Self-Observation and Behavioral Changes - Essay Example

Self-Observation and Behavioral Changes Of all my many habits, there one I found most deserving of a study was my tendency to constantly snack and indulge in mini feasts whenever I get some free time, watching TV in the bus or even when I see someone eating. In the two days I set out to objectively observe and record by sacking habits I was shocked to have a look at myself from an outside perspective. I realized that the small but frequent snacks comprise a surprising amount of calories when considered together although in isolation each just looks like “another bite”. When I wake up in the morning I am rarely in the mood for eating anything, I only make a hot cup of very sugary coffee which holds me over until around 7 AM. I then take breakfast cereal with milk, I leave the house at around 8, between then and breakfast I nibble on some energy bars as read the news online and catch up with friends on social media to energize me for the rest of the day. When I get to school, I start feeling hungry at around 11 at which point I either pick a milkshake or juice from the cafeteria, this if accompanied by a doughnut to hold me over till lunch. I am a heavy feeder and even with several snacks behind the belt, at lunch is still manage to put away considerably more than my table mates who have taken to making fun of my tendency to go for second helpings before they are halfway through their first. On the way home after school, I pick a diet soda which I guzzle on the bus, when I get home, the fridge is my first stop and I extract a box of yogurt which will last me until am done with my homework. Before and after supper I watch television and as I do this I will likely be munching on some homemade popcorn, I even take some to bed with me when I watch late night TV since for some reason, eating seems synonymous with watching it. In fact I sometimes imagine that thinking of watching TV make me think of eating since I never seem to do the latter without the former. This is an example of a typical day for me which since I have condensed the eating activities of the two days on which I was journaling for purposes of this study. Apart from the TV I think my friends contribute to my incessant snacking since they often borrow candy bars from me as they assume I will have them on me, which I actually do. Ergo sometimes I just pick a few up without actually thinking about eating them but of cause I will end up eating most of them. Surprisingly on both nights even after my show was over I kept munching on the popcorn thinking of something to do until I fell asleep with the bowl by the bedside. It occurred to me people do not only eat when I watch TV I seem to also do it out of boredom; to some extent food acts as means for me to pass time. I also noted that when was on social media I would crave for snacks and in a way it was if I had conditioned myself to expect food whenever I was entertaining myself, for the duration of the two days, I ate as many bowls of popcorn as the TV shows I watched. Another notable element motivating my eating habits was the amount of time is spent thinking about food, every time I saw someone snacking, be it on the road, in class or even a picture on the many fast food places in town I would reach for a protein bar in my pocket almost as if by instinct. Having identified my negative eating habits, I was in a better position to assess their impacts on me and what a came up with was far from pretty, I was gaining weight at an alarming rate but worse was the fact that I was slowing down. I could no longer run as fast and I was losing my breath after paying basketball for only a few minutes. I decided to remedy my situation by limiting my eating and adopting a healthier diet. With the help of my parents I all but emptied the house of junk food and in the compartments of the refrigerator where they were we placed carrot sticks and other health vegetables and fruits. For the duration of the week, I adhered to strict schedule in which I tried to eliminate all the snacking between meals and whenever felt too hungry i would eat a carrot or drink water. For every time gave in and indulged in snacking on protein bars or milkshakes I would punish myself by running a lap around the football track after school. On the first day, I ended up running 4 laps and the next day, whenever I thought of buying any junk food the thought of having to run the course again made me pull back. However, for every day I did not snack I would reward myself by joining my friends in the Basketball court, although the positive and negative motivation are almost equal in effort the former was more attractive owing to its social nature. I would much rather spend time playing with my friends rather than jogging alone in the track, in addition I was beginning to look forward to the late afternoon games which made it easier for me to resist the snack that could take away the fun. By the third day, I had completely stopped snacking at school and I only ate at mealtimes, between them I would chew on carrot sticks and sip from a bottle I kept with me at all times. Gradually the craving for sugary drinks and snacked went down and although my friends were now making fun of me for my Rabbit diet, I was quite comfortable going with them to buy junk food without me eating any of it. This was however slightly more difficult at home since in as much as I had cleared most of the junk I kept feeling tempted to cook something “light” and three nights in a row ended up toasting some cheese sandwiches to go with my TV show. However I would punish myself by forcing myself to clean up around the house before school the next day, given that I disliked housework I did not fancy indulging on the fourth day since the ideal or waking up early to wash dishes made the sandwiches look far less attractive than they ordinarily did. In addition I started watching TV without eating and using the same strategy I was using in school by substituting unhealthy with healthy snacks. I would reward myself for sitting through a whole show without snacking by awarding myself a dollar for the effort which is put aside for buying a bike so I can be riding to school which I know is much healthier and for me and the environment than taking the bus. Although I must admits I have not noticed any outward improvement as a result of my diet, I am aware that it will take a lot of time and patience to get results and thus I will stick to it and hope to become healthier and more disciplined in my eating habits. Read More