Behavior Modification Homework Assignment

dietary plan

Behavior Modification Homework Assignment

100 points ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

In this class we will focus on lifestyle behaviors that impact health and wellness in the short- and long-term, identifying health promoting and health damaging behaviors and discussing ways to promote well-being. As a way to help you apply concepts to “real life”, this set of assignments is meant to provide you with the opportunity to monitor health behaviors, identify an area that could be improved and form behavior change goals. Once you receive feedback on your goal and planning, you will implement your goal, monitor your progress towards goal achievement, and reflect up on the behavior change experience. You will also identify physical and/or psychological benefits associated with your chosen health behavior, applying course concepts.

PART 1 OVERVIEW (PLEASE READ PAST THIS PAGE!) 1. Choose ONE area to target for behavior change: dietary intake, physical activity, or sleep. 2. Monitor your habits using the appropriate method (see accompanying instructions). 3. Reflect on your behaviors and influences, and compare your behaviors with

recommendations. 4. Create a SMART goal. 5. Identify at least 2 barriers and 2 facilitators of goal attainment and create a plan to implement

your goal. You will need to cite your information in various places (as identified in the instructions) using APA citation formatting. Please refer to the Purdue OWL site for more information on how to do in-text citations (crediting the authors for the information) and the references (which identifies where your sources can be found). You do not need to put the whole paper in APA style (e.g. no abstract, no running head); the APA portion of the assignment only refers to the style that must be used for in-text citations and the reference list. The link can be found here:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

The use of in-text citations and a reference list is mandatory for this assignment and is an important component in backing up your statements with credible information. All cited information must be paraphrased; direct quotes may not be used.

WHAT TO TURN IN TO MOODLE FOR PART 1: 1. Supertracker reports or sleep monitoring log, depending on your chosen behavioral target.

2. Written report of your behavioral evaluation, goal setting, and plan for goal achievement.

At minimum, you should be uploading 2 documents (please upload the reports or logs separately from the written assignment).

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: DIETARY BEHAVIORS

Go to www.supertracker.usda.gov. Create a profile based on your personal information. Write down your username and password somewhere you will find it again! Then, review different parts of the site, and see what kind of information you will need to input to begin assessing your intake. Note: Although most dietary goals are daily, you should keep track of multiple days, as it is your intake over time that counts, not just what you eat on a single day.

PART A. MONITOR YOUR DIETARY INTAKE FOR 3 DAYS DURING ONE WEEK. Track what you eat and drink for at least 3 days (two weekdays and one weekend day that are non- consecutive is preferable). A blank log has been included with this assignment for your use; it is not required that you turn this log in, it’s for your own recording. Be as detailed as you can in both the types of foods, quantity of food, and any accompanying beverages or condiments. The more days you track, the better insight you will have as to what your behaviors are and what influences them; for example, weekend days are often very different than week days. You should not change anything while monitoring, so that you know how you are on a normal, regular basis. Eat, drink, sleep, and be active as usual. The goal is to raise awareness of your behaviors.

Next, go to www.supertracker.usda.gov. Create a profile based on your personal information. Review different parts of the site, and see what kind of information you will need to input to begin assessing your intake. After entering your intake into Supertracker, examine how your average intake compares to food group or nutrient recommendations. After all three days are entered, review the “Food Groups” and “Nutrients” reports. Save at least one of the reports as a PDF to submit with your assignment. The report you save and submit should be the one you use in your evaluation.

PART B. WRITE A REPORT ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR. After monitoring your behavior, write a report about how you plan to change your behavior by thoughtfully answering the questions in each of the sections below. You should keep the main headings of the sections in your final report (i.e. EVALUATE, SETTING A GOAL, PLANNING AND ANTICIPATING).You should devote at least a paragraph to each of sections 1-3. The report should have a minimum of three pages and maximum of six, using these guidelines:

• Although this may be written in first person, please be clear, avoid slang, and use complete sentences.

• Proofread for grammar, spelling, and clarity. • Assignments must be typed using 12 point Times New Roman or 11 point Arial, double

spaced, with 1” margins. • The report portion of the assignment must be submitted as a .doc or .docx file; no PDF,

Pages, or other formats will be accepted for the report portion. • A reference list must be included at the end of your report. The reference list and in-text

citations (not the whole report style) must be documented using APA style (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/).

• Don’t forget to submit your Supertracker dietary intake report (“Food Groups,” “Nutrients,” or “Food Groups and Nutrients”) as PDF(s) when you submit your assignment. Note that you should not submit your dietary monitoring log.

Your report and the Supertracker logs MUST be submitted via Moodle. GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO LEARN MOODLE IN ADVANCE. Neither hard copy nor email submissions will be accepted. For technical help with Moodle submissions, click on the “Get Help” tab at the top of the course Moodle page.

1. EVALUATE. Using your Supertracker reports, Answer the following:

• Overall, what is your assessment of your intake? Compare or contrast your dietary intake with recommendations from Myplate or the Dietary Guidelines. Focus on foods, eating patterns, or major nutrients of interest—you do NOT need to do an exhaustive critique of your diet or all the nutrients.

• Identify two dietary behaviors or choices you currently perform that have a health promoting effect. Identify why these are positive health behaviors, that is what is health promoting about these behaviors or what short-term or long term effects do you experience?. Be specific and cite where you get the information using APA citation format.

• Identify two dietary behaviors or nutrient intake patterns that you currently perform that have a negative or potentially heath damaging effect, that you could change or improve upon. What makes these behaviors detrimental to your health? Explain what influences these behaviors. Be specific and cite where you get the information using APA citation format.

• Reflect on both the POSTIVE and NEGATIVE influences that impact your dietary intake and behaviors. These influences might be your family, friends, work, your commute, stress, personal preferences, time, health, etc. For example, if you identify eating too much fast food as an area of improvement, consider what affects your decision to eat fast food. This does not have to be extensive, but identifying factors that influence behaviors is important when the time comes to change behaviors.

2. SET A GOAL. Identify ONE behavior that you want to change or a new behavior you would like

to implement, related to improvements in dietary behaviors or food choices. Goals for dietary intake must relate to FOODs (we eat foods not nutrients) though the rationale may be nutrient based. You may also make goals related to eating patterns, but again the focus must be on foods (e.g. meals and snacks, beverages). You may not make weight or calorie specific goals.

• Write out your behavioral goal, making sure it is a SMART goal: Specific, Measureable, Action-oriented, Realistic, Time-frame specific. Write out that goal and explain why it meets each criterion In most cases you should be able to write your goal in one single sentence.. Page 17 in your book discusses SMART goals to give you ideas, but note that you should have ONE single goal, not a different goal for each SMART component.

• Explain why you have chosen this goal and relate your goal to a specific nutrition or health outcome. As applicable, relate your to at least one of the dietary recommendations found in MyPlate or the Dietary Guidelines, a nutrient deficiency or a specific health outcome. Cite your information. Another way to think about it is, if you successfully and consistently achieve your goal, what benefits (long term or short term) will you receive?

3. PLAN AND ANTICIPATE. Briefly discuss how you will implement this goal and anticipate any

barriers you might face and identify ways to deal with them. Willpower is not enough and anticipating barriers and thoughtfully planning how you will perform a new behavior are keys to successful behavior changes.

Answer the following in your discussion: • How easy or how hard would it be to implement this goal? Rate your perception on a

scale of 1-10 (1=very easy, 10 =very difficult) and explain why you chose this number. • How confident are you that you can achieve your goal? Rate your perception on a scale

of 1-10 (1 = very confident, 10 = not confident at all) and explain why you chose this number.

• What kinds of planning will you have to do to make sure you can meet this goal? Document and explain several specific strategies you will use to accomplish your goal and how you will add these strategies to your daily routine.

• What are some barriers you might encounter in implementing the goal? (see page 17) What are ways you might work around those barriers?

• To help protect against relapse into “old habits,” consider how you will stay motivated to meet your goal. Motivation could be in the form of a tangible reward (such as buying a new outfit) upon meeting a certain milestone (i.e. consistently meeting your goal each week for a month). Or, it could be through encouraging notes you leave for yourself to remind you to stay on track. You can decide.

Dietary Monitoring Log

DAY 1: Day of Week, Date: ______________________________________________ Food Name (full description & brand

name, if applicable) Quantity Time Occasion

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

DAY 2: Day of Week, Date: ______________________________________________ Food Name (full description & brand

name, if applicable) Quantity Time Occasion

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

DAY 3: Day of Week, Date: ______________________________________________ Food Name (full description & brand

name, if applicable) Quantity Time Occasion

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Go to www.supertracker.usda.gov. Create a profile based on your personal information. Then, review different parts of the site, and see what kind of information you will need to input to begin assessing your physical activity (for example, do a search for “walking” to see how they expect you to record that information). Note: Physical activity goals in Supertracker are weekly; keep this in mind as you monitor your activity.

PART A. MONITOR YOUR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OVER THE COURSE OF A WEEK. Track your physical activity for a week. Monitor both planned exercise or sports as well as every day activities (e.g. walking the dog or to class), keeping in mind intensity, type and duration of your activities. A log has been included with this assignment for your use, however, you do not need to turn it in and may use a different recording log. The more days you track, the better insight you will have as to what your behaviors are and what influences them. For example, weekend days are often very different than week days. You should not change anything while monitoring, so that you know how you are on a normal, regular basis. Eat, drink, sleep, and be active as usual. The goal is to raise awareness of your behaviors. Note: Physical activity goals in Supertracker are weekly; keep this in mind as you monitor your activity and complete your written report below.

Next, go back to www.supertracker.usda.gov, and log into the profile you created earlier. After entering your activity into Supertracker, look at the Physical Activity report and see how your activity levels compare with recommendations. Save the Physical Activity report in Supertracker as a PDF file to submit with your assignment. This report you save and submit will be the one you use in your evaluation. PART B. WRITE A REPORT ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR. After monitoring your behavior, write a report about how you plan to change your behavior by thoughtfully answering the questions in each of the sections below. You should keep the main headings of the sections in your final report (i.e. EVALUATE, SETTING A GOAL, PLANNING AND ANTICIPATING).You should devote at least a paragraph to each of sections 1-3. The report should have a minimum of three pages and maximum of six, using these guidelines:

• Although this may be written in first person, please be clear, avoid slang, and use complete sentences.

• Proofread for grammar, spelling, and clarity. • Assignments must be typed using 12 point Times New Roman or 11 point Arial, double

spaced, with 1” margins. • The report portion of the assignment must be submitted as a .doc or .docx file; no PDF,

Pages, or other formats will be accepted for the report portion. • A reference list must be included at the end of your report. The reference list and in-text

citations (not the whole report style) must be documented using APA style (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/).

• Don’t forget to submit your Supertracker Physical Activity as a PDF when you submit your assignment.

• Your report and Physical Activity log MUST be submitted via Moodle. GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO LEARN MOODLE IN ADVANCE. Neither hard copy nor email submissions will be accepted. For technical help with Moodle submissions, click on the “Get Help” tab at the top of the course Moodle page.

1. EVALUATE. Using your Supertracker report, compare your behaviors with recommendations discussed in class, in the readings, or as identified by Supertracker. Answer the following: • Overall, what is your assessment of your physical activity? Compare your current activity

status with the 2008 recommendations and comment on the frequency, duration, intensity, and activity type.

• Identify two physical activity related behaviors or choices you currently perform that have a positive or health promoting effect. Identify why these are positive health behaviors, that is what is health promoting about these behaviors or what short-term or long-term effects do you experience? Be specific and cite where you get the information using APA citation format.

• Identify two physical activity related behaviors or choices you make (or don’t make) that may have a negative or health damaging effect. Identify why these are potentially detrimental to health and explain what influences these behaviors. Be specific and cite where you get the information using APA citation format.

• Reflect on both the POSTIVE and NEGATIVE influences that impact your physical activity. These influences might be your family, friends, work, your commute, stress, personal preferences, time, health, etc. For example, if you identify running as a positive behavior, consider why you run or make time to run. This does not have to be extensive, but identifying factors that influence behaviors is important when the time comes to change behaviors.

2. SET A GOAL. Identify ONE behavior that you want to change or a new behavior you would

like to implement. Then, set a behavioral goal. Your goal for physical activity should focus on duration, intensity, frequency or type of activity. You may not make weight, body mass or body composition, calorie expenditure, or time related goals. These are outcomes, not behaviors.

• Write out your behavioral goal, making sure it is a SMART goal: Specific, Measureable, Action-oriented, Realistic, Time-frame specific. Write out that goal and explain why it meets each criterion. In most cases you should be able to write your goal in one single sentence. Page 17 in your book discusses SMART goals to give you ideas, but note that you should have ONE single goal, not a different goal for each SMART component.

• Explain why you have chosen this goal and relate your goal to a specific health outcome. As applicable, relate your goal to at least one of the Physical Activity recommendations, an event or outcome (e.g. run a marathon), or a specific health outcome (e.g. lower blood pressure). Cite your information. Another way to think about it is, if you successfully and consistently achieve your goal, what benefits (long term or short term) will you receive?

3. PLAN AND ANTICIPATE. Briefly discuss how you will implement this goal and anticipate

any barriers you might face and identify ways to deal with them. Willpower is not enough and anticipating barriers and thoughtfully planning how you will perform a new behavior are keys to successful behavior changes.

Address the following in your discussion: • How easy or how hard would it be to implement this goal? Rate your perception on a

scale of 1-10 (1=very easy, 10 =very difficult) and explain why you chose this number.

• How confident are you that you can achieve your goal? Rate your perception on a scale of 1-10 (1 = very confident, 10 = not confident at all) and explain why you chose this number.

• What kinds of planning will you have to do to make sure you can meet this goal? Document and explain several specific strategies you will use to accomplish your goal.

• What are some barriers you might encounter in implementing the goal? (see page 17) What are ways you might work around those barriers?

• To help protect against relapse of “old habits”, consider how you will stay motivated to meet your goal. Motivation could be in the form of a tangible reward (such as buying new outfit) upon meeting a certain milestone (i.e. consistently meeting your goal each week for a month). Or, it could be through encouraging notes you leave for yourself to remind you to stay on track. You can decide.

Physical Activity Monitoring Log

NAME: Monitor your physical activity for 7 consecutive days (one week), using the following chart as a guide. Include all activities: walking, organized sports, weight lifting, exercise classes, yoga, etc. If your job requires heavy lifting, a lot of walking, etc, that counts as physical activity!

Day Date Low— Intensity Activity

Minutes Moderate Intensity Activity

Minutes Vigorous Intensity Activity

Minutes

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION: SLEEP

PART A. MONITOR YOUR SLEEP OVER THE COURSE OF A WEEK. Use the sleep diary to monitor your sleeping habits for a week, filling out each of the rows for each day; you must turn in this log as part of your assignment. Identify what promotes good sleep and what prevents you from getting enough sleep. You should not change anything while monitoring, so that you know how you are on a normal, regular basis. Eat, drink, and be active as usual. The goal is to raise awareness of your behaviors that might affect the quantity or quality of your sleep.

PART B. WRITE A REPORT ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR. After monitoring your behavior, write a report about how you plan to change your behavior by thoughtfully answering the questions in each of the sections below. You should keep the main headings of the sections in your final report (i.e. EVALUATE, SETTING A GOAL, PLANNING AND ANTICIPATING).You should devote at least a paragraph to each of sections 1-3. The report should have a minimum of three pages and maximum of six, using these guidelines:

• Although this may be written in first person, please be clear, avoid slang, and use complete sentences.

• Proofread for grammar, spelling, and clarity. • Assignments must be typed using 12 point Times New Roman or 11 point Arial, double

spaced, with 1” margins. • The report portion of the assignment must be submitted as a .doc or .docx file; no PDF,

Pages, or other formats will be accepted for the report portion. • A reference list must be included at the end of your report. The reference list and in-text

citations (not the whole report style) must be documented using APA style (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/).

• Submit a copy of your sleep monitoring log, by typing the information into the Word sleep monitoring log that follows or by taking a clear picture or scanning a legibly written monitoring log.

• Your report and the sleep monitoring log MUST be submitted via Moodle. GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO LEARN MOODLE IN ADVANCE. Neither hard copy nor email submissions will be accepted. For technical help with Moodle submissions, click on the “Get Help” tab at the top of the course Moodle page.

1. EVALUATE. After tracking your sleep habits for a week, look back on your sleep record.

Answer the following: • Overall how would you assess your sleeping habits? Compare your sleep hygiene

behaviors to recommendations. Also consider whether you are getting enough (quality) sleep, based on how much sleep you feel you need to be well-rested and alert.

• Identify two positive or sleep promoting behaviors that you currently perform. How do these behaviors promote better sleep? Be specific and cite where you get the information using APA citation format.

• Identify two negative or sleep-detracting behaviors you perform (or don’t perform) that may have a negative effect on your sleep. Identify why these are potentially detrimental to health and explain what influences these behaviors.

• What influences your sleep habits and behaviors? These influences might be your family, friends, work, your commute, stress, personal preferences, food and beverage choices, time, health, etc. Briefly explain how these influences affect your sleep. For instance, if you wake up multiple times in the night, you may (upon reflection) realize your pet is the root cause.

2. SET A GOAL. Identify ONE behavior you want to change or a new behavior you would like

to implement, related to improvements in sleep. Then, set a behavioral goal. Your goal might relate to getting to bed/waking up at specific times, promoting quality of sleep, or sleep consistency. Please keep in mind that hours of sleep is an outcome, not a behavior in this context. If you want to sleep 7 hours, what behavior will promote sleeping that long?

• Write out your behavioral goal, making sure it is a SMART goal: Specific, Measureable,

Action-oriented, Realistic, Time-frame specific. Explain why the goal you have chosen is a SMART goal. In most cases you should be able to write your goal in one single sentence. Write out that goal and explain why it meets each criterion. Page 17 in your book discusses SMART goals to give you ideas, but note that you should have ONE single goal, not a different goal for each SMART component.

• Explain why you have chosen this goal and relate your goal to a specific sleep or health outcome. As applicable, relate your goal to at least one of the sleep hygiene recommendations.

• How will meeting this goal help your health in a broader context? That is, if you successfully and consistently achieve your goal, what health benefits (long term or short term) will you receive? Cite your information

4. PLAN AND ANTICIPATE. Briefly discuss how you will implement this goal and anticipate

any barriers you might face and identify ways to deal with them. Willpower is not enough and anticipating barriers and thoughtfully planning how you will perform a new behavior are keys to successful behavior changes.

Address the following in your discussion: • How easy or how hard would it be to implement this goal? Rate your perception on a

scale of 1-10 (1=very easy, 10=very difficult) and explain why you chose this number. • How confident are you that you can achieve your goal? Rate your perception on a scale

of 1-10 (1=very confident, 10=not confident at all) and explain why you chose this number.

• What kinds of planning will you have to do to make sure you can meet this goal? Document and explain several specific strategies you will use to accomplish your goal.

• What are some barriers you might encounter in implementing the goal? (see page 17) What are ways you might work around those barriers?

• To help protect against relapse, consider how you will stay motivated to meet your goal. Motivation could be in the form of a tangible reward (such as buying new outfit) upon meeting a certain milestone (i.e. consistently meeting your goal each week for a month). Or, it could be through encouraging notes you leave for yourself to remind you to stay on track. You can decide. Or you may find you feel better upon getting more rest, which motivates you to continue!

Sleep Monitoring Log Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Notes Day of the week

Bed time

Time to fall asleep

Wake Time

Awakenings (how many, how long)

Total sleep time

Feeling at waking

Naps (how many, how long)

*Use the blank rows (add more as needed) to track other pertinent information: Evening activities, evening meals, caffeine intake, alcohol, etc. Use the notes section to write down anything you think might have affected your sleep for that day (e.g. a fire alarm went off at 2am, and you couldn’t get back to sleep

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