Personal Nutrition behaviour change assignment

Joe Geric

Mohawk College Health, Wellness, and Fitness

Nutrition 10086

Cassandra Cumpson

April 12, 2024

 1. What behaviour did you set out to change during this 2 week period? Why was it

important to you?

The behaviour I set out to change was to drink 500 more millilitres of water every day. This was

important for me because I don’t drink nearly enough water as I am supposed to and I want to

optimise my health and performance in the gym. In the past I have experimented a little bit with

drinking more water and it had a big impact on my sleep quality and my skin.

2. How easy/difficult was it for you to adhere to your goal?

It was pretty hard for me to adhere to this goal because I always kept forgetting to drink

water or I didn’t feel like pouring a glass. For example, on Saturday, March 16th I was out

late on the Friday and I woke up late and I had to go to work. On my break I realized I

hadn’t drunken any water yet and it was 5pm. I would usually do good with my

hydration on Thursday’s because I do legs on that day so I make sure I’m hydrated to

perform at my best.

3. What barriers did you experience when making this change? What made this goal

challenging? How did you overcome or adjust for these barriers?

The only barrier I faced was myself. I kept forgetting to drink water or didn’t feel like

pouring myself a glass. It made it challenging because it would be mid day and I would

then realize I hadn’t drank any water so I would do my best to drink 500 more millilitres

than I normally do. I drink roughly 2-2.5 Litres a day so trying to get around 3 litres

starting mid day was rough. To overcome this I would pour myself glass first thing when

I wake up. I would make sure to drink the entire glass before having any food because

sometimes I would finish my food and not feel like finishing drinking my water. I also set
 a reminder on my phone every hour throughout the day to drink some water and that

helped me drastically.

4. How do you feel after these 2 weeks?

Physical: My skin and scalp looked a lot more hydrated and my face was clearer.

Social: I didn’t really find it to have an impact on my social wellness. However, I could

possibly see it making another person socialize more with people since they will be more

energetic.

Emotional: I felt a lot more balanced emotionally and had fewer mood swings.

Intellectual: I found that I had better concentration doing my school work and more

motivation.

Financial: Drinking more water helped with my cravings for fast food throughout the 2

weeks and I think I saved quite a bit of money.

Environmental: I was drinking from a reusable bottle, however I found myself bringing a

plastic non-reusable water bottle a lot because it was quicker so I don’t think it improved

my environmental health. But, if I change that it would help my environmental health.

Spiritual: I didn’t find drinking what to help or enhance my spiritual wellness.

5. What is the likelihood that you will stick with this change as part of your healthy

lifestyle? Explain.

It is very likely that I will stick to drinking more water. There’s so many benefits to it I

can’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to stick to this change. My sleep improved, I didn’t

wake up nearly as much as I usually do, my skin was a lot healthier, my cravings were a
 lot lower, my performance in the gym was a lot better, and I’ll live a longer and healthier

life if I stick to this change.

1. Reflect upon your journey over the last 4 weeks.

I. How did you handle adding in the 2nd behaviour change while
continuing to pursue your 1st behaviour change? Were there any
barriers or resistance that you faced? Identify some strategies that you
found helpful that you would recommend to someone else going
through a behaviour change process.

The second behaviour I set out to change was cutting out diet soda. It was very hard to do

since I have a diet drink around 3-5 times a week. I definitely faced a lot of resistance

during dinner time because that’s when I usually have one. I kept wanting to go to the

store to get a case of diet soda. For me when I’m having dinner it doesn’t feel as good to

eat it without a diet drink to have on the side. The biggest strategy for me was to make

sure I finished my case of diet coke I had in the basement fridge before I added this

behaviour change. There was a lot of times when I said to myself “I want a diet coke”

and then remembering I don’t have any in the fridge, so it helped me a lot not to not drink

any.

2. Explain the process and what you have learned about yourself and the process of

behavior change.

The process was very hard and long. I was excited for when it was over because having

diet soda really helps with my cravings as well. Which is why I think I enjoy them so

much since I’m having something sweet for zero calories while also helping my cravings

for food that is very high in calories and not nutrient dense at all.
3. What health related outcomes (think all dimensions of wellness) have you noticed

since making these 2 changes?

Physical: The only physical change I noticed was my face seemed a tiny bit less puffy

but not a significant amount for anyone other than me to notice. I don’t what would cause

that but it doesn’t bother me since it’s not a significant difference at all. However, with

the water my face was a lot more hydrated and clearer.

Social: I didn’t see any change on my social wellness

Emotional: I think I felt a little less satisfied with my dinner meals because I eat around

1000-1250 and not having a diet drink to sip on throughout the meal wasn’t as enjoyable.

But I was a lot more emotionally balanced with the water intake.

Intellectual: I didn’t see any change in my intellectual health when I removed diet soda,

but I did see better concentration when I added more water

Financial: I saved quite a bit of money from fast food. But the first 2 weeks I was still

drinking soda so I’ve come to realise that a combination of more water and having 1 diet

drink around every other day really helps with my cravings for junk food.

Environmental: I threw away a lot less cans so I think it would help the environment a

tiny bit in the future.

Spiritual: I didn’t see any change in my spiritual health.

4. Looking ahead, are there any other changes or modifications you’d like to make to

continue improving your various dimensions of health?

The only thing change I’d make is adding diet soda back to my diet. The only dimensions

I found it had an impact on was my financial and environmental wellness. But I don’t

think these were very significant.

5. How could you move yourself along a continuum to improve habits overtime and
create consistency?

To move myself over a continuum and improve my habits overtime and create

consistency I would start off small like how I did with my water intake I just increased it

by 500ml instead of 1 litre because I knew to would be too big of a jump at once. I would

also make gradual progressions. For example go from drinking 2.5 litres of water, then to

3 litres, and then up again to 3.25. And lastly I would celebrate my milestones to have a

reward effect. I think having a reward is very important because it makes things fun and

allows you to strive for something.

 Reference Page

Popkin, B. (2010). Water, Hydration, and Health. National Library of Medicine, 68

(8), 439-458. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954/