Healthy and Smart Living

Introduction

It is important to understand the importance of making healthy eating choices and living a healthy lifestyle. Making small changes can impact the rest of your life. We will go over the importance of being aware of what you are eating and what you should be eating. Learn how to make simple changes, and how these changes can impact your everyday physical feelings and mood.

Something else to keep in mind- THIS IS NOT A DIET! It's a lifestyle! If you are conscious of the changes you make, it will be natural, it will be your new way of living. You might have family member who have heart problems, diabetes, etc. You can start to prevent that now just by gaining the knowledge of how to make better choices.

Are you aware of what you are putting in your body everyday? Are you fulfilling all of the necessary food groups or getting the most exercise you can throughout your daily activities? Let's discover how easy it is to make these changes and how it can create a better life for you!

Did you know... A Study to examine the effects of nutrition intervention conducted by Fahlman, Drake, McCaughtry and Martin (2008) showed that there were significant positive changes in both nutrition knowledge and behaviors in middle school children.

References:

Fahlman, M., Dake, J., McCaughtry, N., & Martin, J. (2008). A pilot study to examine the effects

of a nutrition intervention on nutrition knowledge, behaviors, and efficacy expectations in

middle school children. Journal Of School Health, 78(4), 216-222 7p. doi:10.1111/j.1746-

1561.2008.00289.x

Task

1) Start a blog- This is where you will keep your food journal. In this journal you will not only list everything you eat, but you will also list your moods. For example- when you are feeling tired, active, grouchy (you may not realize it, but a lot of your mood changes have to do with what you are eating)! You will also write any type of exercise you do. This could be as simple as taking the stairs and not the elevator. You can create your blog on Wordpress.com

2) Use a graph to draw out a food pyramid with the amount of food and the different food groups you should be consuming everyday. Be as creative as you want with this!

3) Write a menu for the week. This menu will include all meals and snacks for the week. Make sure to add portions and the calorie, carb, protein and sugar amount in each item. Also incorporate forms of exercise that can be included in each day that fits into YOUR schedule.

4) To go along with your menu, you will create a shopping list. You will go on to a grocery store website to get an accurate amount of what it will cost you.

Process

1) Start a Journal! You can easily do this by going to www.wordpress.com. You can create a blog where you can keep an online journal.

Each day keep track of:

~ What you ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and what you drank.

~ How you felt throughout the day (example: if you were tired after you ate, or had a lot of energy).

~ Any exercise you had (example: If you took a walk, had baseball practice, roller skating, etc.).

***MAKE SURE YOU START THIS ONE WEEK BEFORE YOU START MAKING CHANGES***

2) Draw a food pyramid! Have fun with this, use different colors and try to be as accurate as you can with specific food that you enjoy that fit into the categories. Draw it as big as you need to. Once it is complete take a picture and post it to your wordpress page.

3) Design a menu for one week of meals and snacks listing the nutritional value. With this menu you will also:

~ write a shopping list.

~ make as many of these meals and healthy snacks as you can and take pictures to post to your wordpress.

4) Find an inspiring article in which someone made significant changes and how these changes impacted their life. Write a small report on what you have found and how you feel about what these changes can do for you.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aNNYEUARAk]

Evaluation

Your Assignment will be graded accordingly :

Criteria	33-29 points	28-24 points	23-19 points
Participation 50%	Posts everyday with clear/specific information to online journal.	Minimal participation to journal, missing meals and activity.	Only posts three days or less to online journal.
Short Story 20%	Critical thinking, relates information to topic, written in standard English with no grammar/spelling mistakes. 2/3 pages	Minimally relates information to topic. Minor grammar, spelling, and/or sentence level errors. Under 2 pages	Topic does not relate, Multiple grammar, spelling, and/or sentence level errors.
Food Pyramid 15%	Clear layout, all groups covered with examples of food in groups. Clear picture in journal.	Unclear separation of different food groups, unclear foo examples.	Unorganized or non-existent separation in food groups and no examples of food.
Menu/Shopping List 15%	Clear layout of menu and shopping list with nutrition facts. Clear pictures of different meals/snacks in journal.	Menu and list is unclear without all of nutritional value.	Menu, list or nutrition value missing with no pictures.

Conclusion

Congratulations!

You now have all of the tools you need to continue on to a healthy lifestyle. Remember this is NOT a diet, it is a way of life. By making these small changes to your everyday life you are creating a longer, more active, pleasant future for yourself.

Be sure to take all of the knowledge you have gained and educate your friends and family with the simple changes they can make to improve their lives as well!

When you feel as though you fall off track and are making not-so great choices, take what you achieved in this project and apply it at any time.

Daily food journal- You can always keep a journal! If you notice you are not holding yourself responsible for the choices you are making, start journaling again! The biggest person to answer to is yourself, so this will allow you to stay conscious of the decisions you are making!

Food Pyramid- Don't forget what your daily servings should be or what your plate should look like!

Menu/Shopping List- Making lists is a great way to mentally prepare for making healthier choices, it is also a huge money saver!

Motivational article/short story- If you ever feel as though you need the extra push or motivation to keep going or to remind you why this is important, read an article of someone who has made those changes and how their life has improved!

I hope you had a blast! I know I did. I hope everything you learned will help change your future and you can apply some of it to you daily life.