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.