Healthier Environment, Healthier Lifestyle

3 changes that worked for me and can work for you too!

Katherine Chen / @kchen247

What if you could live healthier just by making 3

small changes to your environment?

Katherine Chen / @kchen247

It’s possible!

Here’s what I did.

Katherine Chen / @kchen247

Carry a small container of daily vitamins in my bag

Change #1

Why don’t people take vitamins?

∗ Vitamins are unpleasant to take without food∗ Weird coating = weird taste

∗ Vitamins require water to swallow∗ Often either the water or a

glass to drink the water from is missing

∗ The benefit of taking vitamins daily is intangible in the short-term∗ When we forget, it doesn’t

feel like a big deal

A potential solution

∗ Hypothesis: ∗ If I carry around a few

vitamins in my bag AND see or think of them during a meal time, I will take them.

My vitamin container + food/water to take them with

Result: success!

∗ Over five days, I took vitamins 4 out of 5 times.

∗ There were no blockers to taking the vitamins because I have already formed a health behavior of drinking one glass of water per meal.

∗ The one day I didn’t take them, I lacked a trigger—I didn’t see the pill container in my bag.

Leave an exercise mat rolled out on the floor

Change #2

Why don’t people work out more often?

∗ Personally, I am unwilling to invest the time to change into gym clothes, go to the gym, work out, come back, and shower.

∗ My healthier roommate always tells me to do strength training at home, but…

∗ Low motivation to do floor exercises:∗ Pushups are painful∗ Sit-ups are painful∗ The floor is painful∗ The floor is dirty

∗ What’s the point?∗ Does doing a few each day

actually make a difference?∗ Health professionals do say that

doing a few sets of pushups or sit-ups each day strengthens the core over time

A potential solution

∗ Hypothesis: ∗ Laying out an exercise

mat on the floor of my room will be a call to action and make floor exercises more comfortable. I will be more likely to do them during breaks from work or when bored.

Result: semi-success

∗ Semi-success for me. ∗ Pushups were more

comfortable and I thought about doing them more often, but I still found it hard to get down on the ground and actually do them.

∗ I realized my blocker was less time constraint and more a lack of general motivation to put myself through physical pain.

∗ I would also be less willing to exercise at the risk of being sweaty for my next class/meeting. (Solution: do sets before showering.)

Result: semi-success

∗ Side effect on healthier roommate:∗ He saw the mat on the floor

and went ahead and did his exercise set on it.

Carry around apples in my backpack. Stop carrying

around cookies.

Change #3

Why don’t people eat healthier snacks?

∗ Healthier snacks are less accessible∗ Ex. Vending machines

∗ Healthier snacks are often more expensive∗ Ex. Kashi granola bars,

organic potato chips∗ Healthier snacks are

less tasty…?

A potential solution

∗ Hypothesis: If I stop carrying around cookies, fake-healthy energy bars, and chocolate, and start carrying around apples in my backpack, I’ll be more likely to eat an apple when I’m hungry.

Results: success!

∗ Whenever I wanted a snack, I didn’t buy an unhealthy one because I had one already.∗ If I didn’t want to eat the

apple, I would still feel bad about not eating it and not snack at all.

∗ Side effect on problem set partner:∗ Because I carried around so

many (good weight-lifting!), I had the opportunity to offer other people apples if they expressed hunger / wanting to go get late-night snacks. Hungry study partner decided to eat one of

my apples instead of going to Jack in the Box

Think of a healthy habit or goal.

Now you try:

How can you change your environment to set yourself

up for success?

Now you try:

If it’s to drink more water, start carrying around a water bottle.

If it’s to floss, put the floss near your toothbrush.

If it’s to smile more often, put a smiley sticker on your phone.

Questions? Comments? Need help translating a goal to a

change?

Leave them below!

Katherine Chen / @kchen247