If Cate consumes
an upsize meal for lunch for two months, her weight will increase. Assuming that
she can afford a meal up to $10 four times a week and it is convenient for her
to buy food from McDonald’s and she never stops, the effect of her increasing
weight will go on and on despite her constant exercise. This is only valid if
Cate eats McDonald’s four times a week. This is because she is not eating
healthily, as she does not have a balanced diet and intakes too much oil and
fats, and also, she exceeds her calorie intake, and did not take enough of
other food groups, like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Another thing is
that, the meat that she takes is not necessarily lean meat that is a type of
healthy food, thus she usually has a lack of intake of protein. Healthy eating
also means not eating too much sugar, fat, or fast foods, but instead she takes
McDonalds 4 times a week and takes a lot of sugar from the food in McDonald’s
and also from other food that she eats for other meals. She is not eating the correct servings of different
food groups a person needs daily according to her height and weight.
Healthy eating is
to have a balanced diet and not intake too much oil, fats, and carbohydrates,
as carbohydrates will be converted into glucose that will be converted into
energy, and will cause her to gain weight rapidly if she takes too much of it
and does not use enough of it. Cate should also count calories and keep her eating
within her calorie limit if she really wants to eat healthily, as weight gain
is caused by taking more calories into the body than your body can use.
An
increase in body fat is commonly seen as a result of diet or lack of exercise
as the body converts muscle to fat, and in Cate’s case, it would be as a result
of diet, where she takes in more calories than what is needed. The more excess
calories you take in, the more weight gain you will experience. This will also
in turn affects her performance in her CCA, as she might not be able to run as
fast as previously. Too much oil might be clogged up in the heart artery and in
turns, increases her chance of having a heart problem.
However, when
Cate consumes a standard MacDonald’s meal instead, the results might change.
Having an assumption that she consumes another two months of standard meals,
she will not gain as much weight as when she consumes the upsize meal. This is
because that she will not have as much intake of oil and fats as the standard
meal has a lesser amount of food. This inference is only valid if we compare
the same type of main course for the standard meal and the upsize meal.
However, the difference might not be great. This is because the only difference
between the standard meal and the upsized meal is the size of the fries and
drink, and the difference in calories of the fries in the standard and upsized
meal is 67 kcal, and the difference in calories of the drink, assuming it is
Coca Cola, will only be 47 kcal.
All the above
information and inferences stated must also consider the activity factor. The
activity factor is how active a person’s lifestyle is. Hence, the higher the
activity factor, the more active the person’s lifestyle in, and the more
calories the person would need to take in, and A person with an active lifestyle
requires more energy than a person with a less active lifestyle and therefore
he needs to consume more calories to supply energy.
As Cate trains for squash four times a week and is 158cm tall, she will in
the end, need to consume more calories to supply energy since she uses the energy
every time she has training. Thus, when Cate eats the standard meals after
having eating the upsized meal, she might need to consume more food at the
later part of the day. This point can only be valid if we assume that the food
is not enough for her. She would then eat more food during dinner. However her
weight would not increase as much as when she eats the upsize meal instead of
the standard meal as we assume that the upsize meal is also not enough to last
her till dinner after the training.
A meal at Subway would indeed be healthier as there are lesser fats and
oils and the components used in the Subway meal are healthier. It is also
healthier because the Subway sandwich with vegetables will give Cate’s body the
nutrients it needs, as vitamins can be found in vegetables. It is part of
Cate’s balanced diet because it has each of all the food groups, where there is
a little of sugar, with meat in the sandwich if she orders a sandwich with meat
in it, like the Turkey Breast Sandwich, the Teriyaki Chicken Sandwich, etc. It
also contains vegetables if Cate adds vegetables in her sandwich, and the bread
is a source of carbohydrates and is whole grain, which is a healthier choice. It
is also evident that a 6-inch sandwich from Subway has lesser calories than a
MacDonald’s burger on average according to our calculations. Also, according to
calculations, each Subway meal that she intakes give her an average of 775
kcal. Hence, she takes in an extra of 160 kcal after deducting from the
calories burnt from her exercise every time she takes Subway, whereas each
McDonalds upsized meal that she intakes give her an average of 1125 kcal. Hence,
she takes in an extra of 510 kcal after deducting from the calories burnt from
her exercise every time she takes McDonalds, hence again proving the point that
Subway is a healthier choice as compared to McDonald’s. This is valid when we
assume that the values that we calculated are accurate and valid, and that Cate
also takes balanced meals for breakfast, recess, tea and dinner. This proves
that a meal at Subway is healthier if the assumptions made are valid.
