Behavior Change Summary

Behavior Change Summary

My overall behavior change was to eat healthy, balanced meals. In order to accomplish that, I set the long term goal of eating at least two balanced meals every day. Each meal would include the proper amounts of vegetables, fruits, proteins, grains and dairy. I set three short term goals: eat breakfast every day, drink at least sixty ounces of water every day, and limit myself to two snacks a day. As a type of motivation to achieve said goals, I had a reward for each goal I achieved. For instance, once I drank the amount of water I aimed for every day by September 5th, I would allow myself to drink one sugary beverage.

The obstacles I predicted were very accurate, but there were a few challenges I did not anticipate.

The obstacles I stated on my behavior change contract were buying too much junk food, not controlling my portions, and not watching my calories. The easiest one to overcome was buying unhealthy foods. My other obstacles, however, were more challenging to overcome. Portion control was much harder than I expected. Often, my meal options did not offer all the necessary food groups. Because of this, I would portion the available foods as well as I could. As for calorie counting, many times I would forget to look at the nutrition facts label. Searching for unhealthy ingredients was not a primary priority when eating a snack or choosing a food I like. An obstacle I did not expect was the effort that goes into creating healthy snacks and meals. It is much easier to grab a package of potato chips than it is to prepare a salad.
In order to get past my obstacles, I developed several strategies.

If I did not have time to make a healthy meal, I would make sure to pre-prepare healthy options. For example, if I knew I was going to pack lunch in the morning, instead of taking a bowl of mac and cheese, I would make a salad the night before. Planning meals proved very helpful in maintaining my goals. Once I figured out what exactly I needed to complete the My Plate diagram, I arranged the meals I would eat that week in advance. My mother helped by buying foods that were healthy and matched my plans. A strategy I used if I did not plan the meal or refer to My Plate was to make sure at least half of the plate I had was made up of vegetables. My family helped in the ways they could. When I told my parents that I was trying to achieve my specific goal, they were very helpful with controlling our grocery shopping and checking nutrition labels.

I believe I achieved my goal of eating healthy, balanced meals. From the time I began this project to now, I have improved my overall habits of eating. Not eating breakfast was a huge problem in my daily routine. Setting that goal made it easier for me to accomplish this task because I was able to visualize it and put it in a time frame. I have eaten a balanced lunch and dinner almost every day since I set my goal; however, my breakfasts tend to be light. I was surprised by how writing down and assessing specific long and short term goals can really help me achieve

them.
This whole experience was very beneficial for me, I believe. Firstly, it was helpful in learning how to set achievable, comprehensive goals. Applying SMART goals was necessary in this behavior change project. I have set goals before, but they tend to fall through because they did not have a real structure. This is an incredibly important skill to have, especially when I have to plan for things that are crucial to my life. Secondly, it was enlightening to reflect of my health and behaviors. I do not do this often, so analyzing it told me a lot about myself and what I really needed to change. Because of this, I have noticed changes in my day-today life. Now that I have started to eat breakfast and drink more water, I feel more alert and awake and focused. Lastly, the partner notes also gave me supportive insight into my own health. Being able to hear suggestions for my success from another perspective was very good for me.
My goals for the future are to eventually eat three balanced meals a day. This will be difficult, but I think this project prepared me for it. I will keep my water intake the same, but strive to drink more. I will also make it a priority to exercise more.