Sample Diet - Pop Quiz

Below is the food intake for a day in the life of the fictional Mrs. Baked Bean. Mrs. Bean is 43 years old. She stands 5' 5", weighs 145 lbs, works in an office, and smokes about a pack of cigarettes/day.

1. Can you name, just by looking at what she eats, one nutrient Mrs. Bean is getting plenty of, and one nutrient she definitely needs more of? (Examples of nutrients: vitamins, minerals, carbohydrate, fat, protein, calories, etc.)

2. Can you tell if Mrs. Bean is likely to gain weight, lose weight, or stay about the same weight eating like this? (The diet below provides about 2000 calories.)
________
Breakfast
Quaker Instant Oatmeal, apples and cinnamon, 1 pkg.
Starbucks Tall Latte w/nonfat milk, 12 oz.

Morning Snack
Banana, medium
Stonyfield Farm Lowfat Yogurt, strawberry, 6 oz.

Lunch
Pizza Hut Thin 'N Crispy Cheese Pizza, 2 slices from a medium pie
Diet Coke, 12 oz.

Afternoon Snack
Raisins, 1/4 cup
Quaker Chewy Chocolate Chip Granola Bar, 1

Dinner
Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Cafe Classics Baked Chicken and Whipped Potatoes and Stuffing Entree, 1
Broccoli, frozen, chopped, boiled, 1/2 cup
Butter, 1 tsp. for broccoli
Dinner Roll, 1 small
Butter, 1 tsp. for roll
Red Wine, 6 oz.

Evening Snack
Girl Scout Cookies, Samoas, 3
Silk Soymilk, Vanilla, 8 oz.
________
Update: March 7 - The following recommendations are based on Mrs. Bean's age and gender.

Doing Well:
Calcium recommendation: 1000mg
Calcium intake: ~1690mg

Total fat recommendation: 20 to 35% of calories
Total fat intake: ~25% of calories

To use hj's term, Needs Tweaking:
Vitamin C recommendation: 75mg + 35mg (smoker) = 110mg
Vitamin C intake: ~62 mg

Potassium recommendation: 4700mg
Potassium intake: ~2300mg*

* Alcohol intake increases risk for hypertension. (I suspect Mrs. Bean's admission of 6 oz. of red wine at dinner suffers from underreporting.) Potassium aids in blood pressure regulation.

Vitamin D recommendation: 200 IU (In light of recent research on bone health, heart health, and cancer, some are recommending 400 to 1000 IU and higher.)
Vitamin D intake: ~126 IU**

** Smoking increases risk for lung cancer. Vitamin D has been shown to improve lung cancer survival rates. Vitamin D is also produced in skin exposed to sunlight and Mrs. Bean gets precious little of that sitting in an office.

Since a few of you mentioned her iron intake, I'll post it. However, knowing Mrs. Bean, her love of red meat won't make iron or zinc a problem. (Richard: Good point regarding iron, which is best absorbed in an acidic environment. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) aids in conversion of ferric iron (Fe3+) to ferrous iron (Fe2+) which is better absorbed. Although, hydrochloric acid (HCL), which is present in the stomach also performs this function.)

Iron recommendation: 18mg
Iron intake: ~13mg
________
Regarding her weight: (Lavender and hj are spot on.) Her current intake of ~2000 calories/day just about equals her expenditure of ~2000 calories/day. I predict her weight won't change that much in the next few weeks or months.

However, as Autumn pointed out, her weight is already a little high. Her BMI (body mass index) of 24.1 is on the high end of normal. Also, her expenditure (which is based on her age, height, current weight, and activity level) will decrease as she ages. If she changes nothing, she is looking at weight gain in the next 5 years. It would be a good idea for Mrs. Bean to slowing start shaving off 100 to 200 calories/day, or take up walking. Isn't life grand.
________