week 15

So i reached my goal again this past week. I mostly ate breakfast and quick lunches like sandwiches and fruit. Someone who is inspirational to me in achieving this change is my mother. She is always supportive of me and I strive to live healthily like she does. She is also in great shape and works out so my new goal is also to start working out so that I can catch up with my mom :) I really feel good that I achieved my goal these past few weeks. I also feel healthier and I lost 3 pounds since the beginning of the semester.

A helpful site that i found useful was CDC.gov and webmd.com. The CDC gives several different tips on how to live healthy and stay active.

So we all know that diabetes is a co-morbidity to obesity. And like obesity, Diabetes type II is preventable. Diabetes prevalence rates are on the rise. In CA, there approximately 8% of adults were diabetic in 2008 (cdc.gov). According to the CDC, we can prevent diabetes type II by eating healthy and staying active.

week 14: Hooray!

I did it! I ate at home for 6 days in this past week. I actually ate turkey sandwiches, fruit, pasta and breakfast. It felt good to achieve my goal and surpass my original expectations. I also attempted to eat healthy meals, I bought healthy groceries for a change. I didn't attempt any new recipes yet, but I'm working on it, taking baby steps. Some helpful websites that I found are listed below.

www.everydayhealth.com

cdc.gov

www.hsph.harvard.edu

wee 13: It's Just Not Happening

Week 13 was not a complete failure, but I was no where near my goal. I ate one meal at home. I made a turkery sandwich with tomatoes, green peppers and alvocado with chicken soup. It was delicious and it was definitely an easy meal to prepare. I also felt good about that meal because I felt like it was a healthier meal than I usually eat. I'm also trying new healthier food options, and alvocado is one of them.

Someone who has been very supportive of me in my behavior change is my mother. Even before I set this goal at the begining of the semester, my mom has always been encouraging me to eat healthy. She always says "Ky, have you been eating healthy? Do you have groceries in your house? What have you been eating?" And I reply no, no and fast food. Nevertheless, she always stays on top of me about my health, encouraging me to eat healthy and exercise; neither of those behaviors have been happening lately. Even though I have not been completely successful at reaching my goal, her support and encouragement is still helpful. Not just for reaching this minor goal, but also for larger life goals such education and a career. Support is always helpful and a necessity when an individual is pursuing important life changes.

week 12: total failure

I can't believe this past week was a total failure. I did not eat at home once. And I also caved into eating soul food, which I don't eat very often. I think my failure this week can be attributed to my schedule and lack of motivation to cook when I get home late at night. I do, however, make healthier choices when I go to fast food restaurants. I choose the healthier side options and I don't eat red meat. I don't think this counts as a stepping stone toward my goal. But i'm going to try to hang in there.

week 11: slight progress

So this past week was pretty hectic. My cousin was in town from Michigan so we were running around site seeing the whole time and I didn't have time to eat at home. i ate two meals this past week at home, and they both were breakfast. I plan on eating more healthier breakfast and healthier snacks such as fruits and veggies. I think my overall goal is so difficult because I hate cooking. It's hard for me to pursue something that I dislike so much. i guess we will see how the rest of the semester turns out.

week 10: new diet

For the first few days I was sticking to my new diet. I ate a fruit salad for lunch and chicken caeser salad for dinner. A few days after that I caved in and ate fast food. Over the weekend, I did well with eating at home. I ate breakfast at home twice and I ate dinner at home twice. This upcoming weekend its going to be hard to stick to my diet and original goal because my cousin is coming to visit me and its her first time in LA. We will be so busy sight seeing that I probably won't have time to cook at home. But I am going to try to pick healthier choices when we eat out this weekend. We will see how it goes.

week 9: a new begining

Fruits for breakfast and a salad for dinner. Two meals. At least I'm not back to square one. So I decided in order for me to be successful at achieving my goal, I would had to set some limits on my diet. I think I'm going to try to only eat fruits, veggies, nuts, salads with minimal dairy, poultry and fish.This diet makes grocery shopping easier and also makes for the preparation of simple meals. My first attempt at this diet was yesturday; I had a chicken caesar salad for dinner. I think I can definately manage this new goal in order to assist in reaching my primary goal of eating more meals at home.

Week 8, bummer

Sooo, this week has been extremely hectic and emotionally and physically draining for me. this past week I ate chicken noodle soup to make me feel better and I also ate a frozen dinner. Those were not necesarily actual home cook meals, but at least I ate home. It's a start. I think I will have alot more time to cook at home over spring break. Maybe I will even have time to try some new recipes. To those who read my blog, good luck on the midterm and have a great spring break!

week 7: 2 meals

Like last week, I ate two meals at home. One meal was breakfast and one meal was a frozen pasta dinner. As I stated previously, I really don't know how to cook. So, i decided to Google some quick and easy recipes and these are some helpful links that I found:

www.kraftrecipes.com

This is a picture of taco cups that I found at the above website. The recipe is quick and simple.

You need 1 lb. ground beef, 1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix, 1 can (10 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits and 1/2 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese. HEAT oven to 400°F. Cook meat with seasoning mix as directed on package.PRESS biscuits onto bottoms and up sides of 10 muffin cups; fill with meat mixture.BAKE 15 min. Sprinkle with cheese; bake 2 to 3 min. or until melted.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/easy-pasta/index.html
Another helpful site was the food network. I found the following recipe for orecchiette with mixed greens and goat cheese pictured below.

• 1 cup dried orecchiette pasta
• 2 cups Mediterranean-style mixed salad greens
• 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil), chopped
• 1 tablespoon goat cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
• Pinch salt
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 
  
• Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the water. In medium bowl, mix the salad greens with the sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and Parmesan. Top with warm pasta and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to combine and wilt the greens. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper, or to taste.

I plan on trying this recipes this upcoming week. Wish me luck.

week 6: little progress

So another week has gone by. I did better than last week. I ate at home twice this past week, and both meals were breakfast. Over the weekend, I cooked eggs with peppers and cheese, bacon, and a flour tortilla. Yesterday, I ate fruit for breakfast. Slowly but surely I am making progress; taking baby steps forward and sometimes backward but definitely making progress.

I often find myself in situations where it would be challenging to reach my goal of eating meals prepared at home. My social life plays a large part in this. For instance, me and my friends or me and my boyfriend often go out to eat on the weekends to sit-in restaurants like Friday's or Applebee's. This often serves as a social gathering for us. I love to eat and I hate to cook, so in such situations it is difficult for me to turn down the offer to go out to eat. Another difficult situation or barrier is that I am gone all day running errands or in class, so it isn't even practical to bring lunch with me because it would spoil since I'm driving from place to place and can't put it in the refrigerator. To overcome such situations I guess I would have to go home in the middle of the day to eat lunch. Or eat at home and have my friends come over instead of going out to eat. I don't know. We will see how that goes.

week 5: any suggestions for fun and simple meals?

Well, this week was a complete disaster. I did not eat at home once this past week. My schedule was extremely hectic with my new job and trying to find an apartment, i just didn't have the time to prepare a meal, not even a sandwich. I think there are a lot of barriers that are hindering me from progressing towards my goal. My first barrier is time management. Sometimes I just can't find the time to prepare a meal, and I much rather eat fast food that a sandwich or soup. I think I can overcome this barrier by preparing my meals ahead of time. As Anamara suggested, i can make sandwiches and stuff on sunday and then put them in the fridge or freezer for the week. My second barrier to change is I HATE COOKING! Cooking is not at all enjoyable to me. It's time consuming and messy and there are a lot germs involved with raw meat. Cooking is just annoying, and the problem is I love to eat. So to overcome this second barrier, I'm going to find some recipes that will make cooking at home both fun and simple. My third barrier to change is that I don't know how to cook. I can make pasta and steam vegetables and cook meat, but that's about it. So to overcome this third barrier is going to be the same with overcoming the second barrier; i have to find easy and simple recipes to prepare because sometimes cooking is just too complicated.

week 4: my motivation for change

As I stated in my week 1 post, I want to eat more meals at home because I want to be healthier. Before I moved away to college, I was definitely a more healthy person. I ran year around to train for track and field and cross country meets. I worked out 5 days a week and I was in excellent shape. I ate healthier because my mom cooked breakfast and dinner everyday. We would occasionally eat pizza on friday night which was movie or game night for my family. Because I was exercising regularly and eating healthy meals, I had more energy and zeal. Now that my diet consists mostly of junk food and fast food, I have no energy and I'm tired alot of the time. So my motivation for change is to eat healthy meals at home so that I can get back to the healthy person that I was in high school. Another motivation for change is being a public health professional and a health promotion/disease prevention advocate. Now and in the future, I would like to use the tools that I've learned as an MPH student to promote healthy lifestyles and behaviors. I would feel like a hypocrit if I was promoting health while not taking my own advice. So, this particular motivation of mine involved being a positive role model to others when it comes to health behavior.

Now, on to my progress. Week 4 has come and gone and I'm glad that I did not backslide this week. This past week, I ate 6 meals at home in 3 days. Last thursday, I ate fruit for breakfast and I ate pasta for dinner. Yesturday I ate fruit for breakfast and I made turkey tacos for dinner, which included lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers and cheese. I counted that as my serving of vegetables for the day. Today, I also ate fruit for breakfast and left over turkey tacos for lunch/dinner. I am slowing making progress toward reaching my goal. Three out of four days is pretty good.

week 3

So, for this past week I am definitely making progress. I cooked and ate at home for 2 days. On Sunday, I made eggs, toast, and fruit salad for breakfast instead of going to Jack in the Box as usual. On Monday, I actually cooked dinner. It was fettuccine alfredo with fresh tomato and broccoli with dished chicken breast, very tasty. I feel that I am slowly but surely making progress towards achieving my goal. I just have to plan my day around my meals and make them ahead of time so that I can take my food with me on the go. I definitely think it would be easier to achieve my goal if I learn how to cook dishes other than pasta, which is my absolute favorite. So in addition to my current goal, I would like to learn how to make a few new dishes by the end of this semester. This is going to be interesting :)

week 2 :)

Ok, so another week has gone by. This past week, I ate at home once. Last thursday, I ate a ham and cheese sandwich and an apple at home for lunch. Then I went to work and I ate a frozen pasta dinner and a nutrigrain bar from home. It's not necessarily cooking at home, but it's a start. So these thursday meals gave me a boost of confidence, however friday came around and it was down hill from there. The rest of the week I ate Del Taco, McDonalds, Subway and Little Cesar's. So that was 1 day out of the week that I ate at home. My goal is at least 4 days, but I feel that I am slowly making progress. I think one of the barriers to my goal is time. By the time I get home from work, I am tired and I don't feel like cooking, so I grab some fast food after work. It's going to be hard, but I gotta kick this habit.

Week 1

So a week has gone by, and to my dismay, I have failed this week. I ate breakfast at home once this week, and I'm proud to say that It was a homemade fruit smoothy, but I know I can do better. My goal by the end of this semester, is to eat at home at least 4 days a week. This will include cooking my lunch at home and taking it with me to class and work. So why is this my goal? For the past two years or so, I have been eating fast food for every meal 95% of the time. The top 8 restaurants that I patronize in one month are as follows:

Quiznos
Subway
Del Taco
Wendy's
McDonalds
Jack in the Box
El Pollo Loco
KFC

So, I'm trying to kick this habit of mine because, truthfully, I am concerned about my health. I've gained about 5-7 pounds since 2005, which I consider alot of weight. I also feel unhealthy and tired alot of the time. So not only am I going to cook more meals at home, but I also want to cook more healthy meals.

My plan of action is to cook breakfast and dinner saturday and sunday as well as at least 3 weekdays. At the end of this semester, I would also like to have lost at least 5-10 pounds. Thanks for your input. Wish me luck!