Hello readers,

Before we start our diary, we want to share with you guys 5 myth about calorie counting!

Have you heard any myth about calorie counting before???

Fret not, we can share it with everyone.

The first myth is:

Second myth:

Third myth:

Fourth myth: 

and..the last myth is:

If you ever listen to this myth before this, make sure to check what is the reality behind those myth :)))

Before we proceed, let’s meet our charismatic team members :  

Firstly, Aqilah voted as the team leader and delegate the task to all the members. She is the Person-in-Charge (PIC) for writing this blog. Then, Atikah is the secretary of the group and she is the PIC for Video Cooking Demo. Next, Asiah is the treasurer that handles the budget during this program. She is the PIC for infographic and proposal-related. As for publication and promotion of the group, Akmal handles social media content. She is the PIC for Quizzes and QnA session. Next, Ainun Muti’ah is the public relation PIC. She handles the Talk session entitled “Tips Kawal Kalori”. Lastly, the 'Ayuh Kira Kalori' challenge are handled by all the group members.  

"ACTIVITIES DURING OUR MODULE"

Infographic: Pengiraan Kalori Seharian, Kadar Pertukaran Makanan & Kadar Metabolik Asas Badan

There are two infographic which are calculation of daily calorie and food exchange. For the calculation of daily calorie, it teaches the participants to use Quick Method (QM) to calculate their daily calorie needs. QM is used as it is easier for people to understand than using formula. As for food exchange infographic, all food groups are included which are carbohydrates, protein, fats and fiber. Starchy and non-starchy vegetables also shared in the infographic to compare the calorie difference. Last but not least, the infographics for calculation of Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) also being shared with the participant to know the minimum daily calorie needed for human body to function properly. 

Short Video Introduction : Qualiti VS Quantiti & Saiz Porsi Makanan

This video will give the participants information on two different but related topic which are portion size and quality versus quantity. As for portion size, the meaning of it will be shared and compared the different between recommended intake by various organizations. Besides, the meaning of serving size by FDA and in food label will be highlighted. The right portion size encouraged to be consumed by everyone is by following “Suku-suku Separuh”. For the quality versus quantity, the video will compare which foods are calorie-dense and nutrient dense calorie and the better option between those two. The important point is the quality of calorie consumed will gives effect for the body weight in long term period.    

Here is the link of the video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CG1L7cBHdBp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 

Cooking Demo: Nasi Lemak & Chicken Wrap

The video is the demonstration of cooking Nasi Lemak to teach participants by practically use the food exchange knowledge by using standard measurements at their home. For example, 1 exchange is equal to 75 kcal for 1 scoop rice, 45kcal for 1 tablespoon coconut milk and 35 kcal for 1/3 cup of ikan bilis. The participants will know the calorie for each ingredients and the total calorie of Nasi Lemak.    

Next, there will be comparison between different amount of ingredients in Chicken Wrap to show the different portion between those two.  

During preparation of the cooking demo for Nasi Lemak, there is a bit of arising issue as usually people cook Nasi Lemak for 4-5 people all at once. Since this video will cater for a person which is a plate of Nasi Lemak, it is difficult to estimate the ingredient and food exchange especially the rice and coconut milk.

Here is the link of the video: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CG30BbzH-SL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Quiz: Jom Uji Pengetahuan Anda!

The quiz will be conducted on 29 November 2020 on IG story that comprises of 8 questions. It will ask questions regarding the 2 questions from each infographic, 2 questions from short video and 2 questions from cooking demo. The questions will be released during 11am to 1 pm and the answer will be given at 8-9pm.  

Count Your Calorie Challenge

The challenge is called “Count Your Calories” will be conducted starting on 13 November and ended until 17 November 2020. This challenge is conducted after all the knowledge on calorie counting are shared. Therefore, hoping that the participants are able to count their own calories. The instruction is they need to calculate the calories in a plate they are eating. Upload the picture in the social media by labeling all the calories of the foods in the plate and also the total calories. We will reupload the photo and tell them whether they count it right or not.

Talk: Tips Kawal Kalori

At first, we wanted to invite our senior as a certified dietitian to be the speaker but most of them are not available. Then, we decided to picked the speaker among ourselves as the content has been prepared. Ainun Muti'ah volunteered to be the speaker for the talk.  She firstly explains about the meaning of calorie and the importance of calorie counting towards human body. Then, she briefly discuss on the main topic which is ways to control calorie. Firstly, apply the concept 'Suku-suku separuh' or called as 'Pinggan Sihat Malaysia' in our daily life. Secondly, use smaller size of plate when eating because it is related to human psychology. When using the bigger plate, we tends to fill the plate fully but when using smaller plate, the calorie will be decreasing although the plate is full. Besides, prioritize to drink plain water as it contains no calorie. People are suggested to bring a bottle of plain water everywhere they go. Lastly, the tips is to choose low or no fat food. For example, avoid eating chicken with skin or choose healthier cooking method such as steaming, grilling and boiling.      

The link to the video is as below:

Link: Tips Kawal Kalori

‘OUR JOURNEY OF THE PROGRAM’

20 - 26 NOVEMBER 2020

20 Nov

The group leader, Aqilah are briefed on the theme and the flow of the whole program. Then, she reexplains it to group members in Whatsapp group.

The briefing includes:

• There will be 6 groups and divided into 2 session, and our group are in the session 1 as we are having the clinical on session 2 initially
• Each group will be given 4 weeks in total: 2 weeks for preparation + 2 weeks for intervention
• Therefore, each group needs to choose a theme and list all the activities including the date the activities will be conducted
• There will be gap session between session 1 & 2, and all group need to share about one topic according to schedule; our group need to share about snacking 

22 Nov

We conducted online meeting through Google Meet to brainstorm the idea and activities for the theme. 

The agenda for the meeting is:

1) Choosing the theme which is Calorie Counting

2) Discuss the activities to be included in the theme

3) Discuss the way to conduct the activities

4) Discuss the date to conduct the activities and also the schedule to post in the social media

 

5) Dividing the task for written proposal

6) Set the due date for submitting the proposal which is 27 November.

WEEK 2

27 NOVEMBER- 3 OCTOBER 2020

29 Nov

We are told that our theme will be the first module in the program that will start on 26-30 October and the challenge will start on 13 -17 November. The mainboard tells us to add a specific title for every activities in the module. 

29 Nov

We submit a question to mainboard which is to be included in Google Form for pre and post program survey. The question is “How well do you know about calorie counting?”. 

2 Oct

General Proposal Presentation of Program MyDietBuddy to Doctors and Dietitian. Besides, Sr. Amira shares also the ways to increase the engagement and visibility with participants and audience. Firstly, she said that every social media platform such as Instagram and Facebook has their own to increase the visibility. For instance, we need to use hashtag and sticker in the story when using Instagram.    

WEEK 3

4-10 OCTOBER 2020

5 Oct

We divide task for some of the activities such as infographic and short video.

Tasks	PIC
Infographic	Counting Daily Calorie Needs (Aqilah) Food Exchange Calorie (Asiah)
Short Video -Portion Size -Quality vs -Quantity	Content: Atikah and Akmal Editing: Ainun Muti’ah

10 Oct

PIC for video presentation proposal, talk and online portfolio are assigned. This is to make sure each of the activities are progressing well over time. The task given are not solely each of the PIC job. They can delegate the sub task if they are unable to do it alone. We use wheelofnames.com to vote the PIC. :)

The result is;

PIC Video Proposal Presentation : Asiah

PIC Talk : Ainun Muti'ah

PIC Blog : Aqilah

WEEK 4

11-17 OCTOBER 2020

13 Oct

Next, we assigned PIC for cooking demo and poster introduction of group member and main poster of our theme. Then, we also marked the calendar for the official date of activities and also due date of other task such as Video Presentation Proposal.

The result is:

PIC Cooking Demo : Atikah

PIC Poster Introduction : Akmal

15 Oct

The official colour of our poster and video for publication and promotion is given by PubPro team which is pastel yellow. The team also asked us to standardized the font used in each materials. We also need to include MyDietBuddy logo in each poster and video.

 

17 Oct

We start searching for the speaker of the talk but there is no senior available at the moment. Then, we decided to choose the speaker among ourselves and the content for the talk is ready.  

 

WEEK 5

18-24 OCTOBER 2020

Each of us is busy with the final preparation before the intervention week starts. We do feel nervous when reading the expectations of the participants from this program but we encouraged each other to give our best in preparing the materials during the initial stage. The nervous feeling surged when seeing the number of participants rise each day towards the intervention week which is about 350 participants!! All we could do is prepare ourselves and pray that everything will go smoothly.

    For the flow of the program, we ask committee of #FitWanita on ways to conduct the telegram group. The committee suggest us the appropriate time for slot which is 8.30am, 10am and 6pm but it can be changed accordingly.  

WEEK 6

25-31 OCTOBER 2020

25 Oct

ONE DAY BEFORE THE PROGRAM! The flow of the first day of program are prepared beforehand. The mainboard ask us about the flow of the program to make sure everything will go smoothly. The mainboard and other classmates wish us all the best for our group and we are really grateful for that.

 

26 Oct

The first day. Everything goes well and we are really overwhelmed by the countless amount of questions we received. It is really exciting to see they are very eager to learn and full of spirit along the first day. Even though there are questions that are not related to our theme but it is a fun experience as it gives us a glimpse of what the community really want to know. We try to answer the questions the best as we can and ask Doctor and dietitian for further confirmation. Every answer that we replied to the participants is discussed beforehand with our group members. Then, one of us will randomly answer the discussed answer in the Telegram group.  

 

27 Oct

Second day started same as the first day. They are very active in participating with the activities especially in learning how to count calories in the food as this is the main activity in this theme. Towards the evening, there are less participation but we do hope they watch the short video as the video discussed about guide on portion size and quality versus quantity as it is important for healthier lifestyle. 

 

28 Oct 

As for the third day, we started to notice that the participants who giving feedbacks and replies are the same people. Besides, out of almost 400 participants, less than 100 that are staying online. Seeing the replies keep decreasing, we decided to add "Bucketlist: Pemakanan Sihat" as an additional activities to keep the engagement with participants. They can vote the poll without the need to reply our messages. Moreover, the result of the poll can be used to survey the things they did not managed to do yet.  

29 Oct

Today we are having quiz! It is a leisure activity to test the knowledge that we have taught the participants. They are responding well and some said that the questions are challenging and fun. There are around 95-100 participants that answer the quiz. We made the quiz with anonymous voting and there is still wrong answer but never fine, everyone is still learning.  

30 Oct

Today is out Talk day! We are doing the pre-recorded video of the talk as in our opinion live talk would not attract viewer on the spot during live. Pre-recorded video can be played repeatedly and posted in IGTV, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Telegram group. We have problem at first because the video shared in the telegram group are in file form and they cannot see the title of the video. So, we upload the video in YouTube and it takes a bit of time to share the link with the participants. However, after they watch the video, everyone enjoy the talk and said that they learn new thing and thank us for the info.  

WEEK 7

1-7 NOVEMBER 2020

 4 Nov

We hold a meeting to discuss about the upcoming "Ayuh Kira Kalori" challenge on 13 to 17 November.  We divide the tasks to make instruction, fun fact and closing posters to be posted along the five days. Besides, we also decide to add new info regarding Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) as this topic might involved in Physical Activity module. we schedule to share this BMR topic on 8 November before "10k Steps Challenge" activity. 

WEEK 8

8-14 NOVEMBER 2020

8 Nov

The infographics for BMR are shared in the telegram group with the participants at 10am. There are questions asked after the  sharing. we hope other participants who read the sharing will understand and may the info be useful later. 

Besides, all of us is busy with the preparation for the upcoming challenge. Everyone shares in the group whether their poster is understandable and nice to be shared.  

12 Nov

We discussed how the flow of the programme during the challenge would be. 

 8am - Greet the participants

10am - Share the instruction of challenge

2pm - Share Fun Fact made by our group members

5pm - share knowledge regarding calorie/diet

Next day - Repost the challenge shared by the participants with explanation. The repost will be standardized in a same template poster. 

13 Nov

Today is the CHALLENGE DAY! When we shared the challenge in the morning, it is well-received. More than 10 people share their meal and count the calorie.  After the participants shared their pictures, we had problem assigning the task to check the calorie as we accumulated all the pictures at night as it is quite confusing. Then, if anyone have any issue regarding the calorie, we discuss together.  

14 Nov

Second day Challenge! After we share the repost, we hope everyone will learn from their small mistakes in counting their calorie and do better today. After we shared the repost, someone asked some misunderstanding about "what does it mean each 1 exchange of stir fried food will absorbs 1 exchange of oil. We glad that someone asked what she/he do not understands as after that there someone else has the same misunderstanding. Fortunately, after Asiah explained to them, they quickly understand and happy to learn. Some of the calorie are not in the reach of our knowledge. we asked Dr Hazirah about and she asked us to refer the Malaysian Food Composition (MFC) website if we do not know any of the calorie. 

As for the problem yesterday regarding assigning task to count calorie, today everything went smoothly. What we do is as soon as participants send their picture, the PIC incharge for reposting the challenge will divide the pictures to group members alternately. 

                                  

WEEK 9

15-21 NOVEMBER 2020

15 Nov

We are really grateful as the pictures send by participants keep increasing day by day. They are actively involved in this challenge. Besides, their skill in counting calorie are improving day by day. We are really proud of them. Moreover, there are certain calorie we are unsure about. We discussed it with our group member or use MFC and KkM as reference. Some of them ask for further understanding if their calculation is wrong. Through this challenge, some of them realized which food are high or low in calorie and discover how to control the calorie. Upon all, it was a fun and exciting activities with the participants!  

  

16 Nov - 17 Nov

We are really glad that the participations is very high towards the end of our challenge as they are eager in showing us their meal calculation. 

On 17th night at 9pm, we announce the winner of the challenge. The winners are as follow:

 

Place	Name
1st place (RM50) 2nd place (RM30) 3rd place (RM20)	Puan Zahidah Abdul Aziz Puan Wan Nur Aswani Cik Wan Siti Fitriyah
	*The winners are chosen based on the frequency of the post and the right calculation of the calorie

Then, at 10.30pm, we have a meeting to discuss about the final report that need to be submitted on 27 November. 

This is the distribution of task on final report:

The written report will be compiled on 23rd November and video presentation report will be compiled on 25th November. 

Then, on 27th November, the lecturer will create a folder in Google Classroom so that the student can upload their files and videos. Our groups already finished compiling and editing the report on 25th and video finish editing on 26th November.  

REFLECTION TIME! (p/s: We also put some feedbacks and reflection day by day)

Throughout our module, it feels really great that we can share this little knowledge of ours with the community out there. It is even better that they can apply the knowledge with their family and friends. During this program, the followers of our social media also increasing day by day as our classmates promote it a lot which is very good as we can share useful knowledge with others.  

 

Besides, we are grateful that the participants ask any questions so that we can share the knowledge with other people in the Telegram group and social media. There are many questions that we cannot answer as we are still lacking. We try to overcome our shortfall together with the group members. There are a lot of things we discussed together in the Whatsapp, Telegram group and Google Meet as we are far apart from each other. If there are things that we are unsure about, we will ask the lecturer, dietitian and our classmates. 

Furthermore, we really appreciate the concern from our classmates when our module are conducted as we are the first module. They involve in the Telegram by answering some questions, join the quiz and challenge to hype the participants. By that, we know that our classmates are aware of what happening in the Telegram group and we could not be more grateful. What's more great is that some of them give suggestion on to add some more content that are lacking.  

Moreover, the spirit and anticipation of the participants to lose weight and have a healthy lifestyles is such an inspiration for us. The participation throughout our module is very enormous. They proof to us that having a busy life does not stop them to pursue a healthy lifestyles. For example, they bring their own meal to workplace, bring plain water everywhere they go and made their own milk such as almond milk. During the challenge, we also receive participation from the Instagram as she also trying to lose weight by keeping track her calorie daily.

Last but not least, after looking at other group's module, we realized that the content for our module is fewer. This is because we think that if we broaden the scope of our content, it would touch other people's theme. However, during our session, we did add some sharing about an application to count calorie, snacking, importance of breakfast, fun fact about calorie counting, difference of meal between 1500kcal and 1800kcal/day and many more. This is to make sure that all day will be filled with some new knowledge that they can learn. 

Now,, it's a wrapppp!!! We would like to congratulate all our group members for all of their time and effort to finish this Community Nutrition Placement. 

Thank you to all the readers that willing to read our journey throughout this program!! :)) Now, we from group 3: Calorie Counting will step down, Assalamualaikum.