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! =)
I have just heard about your SMART goal, being that you're my new web partner, and it sounds like you've been doing pretty well at keeping up with it! Processed meat is something that EVERYONE should decrease of omit from their diet, so even having that be apart of your goal was beneficial. And it is so true, and it's completely up to you to decide what you put in your mouth... you just have to have a strong enough will to hold back!!! Good job at staying strong, and I'm happy to hear you plan on keeping up with this goal
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are deciding to stick with your goal from now on. You will find that the less you eat out, the less meat you will consume. I hardly ever eat out, and don't purchase meat at the grocery store, so therefore I have control over it. You are decreasing your carbon footprint in more ways than one by having this goal as we have learned about in class watching the couple videos regarding the food industries. Good job at succeeding throughout the course of the project!
ReplyDeleteYay for meeting your goal! I'm sure completing your goal was a lot easier when you packed your lunch and snacks every day! That still seems hard for me, because I would much rather sleep in :) I think that taking little steps like getting up 15 minutes earlier to plan our meals could have a big impact on many of our SMART goals. It's good to hear you are going to continue this process after class!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your goal! That's awesome that you chose a veggie sub at Subway because you had already eaten your meat for the day. Those decisions are hard but they are the ones that make you feel the best about yourself! Good luck with your goal from here on out!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on obtaining your goal. I definitely understand how being home for the holidays would have made it hard to keep your goal, my family is really big on the "meat and potatoes" so having just one serving would probably have killed me! haha Good job on staying strong with your goal, I hope you continue your goal even after our class is over. It seems to be very beneficial for you.
ReplyDeleteI liked your story about your subway run- that would have been my falling point right there. Proud of you though & glad to hear that a the veggie sub was just as appetizing! Definitely going to have to try it as well. I hope you do keep going along with this goal and that you continue to push yourself!
ReplyDelete