Personal Improvement Project Does Changing My Environment Lead

Personal Improvement Project Does Changing My Environment Lead to a Significant Decrease in Abstaining from Snacking? S. N. HSCI 586 Fall 2004 Dr. Alemi

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Problem? Too much time at home alone, not enough activities to stay busy n Leads to mindless and unnecessary snacking n Led to weight gain over seven month period n

Solution? Change my environment in order to not have so much time home alone HOW? ? --Evaluate daily routines --Look for opportunities for improvement or change --Change environment to not have so much time home alone --Evaluate Daily Routine: Follow…. n

ACTIVITY Daily Monday. Friday (mornings) POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? wake up approx 6: 30 am negative: often hit snooze button many times, wake up late, late for work floss teeth, brush teeth positive shower positive make coffee positive do makeup and hair positive get dressed positive have breakfast and coffee positive drive to work positive have lunch positive

ACTIVITY Monday after lunch leave work at 3 pm POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? positive have snack in car 4 pm positive go to class positive class until 7: 10 positive go home positive have dinner positive watch TV negative: often snack while watching TV, don't even like watching TV except for certain shows (not Mondays) go to bed 10 pm positive

ACTIVITY Tuesday after lunch POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? leave work at 3 pm positive have snack in car 4 pm positive go to class positive class until 7: 10 positive go to ache meeting until 8 ish positive go home positive have dinner positive watch TV negative: often snack while watching TV, like only 8: 30 show go to bed 10 pm positive

ACTIVITY Wednesday after lunch POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? have snack at work 4 pm positive leave work approx 6 pm positive go home positive have dinner positive watch TV negative: often snack while watching TV go to bed 9 pm positive

ACTIVITY Thursday after lunch POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? get dressed for gym at work positive leave work 6: 15 pm positive gym until 8 pm positive get home 8: 30 pm positive have dinner positive watch TV negative: often snack while watching TV, only like one 1/2 hour show on Thursdays go to bed 9: 30/10 pm positive

ACTIVITY Friday after lunch POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? snack at work 4 pm positive try to leave work 5 pm positive negative: intentions to go home early never work out - end up eating out instead at home later than I normally would. But I enjoy spending time with friends, going out on a Friday after a happy hour turns into late night long work/school week go home late negative: go to bed too late to want to wake up in morning and be fresh

ACTIVITY Saturday POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? wake up 9: 45 am positive go to gym class positive have breakfast positive shower positive do school work in house negative: often snack while working on computer at home do errands positive go out at night turns into late night negative: often eat while I'm out things I wouldn't otherwise eat at home and more of it. But I enjoy spending time with different friends, going out and being social.

ACTIVITY Sunday POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? wake up 10: 05 am positive go to gym class positive have lunch positive watch football at home or at friend's house negative: often snack in front of TV do school work at home negative: often snack while working on computer at home errands positive go out to dinner with friends positive home early, bed early positive

ACTIVITY Weekly POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE IMPACT? WHY IF NEGATIVE? Trader Joe's negative: buy peanut butter or nuts - eat too many nuts and too much peanut butter. get gas positive pick up house positive iron clothes positive laundry positive make lunches for week at work positive

Necessary to Change Routines: --Left home after dinner, socialize with friend --Took snack in car on way to class to lessen the urge to snack before dinner --Create activities to replace with at-home down time: ran errands weekday evenings I used to run on weekends --Changed environment rather than change myself

Data Collection for Evidence Collected data on snacking from beginning of observation period (every day: snacked or didn’t snack) n Pre-intervention period (10 days) and postintervention period (82 days) documented n Time-between chart used to document chances of snacking – 92 Data Points total over the course of the semester n

Results from Time-Between Chart

Conclusion n n Changing environment lead to improvement in habits (decrease in snacking), though additional environmental changes should be made to create a more significant difference Lost approximately 6 pounds over the course of the semester Personal improvement can happen with little to no conscious effort as long as environment is changed Periods of abstaining from snacking were longer after intervention I should continue to change my environment possibly introducing other factors to continue to abstain from snacking