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Food Journal 2

Eating healthy is an important aspect to all individuals to either lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Diet and exercise are the two main processes individuals can complete in order to be healthy. Protein and fiber is important to healthy eating in an individual’s diet plan. Some individuals believe that eating certain foods and staying away from certain foods will assist in the weight loss program. This fact is not true; the Food Guide Pyramid was created for those individuals who want to be healthy and maintain the proper weight for his or her height class. Fiber allows individuals to process food and to stay regular rather than be constipated. Fiber is an important aspect to all individual’s diets to be healthy and keep the body flowing properly. Fiber comes from most foods that are consumed; legumes being one of the best sources of fiber an individual can consume. Fiber as a class is mostly made up of polysaccharides, but they differ from starches insofar as human enzymes in the GI tract cannot digest the chemical links that join the individual sugar units and are not a single substance, but a group of substances with similar characteristics (Wardlaw and Smith, 2006, pg. 113). Importance in understanding why protein and fiber is necessary in diets will allow individuals to understand better how to lose and maintain the healthy weight that they strive for.
Protein
The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion recommends that I should consume 46 grams of protein a day. On September 16, 2008, I consumed 64 grams of protein. This number was considerable higher than what is recommended to lose weight and surprised me greatly. I believed that I was not getting enough protein for the day, not more than the recommended amount.
I am unsure as to why my protein intake was too high; however, as I looked over the food pyramid and compared the protein on the pyramid to the foods that I ate, I believe I have concluded as to why my protein intake was high on...