[cagesorwings]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this sort of question, but here goes anyway. Mods can move it as they please

So I just started a calorie counting plan... however I am being more conscious about healthy foods and all that, especially because those healthy foods are the lower calorie ones. I entered all my foods into mydailyplate, and I was really intrigued by the "totals" column... listing how many grams of cholesteral, fiber, sugar, carbs, etc. that I have consumed. It also lists what percent of my "daily value" those are.
Now, my questions is, what can I do with this information? I am interested in being as healthy as I can be, not interested in cutting out carbs or anything.
This is today's menu and the "totals"
Breakfast:
1/2 cup of a kashi cereal, 1/4 cup organic 2% milk
medium sized banana
Lunch:
low carb flour tortilla w/one slice of american cheese melted inside
prunes
Dinner:
salad w/"salad spritzer" balsamic vinaigrette
whole wheat pasta w/sauce
Snacks:
Apple
Odwalla "Chocolate Chip Peanut" Bar
Cup of tea w/milk & sugar

Total calories: about 1420
What dailyplate says about nutrition:
My calories are 71.1% of my DV
Fat - 21 g, 31.77%
Cholestoral - 37mg, 12.33%
Sodium - 1565mg, 65.22%
Carbs - 271g, 90.43%
Sugars - 54g
Fiber - 45g
Protein - 39g, 78.64%

Okay so, I have some vague ideas about nutrition. I imagine that it is a good thing that I have a low percentage of fat & cholestoral, and a high percentage of protein (and from what I can tell, relatively high fiber?)
I suppose my sodium and sugars and carbs might be high though, but I really have no idea.
Can anyone explain in simple terms how I can assess my diet (or really one day of eating) and therefore make it more nutritious, and make me healthier?
Since my calories are only 71% of my DV, should I strive for 71% in the other areas? If cholesterol is low, should I try to "eat" more?

It would be great if someone could help me out thanks!

[Glory87]

I'm not a nutritionist, but just glancing at your menu, it seems a little lacking in vegetables (I aim for 5 servings a day), protein (I aim for 100 grams a day) and healthy fats (I aim for 25% of my daily calories - not DV - to come from healthy fats - olive oil, fish, nuts/nut butters, avocado).

Throw some veggies in the pita for lunch and or maybe wilt some spinach, add sun dried tomatoes/shredded carrots/zuch to the sauce? You are so low in healthy fat, it might be okay to skip the spritzer and opt for a home-made olive/walnut oil salad dressing (carefully measured).

Are you a vegetarian? Just wondering since there is no significant protein source all day (lean meat, low fat dairy, eggs, nuts/nut butter, fish etc etc). Maybe add some turkey to your wrap and instead of an odwalla bar for a snack you could substitute hummus/whole wheat crackers or low fat cottage cheese with fruit or a string cheese and 1/4 cup of almonds? Not that I think there's anything wrong with Odwalla bars, your ratios are just a little out of balance for me (high in carbs, way low in healthy fat, way low in protein).

Good work starting to pay attention to this stuff! It can seem a little overwhelming at first but you are definitely doing great! (whole wheat pasta, salads, etc etc).

I can't give advice about stuff like cholesterol, except to encourage you to eat more of the foods which builds HDL (good cholesterol) while avoiding the foods that create LDL (bad cholesterol). Here are some articles:

http://www.goodmeasuremeals.com/Health/Cholesterol.aspx

http://www.americanheart.org/present...identifier=180

http://www.ehow.com/how_12776_eat-lo...olesterol.html

[jillybean720]

I agree with Glory to add more healthy fats (granted, it doesn't give a breakdown of the types of fats you ate, but judging by your foods, I would guess you could use more unsaturated fats) and protein.

I'm not an expert on cholesterol, but I do know that if you don't get enough cholesterol in your diet, bad things can happen (something about your body overcompensating for the lack of dietary cholesterol), so I might even try to increase your cholesterol a bit.

As for sodium, you're totally fine. The recommended MAXIMUM for adults in the U.S. is typically 2400mg (2000, I think, if you have a history of heart problems or something), so being at less than 1600mg is just fine, and I don't think there's any reason to go any lower (unless you have specific health issues).

But overall, I don't think there's anything horribly wrong with your plan if it is working for you. I'd be more concerned with the percentages of vitamins and minerals you're getting rather than the carb/fat/protein numbers, since different ratios of carbs/fat/protein work for different people.

[cagesorwings]

thanks for the tips guys
my diet today was kind of opposite on the numbers, so I guess it balances out. I did keep in mind all the things you both suggested, I made sure I had protein (I had a tuna sandwich for lunch, and a small amount of chicken for dinner), made sure I got more veggies (lots of broccoli at dinner), began to take a multivitamin, went out and bought more snacks with healthy fats (I'm eating almonds right now!)...
end totals show that I ate 36 g of fat (compared to 21 today, and most of that fat is from the almonds), 191g carbs (271 yesterday!), and 104g of protein (definitely more than 39!)...
I think I did a good job with the adjustments and I will keep your advice in mind! (and welcome any more btw)