Project #1: Prescription Paper

Reflecting on my current health and wellness, I would say that it is well. Though, there

are aspects that I can work on and improve. Last year, I used to be very active. By this, I mean I

used to go to the gym 4-5 days a week for the past 2 years. I used to meal prep every week and

track my consumption of protein, carbs, calories, etc. Towards the end of last year, I started

slacking on my fitness because I was so caught up with school and work. I felt as though I didn’t

have enough time. Ever since then to now, I haven’t been going to the gym as much as I want to,

and I want to try and change that. My diet is not as good as it was before, but I still have a

healthy diet. I love vegetables and fruits, so I do tend to eat a lot of them. I also try to eat a lot of

protein in my diet. Fast food is always so tempting for me because of how convenient it is, but I

try to limit my intake of fast food. When I was younger, I used to have a very unhealthy diet. I

used to drink a lot of soda and juice, eat lots of junk food, and never exercise. Now, I don’t even

drink soda (I drink water everywhere I go), I limit my junk food intake, and I do exercise. Within

the next few months, I want to start going back to my old ways (meal prepping, going to the

gym, tracking my food intake).

As I mentioned above, I want to start going back into my old habits from last year. To

improve my health, I want to start meal prepping again. I feel like I never have food around my

house and I’m sometimes too lazy to cook a meal. If I meal prep, I won’t have to worry about

making a meal since it is already made. Meal prepping will also reduce my urge to spend money

on fast food. I also want to start going back to the gym. I do go to the gym but only like once or

twice a week. I used to go 4-5 days a week for about 2 hours per session. Exercise is something

that is important to me and I need to take time out of the week to go back to the gym. I do
exercise at school because I play volleyball 3 times a week, but I would rather weight lift to get

my form of exercise in.

Sustaining a healthy lifestyle is important for many reasons. Having good health revolves

around having a healthy lifestyle. “Combined with physical activity, your diet can help you to

reach and maintain a healthy weight, reduce your risk of chronic diseases (like heart disease and

cancer), and promote your overall health” (HHS.gov). A healthy diet directly correlates to having

a healthy body. A healthy diet can help maintain a healthy weight (reduces risk of obesity). If

one does not have a healthy diet, the person becomes more susceptible to health risks like heart

failure, diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, and so much more (Donatelle 294). Exercise

is also important because it helps you maintain a healthy weight and it has many benefits like

reducing stress. A positive mindset is another factor that helps maintain a healthy lifestyle. It

helps you get through life, make friends, and so much more.

First goal I have, which I mentioned above, is to eat healthier. I believe I can achieve this

by meal prepping. I used to meal prep two meals (a lunch and a dinner) and buy healthy snacks

for in between meals. I also have to start eating breakfast. I never eat breakfast, even though it’s

the most important meal of the day. I should eat something, even if it’s something small like a

granola bar or fruit, it will still give me the energy I need to start the day. Exercise is my other

goal to improve my healthy lifestyle. I want to start gradually going back to the gym more.

Lately, I’ve been too lazy to go to the gym. I need to make time in the day throughout the week

to motivate myself to go to the gym. I usually have certain days that works out different parts of

my body (leg day, arms, back, cardio). Since I have 4 different “workouts,” I want to go to the

gym at least 4 days a week to workout those parts of my body. Because I do play volleyball at

school 3 times a week, I can limit my cardio days (even though volleyball does not require a lot
of running) because I do sweat a lot when I play. At the gym, I like to weight train more that

cardio. I want to gain more muscle, so I do tend to lift heavier to challenge myself even more.

My last goal is to start tracking my intake of proteins, carbs, calories, etc. I used to use an app on

my phone that tracked my daily intake of each thing I ate. I had a goal of calories that I had to hit

every day. Meal prepping helped me with this goal because I tracked how many calories, how

much protein, and fats, etc were in each of my meals that I prepped. My goal before was to gain

weight (a caloric surplus) so I ate more than I usually do. The reason why I did that was so I can

turn the fat that I gained into muscle. So I would bulk (caloric surplus) and then cut (caloric

deficit).

In conclusion, there are many aspects that contribute to my overall healthy lifestyle.

Though I think I am pretty healthy, I still have many ways to improve my health even more. I

have come a long way (health/diet wise) from when I was younger. I do want to change my

lifestyle up a bit, so I developed 3 goals that I will try to reach. My first goal is that I want to

start to meal prep again. Meal prepping is a great way to save money and eat healthy. I am

always tempted to spend money everyday on fast food places because of the convenience of it. I

also want to start going back to the gym to improve my fitness and appearance of my body.

Weight training is one of my favorite things to do, but I have not had the time the past few

months. Lastly, I want to track my intake of calories, proteins, fats, etc. Maintaining a healthy

lifestyle has many contributions. Diet and exercise are the two main factors that contribute to a

healthy lifestyle. Having a healthy diet can reduce your risks of having chronic illnesses and

diseases when they get older. Exercise can also help reduce stress and decrease the chances of

obesity and chronic illness. I hope that I can reach these goals by the end of the semester.
 Works Cited

Donatelle, R. J. (2008). Health: The basics. Toronto: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.

Healthy Eating. (2019, March 13). Retrieved March 17, 2019, from

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/healthy-eating.htm/
HHS Office, & Council on Sports. (2017, January 26). Importance of Good Nutrition. Retrieved

March 24, 2019, from

https://www.hhs.gov/fitness/eat-healthy/importance-of-good-nutrition/index.html