Personal Health Project Notes

Personal Health Project

This course includes two personal health projects designed to promote healthier habits.
The core idea is to identify an area where your diet or exercise routine is lacking and to implement changes to address it.

The project leverages the principle that it takes approximately 21 days to establish a new habit.
By focusing on a health goal for three weeks, the aim is to integrate it into your lifestyle.
The goal should align with recommendations for a healthy lifestyle and diet.
Examples:
- Types and amounts of food
- Meal timing and location
- Increasing physical activity or strength training
- Improving sleep habits
- Reducing internet/screen time
- Cessation of smoking or alcohol consumption

The goal statement should be narrow and specific, focusing on a single aspect of your health.
- Example of an appropriate goal statement: "I will increase my vegetable intake," rather than the broad statement "I will be healthier."
Identify a small, manageable change to work toward achieving your goal over three weeks.

Download the provided form and save it with a descriptive name (e.g., "Health Goal 1 - [Your Name] - More Vegetables").
Form Components:
- Goal Statement: A concise statement of your health goal (e.g., "I will increase my intake of fresh vegetables").
- Small Change: A specific, actionable change you will implement (e.g., "I will have a salad with lunch every day").
The "small change" should be a single, manageable action.
- Example: If the goal is to increase dairy intake, the small change could be "I will have a glass of milk with breakfast."
Submit the completed form with the goal statement and small change in the designated Week 1 assignment dropbox.

Timeline: Begin implementing your "small change" for the seven days following the submission of your goal statement.
Week Evaluation:
- Include the date of the evaluation (e.g., if starting September 1st, the first evaluation date is September 7th).
- Indicate how many days out of the week you successfully carried out the change (e.g., "I had fresh vegetables for lunch on 4 out of 7 days").
- Identify any barriers that prevented you from achieving your goal.
  - Examples: lack of accessible options, not having groceries, time constraints.
- Propose solutions to overcome these barriers in the future.
  - Example: If the barrier was a lack of vegetables at home, the solution could be "I will purchase vegetables when grocery shopping for the week."
Submission:
- Submit the week one evaluation (assessment 1) in the dedicated dropbox on the second week. Keep the evaluation on the same document as the original goal to track progress.
- Resave form and submit to the dropbox for week one assessment.
- Repeat the evaluation process for weeks two and three, submitting each evaluation in the corresponding dropbox two and three weeks after setting the goal, respectively.

The time required for submitting the assignments is minimal, involving documenting your experiences.
The primary time investment is in integrating the goal into your lifestyle and making the behavioral change.
The ultimate aim is that the implemented change becomes a sustainable habit, contributing to a healthier lifestyle.

Later in the semester, a second health goal will be set.
It must be different from the first goal.
Exception
- The only exception to this rule is for smoking cessation goals. If the first goal involved reducing cigarette consumption, the second goal can continue this process.
- Example: if the first goal was cutting down by five cigarettes a day, the student can continue to reduce for the second goal.
Outside of smoking cessation, the two health goals must be distinct.
The overall objective is to promote healthier habits and lifestyle choices.