Joel Lewinsohn
Instructor: Brenda McKinney
Course #:ED549G
Course name: Happiness Diet
Date: 6/8/2014
Level: 500
Assignment #12
Assignment #12: (Required for 400 and 500 Level) Check out the Happy Meal Plans: Two Weeks of Feel Good Menus. Keep a journal for two weeks, every meal if possible, as many snacks as possible. Then reflect on what you have learned by combining the research with your journal activity. The reflection will be written after you have kept the journal for the two weeks. Send to instructor: bbbrain@comcast.net. Subject line to read ʻHappinessʼ #12.
Reflection What I discovered from this process is that I have been slowly moving towards the Happiness Diet on my own, but was still in need of some refining on my food choices. We had been moving away from MSG, fructose, and nitrates in our foods for a long time, but had not known about the process for meats and vegetables, or soy for that matter. As I reviewed my journal, I saw numerous places where I was doing well, but if I had chosen a grain fed beef alternative or a locally grown fruit or vegetable I would have been even better off. After this class, my family and I will be more diligent about the choices we make. I also have to say that I like the taste of these more natural products better. One area of weakness for me is that I’m really more of a protein guy, I don’t eat enough vegetables. I love beets, garlic, peppers, but I just don’t automatically plan my meals around these foods, I plan it around the meat choice. This is one area that I am going to continue to work on improving. I do like sugar, and tend to pick more sugary choices in the evening. We found a greek yogurt with honey that is fantastic and does not contain fructose, so I am trying to switch over to that
instead of ice cream. I’ve never been much of a chip eater, and as much as I would like to eat them, I haven’t developed a taste for kale chips, but I am determined to keep experimenting with this food to come up with recipes that I like kale in. Overall, tracking my food choices has made me feel that I am on the right track, and with a little tweaking, I will improve my overall health, mood, and brain power. I am excited for this change and look forward to the results.