Reflection: Weeks 13-14 Combined with Overall Course Reflection

So now I write our very last reflection for the semester. As always I will say it, “Where has our time gone?!” Seriously tho, this semester flew by way too fast. I will briefly cover weeks 13 and 14 in this final reflection.

In week 13, we started off by visiting Goodwill. Here, we met with two representatives and toured the building while learning about their commitment to serving others. It was really cool to see how everything at Goodwill worked. We ended our day by doing a cool activity where we were assigned a destination wedding where we had to pick out an outfit, gift and something we couldn’t go there without. We drew Hawaii and had a lot of fun seeing everyone’s creative ideas!

Week 14 we had to bring in our Junk Projects. In this assignment we had to find an object and refurbish it into something we could use. After our Goodwill tour, I walked through the store to find my very own piece of “junk”. I discovered a cute little cookie jar so I purchased it for a whopping $.99! What a steal huh? So I brought it home and decorated it with a Christmas theme and filled it with my homemade peppermint fudge =) I then gave it to my internship supervisor as a Christmas gift. She loved it! This was a really cool experience for me because it allowed me to be creative and turn a regular piece of “junk” into something that I would use.

Overall, I have learned so much from taking this course. I was introduced to the blogging world and learned anything and everything about the Do’s and Don’t of proper blogging techniques. I have also been exposed to some very eye-opening documentaries that have changed my outlook on certain environmental issues in our society. We also learned how to advocate for health education. We were given the opportunity to research who represents us and also draft a letter of concern on an issue that we have found important to us. And we have learned that calling something "junk" doesn't always mean that it doesn't serve a purpose. After all they say "One man's junk is another man's treasure". Finally, we have challenged each other to become more environmentally friendly by incorporating small changes into our everyday lifestyles.

As you can see, I have learned A LOT from taking this Environmental Health class. It kind of makes me sad that I don't have to comment or post weekly on my blog anymore after this. Nor will I have as much excitement about finding a new topic for my Share & Voice! Oh well, it has been a good run. After this, I am definitely more confident about sharing my voice and opinions through a blog! Who knows, maybe I will keep up my daily blogging. Feel free to stop by and see what I'm up to!

It's been a good run.

Thank you for all who followed me and offered your thoughts and opinions on my daily posts.

Over and Out this is Through Green Eyes with Katie Signing Off for the last time.

Peace.

Eye Opener: Online Learning Activities

Ashley: Calculate your auto emissions

My 1996 Dodge Intrepid has a 3.5L, 6cyl. Automatic engine. I would say that I use the average miles that most Americans do which is 12,000. For this average I use 333.33 gallons of fuel in the city and 230.77 gallons of fuel on the highway, totaling 564.1 gallons yearly. My car uses up 10,887.13 lbs of CO2 and has a 4.94MT of CO2 MT Emissions. The total CO2 credit cost is $39.52. Check out my results.

My car is a bigger and older car so I guess my results make sense. Even though I used the average amount of miles for an American I do not think that I drive this much, which would reduce my overall emissions yearly. Still, to think that I use this much personally I can’t imagine how much we use globally!

Jamie: How fit are you?

I scored a 45 on the How Fit Are You? Test. According to the site I am “super fit and the envy of the rest of us mere mortals”. I kind of expected this because I am very involved in fitness and keeping my body in good shape. One thing I need to improve on however is my flexibility. I rated myself short of my age range because I could not make 19inches. This is pretty embarrassing, but for me stretching is so boring and it hurts! I guess I should put more effort into stretching out my muscles after I workout.

Elly: How big is your footprint

I was unable to complete this exercise because my car model wasn’t listed on the website’s drop-down list. I do however remember what my CO2 emission was from doing Ashley’s online activity. According to Ashley’s activity I used up 10,887.13lbs of CO2 a year. This was an astounding number to find out because I did not think it was even close to being that much. One thing I can do to change/improve this number is reduce the number of useless trips that I make during the week. Another easy thing to do is carpool with others to wherever I need to go. I personally have no thought about switching to a more fuel efficient car only because I cannot afford it right now. Due to my college budget, this just isn’t an option for me. Some changes that I would like to see are more people ridesharing with each other. I don’t think it’s necessary to people to make solo trips especially when others may be going the same place.

Kara: Energy Dustbin Game

The dustbin was a cool game to test our knowledge about renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. I scored a 36 on this activity, which I think is good but I am not sure. This was a neat activity to test our knowledge about the differences of nonrenewable and renewable sources. I really liked the source about the Ten Facts of Renewable Energy. I think it’s really cool that enough sunlight hits the earth in just one hour is enough to meet the world’s energy demands for a whole year. It doesn’t make sense that if this is true then why are we not utilizing the sun more! It’s free! Why wouldn’t we?! From this activity is makes me wonder why we aren’t using renewable sources more, it just seems that this would be the most logical thing to do.

Dani: Waste to Energy Crossword

Doing this crossword was a really creative way to test our knowledge. I kind of wish it would have been interactive tho! I thought the sources were a great addition to this activity because it made me more knowledgeable about the different waste to energy technologies. To tell you the truth I was clueless about how many there actually are, and what each of them comprises of. Another thing I thought was neat was the amount of Waste-to-Energy facilities there are in Minnesota. I would have never guessed that we have ten, which is more than the average state in the US! This was a great activity and I am glad I now know more about Waste-to-Energy facilities.

Lauren: Workout Plan

So the purpose of this activity was to incorporate physical activity into our life. I found this to be a cool way to test our abilities of our physical state. I thought the Fitness Quiz wasn't very credible. It states that I was only 30% fit and I don't believe that to be quite accurate. The assigned Burn-Fat-Fast Workout was pretty challenging. I used to do a lot of circuit training so I was very familiar with these moves. I would have liked to see more of a variety but it was still a challenging activity. The leapfrog move was pretty tough to do for a minute straight but I don’t think it was hard enough to limit it to only twice a week. Overall, I didn’t really learn much from this online activity but it was fun to work out as an assignment :)

As far as the Physical Assessment goes, here are my answers.

1. Walking fast, Dancing, Housework, Lifting, Turning, Carrying less than 50lbs
2. 6 days
3. 40 minutes
4. Running, Walking upstairs, Basketball
5. 5 days
6. 40 minutes
7. About the same
8. No
9. 30 minutes of moderate activity 5 or more days
10. I have been regularly physically active for the past 6 months or more
11. Teach my fam and friends the importance of physical activity, Lower my stress, Feel better
12. Yes
13. My friends, just by supporting me or joining me in working out.
14. Very confident

Advocacy Project:Obesity and Your Everyday Life

Hi Everyone! Today you are going to learn about Obesity and Your Everyday Life. This online activity will make you more knowledgeable about Obesity and how it can affect your health. You will also asses your everyday habits such as eating and physical activity to see how healthy you are! Just follow the instructions and answer the questions that follow. Enjoy!

Purpose:
This online activity is designed to increase the awareness of the obesity epidemic in our country. Through this activity you will review the literature and answer some questions concerning this topic.

Instructions:
This is a two-part assignment. First read through the sources in Part One, then complete the activities in Part Two.

Part One:

Visit WebMd and read through this article: Learn about Obesity.

You will then be familiar with Obesity, its causes and when to seek help if you are at risk.

Next, visit the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to view the possible health risks that go hand in hand with being obese or overweight.

Finally, check out Steps to a Healthier You!, to get the steps, tips and information about healthy eating and ways to be active every day of your life.

Part Two:

1. First Calculate Your BMI to see if you are or at risk of becoming obese/overweight.

• What is your BMI? Make sure to check over the chart to see where you are in your weight group.
• Do you think this is an accurate way to measure body fat? Why or why not?

2. Visit the MyPyramid Plan to find out the amount of each food group that you should be consuming on a daily basis. Type in your age, gender, height/weight and how active you are to receive a customized food guide.

• According to this food guide, are you currently taking in the adequate amount of calories each day?
• Are you making the recommended requirements for each food group? If not, how do you plan to increase/decrease your intake?

3. Finally, use the Calories Burned Estimator to calculate how many calories you burn doing your favorite activities. Just enter your weight and how many minutes you do an activity. Then click calculate.

• What is your favorite activity to do?
• Were you surprised on how many calories it burned? Why or why not?

Obesity is a rising problem in our society. By completing this online activity, I hope that you now have a better knowledge of what obesity is, what causes it and the health risks that go along with this problem. In addition, you will have also analyzed your daily intake and expenditure of calories to make sure you are on the right track to keeping your body healthy and fit.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about obesity and how it can affect you.

Eco Chic Lifestyle Change Week 5: Final Weekly Review & Overall Project Reflection

My SMART goal is: I will eat 1 serving (3oz) of unprocessed meat a day.

I am STILL reaching my goal but it has been a tough road for me. This week has been super crazy busy and I struggle with taking the time to prepare lunch and dinner. I only seem to struggle with lunch and dinner because I have eggs or oatmeal for breakfast (boring I know but I love it). Cutting back to only 1 serving of meat a day hasn't been too challenging for me, besides when I get fast food. I thought I would struggle more on this but I haven't been out to eat much this week, due to more time spent at home doing homework. I did however, make a subway run one night. Mind you, I had already consumed my 1 serving for the day during lunch. Keeping this goal in mind helped me make my decision to have a veggie sub. At first I thought this wouldn't be enough to keep me full all night, but when paired with a nice juicy apple and a big glass of milk I was able to keep my snacking at bay. This was a huge success because I always get the chicken breast or club and it was kind of fun to try the veggie sub.

So my original goal was the same: I will eat 1 serving (3oz) of unprocessed meat a day. I only modified this one week for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I was able to meet my goal almost every week and I am very very proud of myself. Coming from a meat and potatoes kind of family, this goal was challenging while I was home for the holidays. I learned that no matter where you are, it is your choice what you put into your mouth. It may take a little extra time and planning but you can always modify your food options. Simply ordering a veggie dish or something without meat is easy enough at any restaurant you eat at (and it'll more than likely save you money too!) Another big challenge was time. I found that when I was more rushed, I didn't have the time to think about my choices. So, I devised plans to wake up early or to prepare my dishes the night before to save on the "rush" feeling.

I do think I will try to keep this SMART goal alive in my life. I think it is important not only to me but to my environment to cut back my consumption of meat. Consuming processed foods are detrimental to our environment. They cause environmental problems like air and water pollution from manure, overuse of fertilizer, cattle belching and the unnecessary use of land to produce feed grains and soil erosion. By consuming less processed meat (deli turkey) I will not only reduce my sodium intake but I will also be one step closer to reducing my carbon footprint.

All in all, I thought this was a great experience and I loved that it challenged me to go out of my comfort zone. I would recommend incorporating an "Eco-Chic challenge" to anyone. It is a great way to push yourself to become more environmentally friendly while offering great motivation. My goal now is to keep my goal going, and possibly add more along the way! Thanks for following me and offering me helpful tips in this challenge! =)

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

Advocacy Project:Letter and Fact Sheet

Part One: Letter to Elected Official

December 6, 2010
Senator Amy Klobuchar
U.S. Senate
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Klobuchar,

I am writing to encourage you to vote YES to the H.R. 3468 bill: Promoting Health and Preventing Chronic Disease through Prevention and Wellness Programs for Employees, Communities and Individuals Act of 2009. Obesity has become a rising crisis in our country and has risen 60% in the past 20 years according to the CDC. An even more shocking statistic is that the rates among children in the U.S have tripled in the past 30 years.

Obesity is not only linked with a plethora of health problems such as, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and type 2 diabetes, but also financial problems. In the year 2000, the estimated cost of obesity was $117 billion in the United States. In the workplace obesity is linked to the loss of productivity and working days due to the health problems of the employees associated with their weight. Obesity also exceeds health-care costs associated with smoking and problems drinking and accounts for 6-12% of national health care expenditures. In addition, the annual hospital costs for treating obesity-related diseases in children rose to $127 million.

Governmental action and community contribution is key in promoting a healthy lifestyle and reducing the obesity rates in our youth. The proposed bill, H.R. 3468, will bring about opportunities that teach the dietary guidelines, how to read food labels and identify patterns that can help educators tailor programs to manage weight and reduce threats of chronic illness. It would also ensure the implementation of policies and programs that emphasize healthy actions in youth. By offering health promotion and awareness services, together we can educate our society about the problems associated with obesity.

I appreciated the time you have given to hear my concern. Please agree to support this proposed bill to make an impact in the lives of the citizens you promised to serve. I have a firm belief that passing this bill will ensure the proper promotion of health and reduction of chronic disease associated with diet and weight in our suffering citizens.

Thank you for taking the time to read about the importance of voting YES to H.R. 3468.

Sincerely,


Katie Gruber
(contact information)

Part 2: Obesity Fact Sheet

What is obesity?

Obesity is defined as having a greater weight than the recommended number based on your height. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Overweight and obesity is having abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.” They also classify obesity as having a BMI (Body Mass Index) as 30 or higher. BMI is designed to classify the standard of weight vs. height in the average adult.

Facts on Obesity

The WHO indicates that roughly 1.6 billion adults, ages 15 and older, were overweight. In addition, at least 400 million adults globally were categorized as being obese. “The WHO projects that by the year 2015, approximately 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and more than 700 million will be obese.” In 2005, the number of overweight children under 5 years of age was a minimum of 20 million.

What is the cause of obesity?

The WHO demes the main cause of obesity as an energy imbalance between the amount of calories being consumed and the amount of calories being used up. Several factors are believed to be connected to the increase of obesity. These include a shift in diet towards higher intake of foods that are high in fat and sugar and low in nutrients and lower physical activity levels due to the increase in inactive demands from work and transportation options.

What are the consequences?

Serious consequences come from obesity. The more overweight one is the higher their risk for developing certain chronic diseases is. These would include cardiovascular disease, which is the world’s number one cause of death adding up to 17 million deaths every year; diabetes, the next epidemic predicted to increase by 50% worldwide in the next 10 years; Musculoskeletal disorders; and some cancers such as endometrial, breast and colon.

How can you prevent obesity?

• Reduce the amount of time spent sitting and watching television.
• Add at least ½ hour of physical activity to your daily routine.
• Consume foods that are low in fat, calories and added sugars and replace them with high fiber, protein and nutritional foods.
• Promote healthy eating habits by consuming at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, while using proper portion sizes.
• Maintain a proper balance between the calories consumed and the calories expended each day.
• Create more chances for physical activities among your workplace and the surrounding communities.

Obesity IS a problem in our society.

Find out how you can become involved to stop this epidemic.

Contact Fit City Duluth (218) 722-3787 or at info@fitcityduluth.com

Information provided by the World Health Organization and the Center of Disease Control

Reflection: Weeks 9-12

Now starts the reflection of weeks 9-12. We have learned everything from advocacy to junking to making a lifestyle change and adding blog hops to our blogs. Below is my summary for all that we have done.

In week 9, we were introduced to Advocacy in Health Education. Our first project was to find out who our political representatives were. This was done by visiting the THOMAS Website and doing research to gather their contact information. We also learned how to write SMART goals and started our first week of our Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change. Mine was to eat 1 serving (3oz) of unprocessed meat a day. In addition to our Eco-Chic posts, we also learned how to join Linky Parties on Dr.V’s blog.

Week 10 started off with our Healthy People/THOMAS project. Here we have to chose 1 HealthyPeople 2010 goal that we were interested in. I chose to do mine on promoting health and reducing chronic disease associated with diet and weight. We had to list 1 objective and just give a short synopsis on the progress of that goal. We also had to include the disparities, opportunities & challenges and emerging issues from this goal. Finally we had to use the THOMAS website to find a bill related to our HealthyPeople 2010 goal. The one I found was H.R. 3468, which can be found on the THOMAS website. In class this week we also watched a documentary called Unnatural Causes. This was startling because it explored the racial and socioeconomic inequalities in health in our country.

In week 11 we watched “The Story of Stuff” which is a short film about how we use and use and use and how that affects our environment. We also did an in class activity where we were given a piece of “junk”. We then had to come up with ideas on how it would be used. Each item was different and everyone came up with some great ideas on how to use the junk pieces. This was a fun activity because it sparked a great classroom discussion on all the different opinions and ideas that we could use those hidden treasures for. That time was also spent with Dr.V to dicuss how our Eco-Chic Lifestyle Goal was going. It was nice to chat about our successes and challenges while being held accountable for our overall goals.

Week 12 was fun because we had the chance to view everyone’s photo essays. The photo essay assignment was to choose a topic and tell a story about it with pictures. I chose to do an organic thanksgiving, where I challenged my family to buy organic items (which never happen) for our Thanksgiving dinner. It was a challenge but I was able to use my excellent persuasive skills to convince my dad to agree to it. It was cool to see everyone’s story and how they expressed it through pictures. We also learned how to add Blog Hops to our photo essay assignment so that we could easily browse through everyone’s posts. Week 12 was also the 4th week of our Eco-Chic goal, which I didn’t stay completing true to over Thanksgiving break. I had a couple slip ups but I wasn’t discouraged about it.

Well, that is weeks 9-12 in a nutshell! We don’t have many weeks left in the semester so I am excited to take in whatever information Dr.V has left to share with us before it’s all over! I am also excited to change blog groups to get different views and opinions on my blog posts. Should be an interesting countdown to the end of the semester!

Eco Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4:Weekly Update

My SMART goal is: I will eat 1.5 servings (4.5oz) of unprocessed meat a day.

I actually did better than I thought I would over Thanksgiving Break. First and foremost, I succeeded in persuading my Dad to purchase an organic turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner. The picture above shows the one we bought from Larry Schultz Farms. This farm is located out of Owatonna, Minnesota and has been certified organic since 1997. This was my greatest success throughout break. I kept my SMART goal for most of the days but I did slip up too. On Thanksgiving day I had about 2 servings of turkey (which is .5 over my goal). I didn't overeat at the dinner but I did have an extra turkey sandwich that night. Also, on Sunday we always have Thanksgiving at our Grandma Gruber's house. Here, I had well over my SMART goal and had her homemade turkey, ham and her secret recipe stuffing (which I know contains meat). Even though I went over my goal on these days, I didn't feel too discouraged. I only get her one-of-a-kind meal once a year and decided that it was well worth it. Those days were the only challenges I encountered throughout the week, which is good. I was very keen on keeping track and meeting my goal on the other days which made me proud. I feel like I am doing a good job in meeting my SMART goal every week, even though I did slip up once or twice over break.

For next week I am going to reduce my SMART goal again to eating only 1 serving (3oz) of unprocessed meat a day. I am going to try new recipes this week in hopes of adding some variety to my weekly meals. I am excited to give the vegetarian dishes a shot! Wish me luck =)

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4 hosted by Amy@Amy in the Rain