat all that I am supposed to eat in order for me to be
healthy right? The dietary guidelines are a great tool for you to investigate your eating pattern.
You will discover what your pattern is and if you need to change the types of foods you
consume.
Do you meet the requirements for the Dietary Guidelines? Why or why not? Be specific and use
details from your food tracker results.
During my research I sadly discovered that I do not follow the Dietary Guidelines. I am a healthy
22-year-old female who seems to eat what is convenient not what is healthy for me. I work at
Starbucks and I am the opening shift. This means that I am to be up at 4:15am and then head to
work and clock in at 5am. Then my day begins. I am going no stop for 6 hours, home by noon,
and grabbing the quickest thing to eat. So this means no breakfast, unhealthy lunch due to its

L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

convenience, and dinner is usually a protein, veggie, and starch. So I decided to see how good I
ate on Saturday October 22, 2016. My husband and I stopped at a gas station grabbed a breakfast
sandwich and a coffee with french vanilla creamer and 2 Splendas. Then we head to
Charlottesville Virginia to attend the UVA vs. UNC football game. Soon lunch rolls around and
we go to Buffalo Wild Wings. I had water, 5 wings coated in honey barbeque sauce, and split a
basket of fries with my husband Chris. We were now at the game and during the game I had two
hot chocolates and half a bag of shelled peanuts. After the game we grabbed a burger and split
loaded fries. My burger had raw onion, avocado, lettuce, Havarti cheese, and mayo. As we can
see my day consisted of very tasty foods. While reading about the guidelines I discovered that I
do not have a healthy eating pattern nor do I have a pattern at all. I have no focus on food variety.
I do not limit the about on sugars and saturated/trans fat that I intake. Although, now is a good
time to begin to shift my ways of eating and begin to support the others around me as well as
having them hold me accountable.

What changes would you make to improve the food you eat to improve your nutritional intake?
Be specific and use at least three examples.
I look forward to putting the Dietary Guidelines into my everyday life. I will strive to cut the
amount of carbs that I take in. Once I eliminated all bread in my diet a couple months ago and I
felt good after I had a meal. I did not feel bloated and over stuffed. I can also choose to have a
colorful plate. Eat the rainbow and I do not mean skittles. Prepare and eat more fruit, vegetables,
and grains. Due to working at Starbucks I intake a lot of dairy due to putting it in my coffee
drinks. I recently switched to almond milk and my skin has become more vibrant and fewer
blemishes have shown up. With the help of decrease my sugar intake, eating less carbs, and

L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

maintaining almond milk consumption I can strive to have a healthy eating style. I will make an
effort to choose healthier option for myself but also for my husband since I am the cook of the
family. GO foods such as, Fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat milk and milk
products, lean meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts (Unknown Author 2013). All of these
are low in sugar and fat, low in calorie, rich in vitamins, and good to eat no matter what the time.
With help of creating a better eating pattern m husband and I can become healthier and have
more energy due to in taking foods that do good for our bodies.

Complete a one-page reflection about how you would use this activity from the viewpoint of a
leader of a company and how this data could impact your workers inside and outside your
workplace.
One should be sure to understand that these, recommendations are ultimately intended to help
individuals improve and maintain overall health and reduce the risk of chronic disease(Dietary
Guidelines for Americans). When it comes to maintaining good health in the work place there
could be a health policy put into A health policy is a tool for achieving health promotion and
disease prevention program goals(Unknown Author 2016). With the help of these health
policies we can hold each other accountable knowing the health policies are in play. Holding
each other accountable we will be ready for the first of the year when assessments are given,
Partnerships can improve and strengthen information exchanges; access to specific expertise;
resource allocation; community outreach; trust among key stakeholder groups; and buy-in,
commitment and involvement(Unknown Author 2016). Another great way to make sure the
companies employees are all on the same page is focus groups. Focus groups collect
information from several individuals at the same time and are conducted in a question and

L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

response format. In addition to the focus groups interviews are also a great strategy that can be
used to help each other stay accountable. Interviews can be structured around a specific theme
or issue and allow for more in-depth exploration of the topic. Interviews can be unstructured,
allowing for flexibility in participants response(Unknown Author 2016). All companies should
make sure that their employees are aware of the consequences that could occur if they are not
taking the health program/policies seriously. Information on layoffs, company commitment,
limitations, and facilitators for policy changes need to be understood by the staff (Unknown
Author 2016). These programs require organization and coordination in order to be successful

Please add a brief statement in your reflection outlining the surrounding fast food establishments
in the immediate proximity to your work place or community and detail how these may impact
the choices our you make.
Like I stated previously I work for Starbucks. Starbucks as a company allows their partners to
have as many free drinks while they are clocked in and one free food item. This drink can be
anything from a cup of black coffee at any size, a vanilla latte, or even a Frappuccino that
contains plenty of unneeded calories. The food options you have to choose from can be anything
you want as well. Whether you choose your one free item to be a birthday cake pop, nice and
toasty buttered croissant, a breakfast sandwich, or my personal favorite the protein plate. I
typically go with the protein plate. This is because I am at the store in the morning and a warmed
cookie sounds delicious but it is not going to fill me up. The protein plate has a hard boiled egg,
whole grain bread, apple slices, red grapes, peanut butter and honey spread, and salt and pepper
for the egg. I usually do not eat the bread because it has raisins and I am not a fan of them. So I

L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

spread the peanut butter on the apples, salt and pepper the egg, and eat the grapes. There are food
options around the store as well. There is a grocery store right beside us, A Subway, Popeyes,
Captain Ds, Voccelis Pizza, Chinese, and Japanese too. The variety is there but I dont usually
eat at these places seeing that I get a free food item at work. However when I do go and grab
something from these places the last thing I think about is, how bad is this food for me?

L2: CHOOSE MY PLATE

Resources

http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/ - Click on the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines and Read

Chapters 1-3 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of
Agriculture. 2015 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015.
Available at http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
This website provides examples of Go, Slow, and Whoa foods. It also has quick reference guides
that can be shared regarding choosing what food is right for your students.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/eat-right/choosing-foods.htm
- Read the PDF on Nutrition for your Family Unknown Author (2013). Nutrituion for
your Family, PDF Only. Retrieved from
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/wecan/eat-right/choosing-foods.htm
https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/community-health/health-promotion/2/theories-andmodels/ecological - Read Part 1 of Ecological Models The Theory at a Glance: A Guide
for Health Promotion and Practice frames the ecological perspective Unknown Author
(2016). Guide to Health Promotion and Practice, Part 1. Retrieved from
https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/community-health/health-promotion/2/theories-andmodels/ecological