Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update


My SMART Goal
   "I will drink 3 or less cups of a caffeinated beverage (8 oz cups) each week for the next 10 weeks."
 BUT...I have decided to change my SMART goal that will be a little easier to accomplish, btu still get the point across.
"Each week, I will drink at least 2 less cups of caffeine (8 oz) than the prior week."
So think of it this way.  The 1st week, I drank 21 cups.  Last week, 19. This week, I hope to drink 17 or less.  By the end of the class, I should be down to less than a cup a day.

Successes and Challenges
So 2 weeks ago, I drank 21 cups.  This past week(Monday to Sunday) I drank 19 cups. So its an improvement. I didn't have any tea, or any substitute for that matter, I just forced myself not to drink as much.  Not the best tactic, but it some-what worked.

Feelings
Mild happiness.  I improved, but at this point, it is just a minor improvement.  I can do better.

What I Learned
Again, it's going to be hell trying to quit this.  But I need to find a good substitute if I want to quit it successfully.  My best bet is finding a tea that tastes good. 

Plans For Next Week
Go to the grocery store and find a substitute.  Maybe look online as well to see what kind of options are out there.

Also, I blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change:Week 3 Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic With Amy.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 2: Weekly Update



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 My SMART Goal
My smart goal for this project is...
   "I will drink 3 or less cups of a caffeinated beverage (8 oz cups) each week for the next 10 weeks."
That ain't happening just yet.

Successes and Challenges
Wellthe main challenge is basically the fact that I am addicted.  Can't just quit that easily.  Last week, I took note of how many cups of caffeine I had throughout the week.  In 7 days, I had 21 cups of coffee.  My goal is to have less than 3 per week.  So this could be rough.

Monday - 2 cups.  Needed some coffee to help me study
Tuesday - 2 cups. I was just thirsty I guess
Wednesday - 0 cups!  What up! Don't know how I did it, but at the end of the day I was struggling to move.

Feelings
Well, these past few days have been ok.  I don't expect to drop down to less than a cup of caffeine a day just yet.  So 4 cups in 3 days is good for right now.

What I Learned
It will be pretty hard to quit caffeine. But I have had some tea in the morning, and it has been doing an ok job at waking me up in the morning.

Plans For Next Week
Tea Tea Tea. Also, maybe trying some Orange Juice in the morning.  Someone tole me to try that, so I might give it a go.

Also, I blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change:Week 2 Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic With Amy.

 

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Eco-Chic Lifestlye Change Week 1: My SMART Goal




MY SMART GOAL

Hey there everybody.  My SMART goal is 'I will drink 3 or less cups of a caffeinated beverage (8 oz cups) each week for the next 10 weeks.'  This....will be tough for me, seeing as how I'm addicted and all.

HOW IS THIS CHANGE ECO-CHIC?

This might not seem like an Eco-friendly change at first, but it really is.

• By limiting myself to 3 cups of that delicious coffee a week, I will be using less cups at the Coffee Shop on campus, which will create less waste.
• I will be buying less bulk coffee from the grocery store, and less creamer, which also will create less waste in the end.
• I will be using less water at my house, seeing as how I will have to make less coffee in my coffee maker at my house.  So, using less water = good.
• Also, I will be buying less pop.  So I won't be wasting materials that are used to manufacture and distribute.

WHY IS THIS BEHAVIOR IMPORTANT TO ME?

This is important to me for a couple of reason.

1) My Health.  I am addicted to caffeine, I can admit that. Its an awful, but delicious problem at the same time. If I go a couple days without caffeine in my system, I begin to get sick, and I just all around can't function very well.  So I do not plan on eliminating it entirely just yet.  But by the end of the semester, I should be un-addicted.

Something I remember from taking Drug-Ed last year, was some of the side-effects of caffeine usage.  The main one I am concerned with is Memory Loss.  I have a hard time remembering 4 things I need to get at the grocery store without the use of a list.  So simply, me getting off of caffeine should ultimately lead to me having better memory.

2) Money - Say I buy a 12 pack of Mountain Dew a week, on top of having 2 cups of coffee on campus each week.  So the 12 pack costs 4 bucks about.  Same with 2 cups of coffee a week(at $2 a piece).  So that's $8 dollars a week on caffeine.  And honestly, that's taking it a little light. So $8 X 52 Weeks = $416. Oh how I would love to have that money in my pocket instead of using it to buy unhealthy drinks.

So there it is.  I hope to have good weekly reports for everyone!

Steve

Also, I blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 1 Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Welcome to Steve's Enviro-Blog!

Hey everybody. My name is Steve, and I am the Teaching Assistant for Dr. Versnik-Nowak's Environmental Health class.

There are 6 possible types of posts on my blog. They include:
  1. Advocacy Project
  2. Eye Openers
  3. Reflections
  4. Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change
  5. Read 'n' Seed
  6. Share and Voice
If you notice at the bottom of this post, the categories will be listed as labels. This post is labeled with all six kinds of posts. You will also see the number of each kind of post in my Labels Gadget in the sidebar. All post titles from now on will begin with one of the categories above.

The members of my web group are:
  1. Steve@Steves Enviro-Blog
  2. Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy
You can subscribe to my blog by clicking the subscribe gadget in the gadget column. You can also follow my blog by clicking "Follow this Blog" in the gadget column. You can see my complete profile and all the blogs I am following by clicking on "See Complete Profile."

Blogged for the Welcome Linky Party hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy