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

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

For this Thanksgiving this year, I decided to put my family to the challenge. I challenged them to make this Thanksgiving an organic one by purchasing local and organic food at the grocery store. Above is a collage I made that shows all of the pictures I took while completing our list. The pictures are listed at random, but as you can see it was my dad and I that were the shoppers. We first hit up the produce section and bought our greens and spinach for the salad; tomatoes, celery, carrots and mushrooms for the appetizer plate; yams for the sweet potato casserole; green beans for the green bean casserole (classic dish!); and apples and bananas for the pies. Next was the turkey. We found a great one from the Larry Schultz organic farms. This turkey was cage free, never contained to cages and also hormone and pesticide free. The cost was a little more than we would have liked but my dad agreed to it. We also purchased Amy's organic cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole. Our final addition to the table was Fetzer Riesling. Fetzer's philosophy is to "strive everyday to ensure that the wines you enjoy are of exceptional quality and value, while managing our impact on the environment. Working in harmony with nature and with the utmost respect for human spirit, we are committed to the continous growth and development of our people, the quality of our wines, and the care of our planet." In addition to their earth friendly ways, the wine tasted amazing! According to my dad, it was the "best wine he's had in a long time" and that says a lot. All in all, this truly was a great experience. Not only did I have the chance to challenge my family to become eco-friendly for a day, but I also showed them that it is easy and affordable to incorporate it into their daily lives.