Introduction
Healthy eating habits include a nutritious and balanced diet involving appropriate proportions of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in each portion. They ensure individuals do not overeat and abstain from damaging behaviors that frequently result in unhealthy relationships with food. My past two weeks are associated with the beginning of my journey and tremendous efforts to improve my overall well-being by focusing on daily healthy habits. Although I have witnessed several challenges during this time, I feel proud of every small step toward my goal of nutrition improvement, conscious eating, and improving my body’s physical and emotional state.
Modifying My Plan for Improved Outcomes
Reflecting on the past two weeks, I recognize the necessity to modify my action plan to make it more gentle and relieving but still helpful for my journey. I would primarily incorporate rest days into my exercise routine to better stimulate postprandial muscle proteins and prevent emotional burnout (Burd et al., 2019). Although it might be challenging to reconstruct a workout schedule to avoid conflicting events and obligations, I would add a one-day recovery period after resistance exercises. Moreover, I would include more diversified physical activities, especially those I genuinely enjoy, to increase my engagement and stimulate different muscles. My exercise routine should be altered to meet my body’s needs and interests.
Meanwhile, the next step in my overall wellness pursuit is to concentrate on my mental well-being. Extensive research suggests stress, poor coping mechanisms, and mood fluctuations contribute to maladaptive eating behavior, so Sampaio et al. (2021) introduce meditation-based conscious eating. This practice reduces emotional eating by 34.3% and stress by 42.6% while increasing restraint eating by 28.7%. Prioritizing adequate sleep and stress management strategies will decrease my physiological response of overeating to negative external and internal triggers.
Encouraging Others to Achieve Wellness Goals
Fueling others’ motivations to pursue healthy habits starts with acknowledging the importance of realistic expectations. Once they begin their journey, they experience barriers that reduce their motivation. In this case, people should realize that wider social networks influence their diets (Higgs et al., 2019). Therefore, they can find friends or relatives interested in working out or healthy food preparation and avoid eating out with friends who prefer fast food, soft drinks, and pies (Ragelienė & Grønhøj, 2020). My most critical advice is to add a variety of recipes and fitness exercises to prevent monotony and stop feeling guilty for not achieving targets. Individuals should stay consistent but flexible in their path toward sustainable living behaviors.
Behavior Change Strategies in Action
The SMART goal established the foundation of these two weeks. My behavior change strategy was to create a weekly schedule to commit to the gym five times a week and eat three meals daily with a balanced proportion of nutrients, ensuring that the goal is specific, measurable, and relevant. Meanwhile, learning to prepare these plates facilitated the aim’s attainability within two weeks and improved my cooking skills, choosing healthy ingredients, and strengthening my body’s digestion.
Elizabeth et al. (2020) developed this target, stating that ultra-processed foods, such as instant soups and sausages, are high in calories, sugar, and unhealthy fats, so processed alternatives should replace them. Additionally, phone reminders helped me to stay on track while journaling my progress, and I found some correlations between new behaviors and my well-being. These two weeks have marked my consistency in dieting, exercising, and seeing some support from my family.
Key Learnings About Behavior Change
During this time, I have learned that behavior change is a dynamic process, so instantly adopting new behaviors is impossible. In order to make this process more comfortable, it is necessary to produce consistent but little effort throughout the whole experience. Moreover, I have realized the interconnectedness of physical activity, emotions, and dietary restrictions. Thus, people can succeed in their holistic routine change only when all three spheres maintain healthy indicators. For example, Burd et al. 2019 state that intensive exercising affects a person’s nutrient utilization, so they want to eat more than during sedentary lifestyles.
Furthermore, I sometimes felt anxious about not being able to eat junk food with my friends. This tendency is common in all adolescents whose food choices signal their conformity with acceptable norms among their age groups (Ragelienė & Grønhøj, 2020). Therefore, these lessons shaped my experience during this vital behavior change process.
Insights Gained for Patient/Client Interaction
As I delve deeper into exploring the intricate nature of healthy habits, I gain valuable insights that will help me to interact with my future clients. I developed empathy toward all people on this journey that might be full of struggles. Consuming fresh fruits, cooked vegetables, and whole grains sounds impressive and inspiring, but in a real-life scenario, it requires remarkable efforts to follow this lifestyle. The reason is that fatty and sugary food generates a feeling of comfort during stressful circumstances, and sometimes, they are treated as rewards for specific achievements (Sampaio et al., 2021). During healthy eating, clients are forced to find alternatives to these artificial pleasure sources, overcoming their barriers. Therefore, this unique experience helps me to better identify with my future clients dealing with similar issues while fostering mutual understanding and compassion for their conditions.
Conclusion
To conclude, reflection on the past two weeks helps me modify the plan to improve my adherence and evaluate my results. I have achieved more motivation to continue my healthy habits, better sleeping patterns, increased energy levels, and digestion. I have learned to prepare various vegetables and grains meals while exercising five times weekly and acquiring new sports. Most importantly, I have realized the importance of setting realistic expectations and dedicating time to managing behavior change strategies. As I continue this journey, I plan to focus more on mental health, which would contribute to my conscious consumption attempts and understanding of my future patients for a more holistic approach to well-being.
References
Burd, N. A., McKenna, C. F., Salvador, A. F., Paulussen, K. J., & Moore, D. R. (2019). Dietary protein quantity, quality, and exercise are key to healthy living: A muscle-centric perspective across the lifespan. Frontiers in Nutrition, 6(1), 1-12. Web.
Elizabeth, L., Machado, P., Zinöcker, M., Baker, P., & Lawrence, M. (2020). Ultra-processed foods and health outcomes: A narrative review. Nutrients, 12(7), 1-33. Web.
Higgs, S., Liu, J., Collins, E. I. M., & Thomas, J. M. (2019). Using social norms to encourage healthier eating. Nutrition Bulletin, 44(1), 43-52. Web.
Ragelienė, T., & Grønhøj, A. (2020). The influence of peers′ and siblings′ on children’s and adolescents′ healthy eating behavior. A systematic literature review. Appetite, 148(1), 1-19. Web.
Sampaio, C. V. S., Magnavita, G., & Ladeia, A. M. (2021). Effect of Healing Meditation on stress and eating behavior in overweight and obese women: A randomized clinical trial. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 45(1), 1-7. Web.