Sci 241 - Healthy Eating Plan Comparison Assignments

SCI 241 Healthy Eating Plan Comparison Assignments

One of the things I have noticed is that my exercise regimen has changed a bit. Now that the holidays are upon us, I have been so busy with my children's activities that I have neglected my own exercise routine and in its place have changed to more stationary activities. I think this happens a lot toward the end of the year for most parents. We do more watching then moving. I didn't realize this was happening until I saw it on the Pyramid tracker. I knew that I hadn't worked out on the treadmill as much lately and with a surprise October snow, we didn't do as many walks in the park as we did last year but I didn't realize how much it would affect me. I have noticed that I am more tired these days but I just assumed that it was because it gets dark here by 5pm. I can truly tell a difference in my body with less physical activities, but I know, like most people that the holidays are hard to take control of your health. Especially when there is a lot of candy in the house and the smells of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ginger are all around. In my family, we start making fall foods the beginning of November and all month long. I have already made cakes, pies, cookies, breads, soups, and the list goes on and on. Not the healthiest thing to do, but it is a tradition that we all enjoy and it gives us such a warm feeling of what is to come.

I did create and start to use a meal calendar. It was such a hit that my friends actually started doing the same thing. I can't say that it instantly made me an expert in the field of health or nutrition but it did make my life a little easier. I did notice that the kids were no longer asking me what was going to be for dinner and I knew right off the bat what I needed to get from the grocery store, which was a big one for my family. The next thing I noticed was that I was able to look and make sure that my family did have a fresh salad with dinner two or three times a week, I never noticed how often that happened before. I also was able to track the kinds of meats we were eating, to me it is important that we get in a fish once or twice a week, that pasta is only served only once a week, and that my family is getting a nice hot meal instead of something that was just thrown together at the last minute. By being able to look at a meal calendar, I am suddenly able to track what we eat and how often, this also allows me to look for coupons and specials offered by my local grocery store. It really allows me to see what we are eating, what we are missing, and what I can change up later. Because Sundays are always a big meal at my home, complete with dessert, I allow Saturday to be a free day. This is where we can order a pizza, get Chinese food, eat out, or just have a hotdog and French fries if we choose. I don't think that everyday should be a sit down dinner, but it does keep the family