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[vikkain]

Final Update!

Hi everyone! I am back with an update on my current eating habits. Shown below is the updated food tracker that I consistently filled out for the second half of the project.

My experience in this half was a lot easier than the first, considering that I simply had to determine the correct macronutrient proportions for me and log whether or not I achieved that for the meal. However, it was expectedly more difficult to actually eat balanced meals because of the different factors I was surrounded by, hence, the factors column. Because of this, I learned how to be more aware of why I couldn’t eat a balanced meal for the day and work around these factors with what I could. When I couldn’t work around these factors, I learned to accept that there are some things I cannot control and focused on more balanced eating the next meal.

The theory that allowed me to define my past and current eating behaviors is Classical Conditioning by Pavlov. The unconditioned stimulus would be feelings of hunger and the unconditioned response is finding something to eat. In the past, my conditioned response when hungry or during mealtime would be not eating a full meal with balanced macronutrients and even picking out the nutritious things from my meal. Another aspect would be buying junk food to snack on later in the day. With this project, my new conditioned response would be filling myself up with nutritious food and imagining a plate filled with healthy divisions of macronutrients.

The process did not only teach me to eat better. It taught me how to identify my responses, unconscious or not, toward different unconditioned stimuli. I realized that we tend to create behaviors that are actually harmful to our well-being in the long run, hence why observing them from outside ourselves is important as we are able to actually work on bettering our circumstances.

What I would like to recommend for those who wish to pursue a behavior modification project of the same nature is to find out the amount of macronutrients your body needs. It is dependent primarily on your age, body weight, and height. It is important to establish these because it would help in setting the target percentages for your goal. Once you have this mental picture of what should be a balanced meal for you, it would be much easier to condition yourself to create a plate.

With this, was I able to achieve my goal?

✓ Eat 3 balanced meals a day and consume more nutritious yet cost-effective food by the end of February, and continue to do so after the end of this project (April), to maximize the advantages of a healthy diet.

I believe that I have achieved this to some extent. I started eating more nutritious and cost-effective food, however, not so much as eating 3 balanced meals. However, I went into this project knowing that 3 months is not enough time to fix up years of imbalanced eating habits. This project helped me to be more mindful of the factors that affected it, which I believe will help me improve in the longer run.

[vikkain]

Week 6-ish [February 27 — February 28]

Hello! Here is my penultimate blog post for this project, which includes my meals for the last two days, factors I noticed throughout the month, and a recap of my initial goals and techniques for behavior modification.

➝ February 27, 2023

➝ February 28, 2023

After a month of listening to my body, observing what I eat, and analyzing what I noticed, I gathered a list of factors that affected my eating habits. I also ordered them based on how much they affect me, as well as categorized if they (the factors themselves) were controllable or uncontrollable.

List of factors that affect my eating habits, ranked

Was I able to apply the following techniques?

I realized that with these techniques, I focused more on the outcome and less on how I felt in the process. After this month, I feel like I have become a bit too aware of what I ate and saw my food as quantities, not energy that can keep me going in the day. However, overall, this month of observation helped me learn a lot about not just my eating habits but how much external factors actually affect how we behave. There were a lot of things that I did not even ponder on before but new ideas were absorbed throughout my data collection. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to be more mindful of past bad habits and modify them to help me presently and in the future.

At this point forward, I will be using the new data I have to continue with the second part of the project. I realized that simply documenting it did not and analyzing my meals in a week was not enough to help me change the way I eat for the better. I questioned, how can I achieve my goal and enjoy the process of achieving it? I have found the answer to be: tracking my meals, classifying if they are balanced or unbalanced, and identifying the most prominent factor affecting my meals. Considering this, here are the modified techniques I have curated to help me in my eating habit journey:

Continue to log and classify my food intake per day from March 1, 2023 until April 21, 2023, post a blog update on April 22, 2023

Balance macronutrients per meal (protein, carbohydrates, and fats)

Focus on the external factors and how it affects the balance of my meals

However, what constitutes a “balanced” plate of food? Here is a diagram created by Harvard University to visualize the healthy amount of macronutrients per plate:

I will be using this diagram as a constant guide whenever preparing or having most of my meals in a day. To record my progress, I will be using a Google Sheets spreadsheet to input if my meal is balanced or not and to indicate the most prominent factor affecting me that day. Below is an image of the tracker that I will be using throughout the project.

My goal, however, remains the same.

✓ Eat 3 balanced meals a day and consume more nutritious yet cost-effective food by the end of February, and continue to do so after the end of this project (April), to maximize the advantages of a healthy diet.

As I go through the project, the continuous positive reinforcement I will apply is feeling good and energized after a nutritious meal. Despite it being an intangible reinforcement, I believe that getting used to the feeling and the effect itself will help me sustain my goal in the long run instead of adding a tangible stimulus to keep me going. Having a balanced diet is a lifelong goal that I believe I can sustain through reinforcing positive feelings.

That’s all for now. See you all in around 2 months. Thank you for coming along for the first half!

[vikkain]

Week 5 [February 20 — February 26]

Hi, everyone! This is the last full week of all my “meals in a week”. Listed and documented below are most of the food I ate for the past few days.

➝ February 20, 2023

➝ February 21, 2023

➝ February 22, 2023

➝ February 23, 2023

➝ February 24, 2023

➝ February 25, 2023

➝ February 26, 2023

✓ What I noticed

This week, I realized that my meals would become more consistent. Although they weren’t at the “prescribed” times to eat (e.g. lunch should be at around 12NN, while I would have my lunch around 1PM), I am starting to get into the routine of eating at certain times of the day. I noticed that my meals would really revolve around the schedule I have in the week. For the contents of my meals themselves, they were mostly nutritionally balanced. However, the balance would go away when the weekend comes and I feel that I have to “restart” once Monday comes again. A factor that I should consider in my eating habits is also when I come back from my place in Pasig to my house in Laguna. The environment I am in greatly affects the food I eat in a day. Because I snack a lot during the weekends, I find it more difficult to document what I eat. Hence, this would mean that I am less mindful about what I eat every Saturday and Sunday.

✓ What to keep

Eating consistently at the same times every day

✓ What to leave behind

Being less mindful about what I eat every weekend

✓ What to improve on

Adjusting my schedule based on the time I have to eat, not the other way around

[vikkain]

Week 4 [February 13 — February 19]

Hello! This has been a long week, but a week filled with new and delicious meals. Here I am with my most recent eats. 

➝ February 13, 2023

➝ February 14, 2023

➝ February 15, 2023

➝ February 16, 2023

➝ February 17, 2023

➝ February 18, 2023

➝ February 19, 2023

✓ What I noticed

I spent this Valentine’s week with people around me, especially during mealtime. I noticed that, compared to last week, I was able to fuel my body better considering how much I was on the go. The meals I ate this week had more color which motivated me to add more variety to my food. Not only did I replenish my energy well, but I felt happy to be eating things I actually enjoyed and felt good for my body. Although, I felt that there were times when I gave into my cravings too much and ended up going over my ideal food intake per day. My eating habits are starting to get better day by day.

✓ What to keep

Eating food that makes me feel replenished and energetic

✓ What to leave behind

Giving into too much of my cravings 

✓ What to improve on

Adding more nutrition to my meals

[vikkain]

Week 3 [February 6 — February 12]

Hi, everyone! Another fun yet tiring week has passed. Here is a view of what I ate for the past few days:

➝ February 6, 2023

➝ February 7, 2023

➝ February 8, 2023

➝ February 9, 2023

➝ February 10, 2023

➝ February 11, 2023

➝ February 12, 2023

✓ What I noticed

The most prominent thing I noticed this week was how I was inconsistent with documenting my meals. This may have been because I was snacking a lot more without noticing it. I sensed that I felt more stressed out this week, which may have been the cause of my random urges to eat at times I usually don’t. This week reminded me a lot of when I would skip meals just to eat junk food later on in the day. However, this also may be due to the hormonal changes that I was experiencing. I noticed that I listened to my body and what it craved, however, I immediately felt guilty for straying away from my daily goals.

✓ What to keep

Trying to listen to my body telling me what I really want to eat

✓ What to leave behind

Feeling guilty for listening to what my body wants

✓ What to improve on

Being consistent with documenting my meals

Thinking about my long-term goals and how my present actions can affect me in the future

[vikkain]

Week 2 [January 30 - February 5]

Hello! I am back with a full week of good eats. Here is a view of what I ate in the past seven days:

➝ January 30, 2023

➝ January 31, 2023

➝ February 1, 2023

➝ February 2, 2023

➝ February 3, 2023

➝ February 4, 2023

➝ February 5, 2023

✓ What I noticed

This week, I went out to eat more than I usually did. I would tag along with my friends whenever they asked to have lunch or dinner somewhere. I also noticed that I pushed myself physically this week with various strenuous activities but did not fuel myself properly to compensate for the loss of energy. Because of this, I relied a lot more on caffeine than the energy I get from eating nutritious foods.

✓ What to keep

Eating my meals on time

Satisfying the cravings that I randomly get

Prioritizing food that makes me feel full and energized throughout the day

✓ What to leave behind

Feeling guilty whenever eating out

Restricting myself from eating when I know I "ate a lot” the previous day

Drinking coffee to replace my meals

✓ What to improve on

Saying yes to eating out to build a better relationship with my friends and the food I eat

[vikkain]

Week 1-ish [January 28 — January 29]

Hi! Here I am writing another blog post a day after my initial behavior assessment. However, as promised, I will be posting my weekly food logs every Sunday evening. I listed down and took a photo of the things I ate for the past two days (or at least most of them).

➝ January 28, 2023

➝ January 29, 2023

✓ What I noticed

I already was used to logging what I ate prior to this project, however, documenting them was a different story. There were times I had to reconsider eating something because I had to “bother with” taking a photo of it. I noticed that I had more awareness of what I was consuming because of this.

Regarding my eating habits, I noticed that I ate a lesser amount of fruits and vegetables than usual. The majority of the time, I would look for meat, rice, or bread, especially when eating out. I also felt that my energy was lower than usual. This may be because I haven’t been eating many nutrient-dense foods such as leafy greens. Being back at home on the weekends, for me, also means snacking a lot more than when I am in my condominium on the weekdays. Hence, my meals were less filling and more spaced out during the day. Despite this, a part of me is also glad to be eating the food I genuinely enjoy eating, such as sweets.

✓ What to keep

Prioritizing high-protein food to repair my body from all my strenuous physical activity

Enjoy “fun food” like sweets in moderation

✓ What to leave behind

Eating less nutritious and filling food

Not filling half of my plate with vegetables

✓ What to improve on

Reminding myself to document what I eat to increase my awareness of the meal in front of me

[vikkain]

Hello, world!

In the past, specifically from 2018-2019, my eating habits were at their worst point. I would have only one or two full meals a day and an unhealthy amount of junk food. I preferred processed and fast food over meals my mom would cook at home. As soon as the pandemic hit in 2020, I braved the task of improving my eating habits. I realized that my lack of energy and motivation to move around in a day was greatly affected by what and how I ate. Every day, I would look through healthy recipes and search for nutritious food I could snack on in place of the processed ones I used to crave. My eating habits today are still imperfect, hence why I want to modify this behavior and achieve a holistic approach to the meals I eat in a day.

However, before delving into the realm of eating more “balanced” meals, I first had to define what holistic eating meant and how it would benefit me in the future. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), what constitutes a healthy diet is a variety of foods and eating considerably less amount of salt, sugars, and processed foods (World Health Organization). A balanced diet is important in maintaining good health and nutrition. There are advantages and disadvantages to achieving healthy eating habits, according to Young (2022):

Advantages: good vitamins and minerals for the body, more energy throughout the day, avoids health challenges, reduces the risk for chronic health issues, improves motivation and concentration

Disadvantages: costly, difficult to maintain, hard to find healthier alternatives, more time-consuming to prepare home-cooked meals

Because this behavior modification attempt is not new to me, I found some things that have helped me and have pushed back progress along the way.

What helped me: increased my fruit and vegetable intake, decreased my sugar intake, started having three meals a day

What pushed back progress: prioritized restriction over balance, had “cheat” days

Baseline data

Since the start of November 2022, I have been logging the food I consume every day. This made me more aware of what I eat and how I can improve my eating habits. I use the application MyFitnessPal to track each food and its nutritional value specific to my daily needs. However, I do not accurately measure each food’s nutritional value and mainly use the application to log the food I eat. Below are examples of food logs and nutrient intake from the last week:

January 24, 2023

January 25, 2023

January 26, 2023

( ˘▽˘)っ♨

After my observations, I set the following goal:

✓ Eat 3 balanced meals a day and consume more nutritious yet cost-effective food by the end of February, and continue to do so after the end of this project, to maximize the advantages of a healthy diet.

Behavior modification techniques

With this, I identified the following techniques to aid in my behavior modification:

Continue to log and document my food intake per day from January 28, 2023, until February 28, 2023, and post a blog update every Sunday night (January 29, February 5, 12, 19, 26)

Try to balance macronutrients per meal (protein, carbohydrates, and fats)

Focus on awareness and reward-based learning

✓ Reward: feeling good and energized after a nutritious meal