Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Weekly Update and Overview

What was your SMART goal? How did you do in achieving your SMART goal?
I will eat 2 servings of vegetables (serving= 1/2 cup) and 2 servings of fruit (servings= 1/2 cup) 4 days a week, for the next 4 weeks.
Address successes and challenges. What strategies helped you to be successful?
I had a lot of success this week. Each day last week I brought fruits and vegetables with me to school. I brought things that were easy to snack on in between class such as carrots and celery. I also brought apples and had bananas. It also helped when I set my food together before school. Then when I woke up.. No matter how late it was I had no excuse not to bring them.

What challenges did you face? How did you deal with them?
I didn’t face to many challenges this week. I almost think that I should have made my challenge a bit harder. My only challenge that I had was eating fruits and veggies on the weekend. For some reason its just so hard for me. I think I just need to treat it more like a weekday. Maybe if I went to the library that would help.

What feelings did you experience? When did you feel them?
I felt great this week after eating so healthy. I had a lot more energy until the weekend came around. I was also very proud of myself that I met my goal this week. However I was kind of upset how easy it was.

What did you learn this week?
This past week I learned that being more prepared makes attaining your goal very easy. I also learned that I would like to continue my goal, but be more creative when eating fruits and vegetables. I want to learn some new vegetarian recipes.

What are your plans for next week?
Next week I plan to continue my goal, but modify it just a bit. I want to try to start eating organic fruits and vegetables, and up my servings of them. Im not exactly sure to how much. I have to plan out my budget first.

What was your SMART goal?
I will eat 2 servings of vegetables (serving= 1/2 cup) and 2 servings of fruit (servings= 1/2 cup) 4 days a week, for the next 4 weeks.


Did it change at all during the project? 
I did not change my behavior at all during our time in class. However I do think that I am going to modify my behavior, when I continue it on my own. I want to increase the servings of fruits and vegetables that I eat daily.

What helped you be successful?
It helped me to be successful when I was more prepared the night before. Also it helped me to see how great me peers were doing in reaching their goals, and that motivated me to my best that I could.

What things got in your way? How can you address these in the future?
One of the biggest things that got in my way was Thanksgiving. Its important for me to remember that I cant stop being healthy just because it is a special occasion. Its ok to tweak things here and there, but not to totally forget about it. Also having low finances also created some issues for me. Some weeks I had more money than others. Buying expensive things when your broke is tough.

How did you benefit from this project? 
I benefited from this project because I am now eating much healthier than I was before. I feel alot better and I am doing great things for the environment.


What did you learn about yourself? 
I learned that I can achieve things that may seem hard to do with time constraints and low funds.  I am happy that I was able to follow through with this.

How did others and/or the environment benefit from you changing this behavior?
The environment and local economy benefited from me eating more fruits and veggies because it is more Eco friendly. It has lower impact on the earth because a lot less water is used to produce vegetables than is used to produce meet. Others may have benefited because I am in a much better mood when I am eating right.

Will you continue this behavior?
I plan to continue this behavior and hopefully keep using it throughout my life. I want to try to continually increase my fruit and vegetable intake.

What recommendations do you have for others about making a lifestyle change?
My biggest recommendation to anyone trying to make a lifestyle change is to remember just that. It is a lifestyle change. Its something that you have to do everyday, and it had to be become routine in your life. So many people just do things temporarily, that makes it important to remember that a lifestyle change is not just temporary. Also I think its very important for people to start small. You can always make your goal harder and tweak things here and there. It might seem to overwhelming if you start with a goal that is to large, and you may give up easier. I also suggest that everyone try to make a lifestyle change. It is very rewarding when you achieve it.

"Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain."