UNIT 7 ACTIVITY

Creating a Personal Health Plan

Follow these instructions to develop a personal health plan.

Using an application such as Microsoft Word, create your own chart like the one below rating your health habits in the areas listed on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 the highest). If you have any questions consult with your teacher.

Set one goal for improving each area. If you already are quite high in an area, you goal can be to maintain your high score. Remember, goals work best when they are specific and measurable, so “I will eat five servings of vegetables a day” is much better than something vague like “I will eat healthier.”

TABLE 1 Personal health plan chart

While assessing your health, consider personal strengths. Create a second chart like the one below detailing your personal strengths and how they might help you achieve your goals. For example: If you are detail oriented, keeping a food or exercise journal would work well.

TABLE 2 Personal strengths and health chart

Once you have completed both charts, choose three goals to make part of your overall health plan. Start with the area that needs the most work, meaning the area with the lowest score.

Now that you have identified the goals, think of one obstacle to achieving it and explain how you will overcome whatever might prevent you from accomplishing it. For example: If finding time to exercise is a problem, getting up half an hour earlier might be a way to overcome that obstacle.

Explain what a step toward success would look like. Remember, setting realistic expectations is an important part of health. Take the hardest goal and break it into smaller goals. Even if your goal is to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables, there are likely to be days when you miss the mark. In this case, success might be meeting this goal four days a week for a few weeks while you build better eating habits. Or if you goal is to run a 5K, walking 30 to 40 minutes a day for the first few weeks would be a solid step on the road to this goal.

One way to build good habits is to reward yourself along the way. For example: If you exercise for a week, give yourself a treat, such as an evening with a friend or a trip to the movies. Then plan another reward if you keep it up for two weeks. Stretching out the time between rewards as you achieve your goals can help build good habits. Be sure to include some rewards in your plan.

One of the keys to success is taking one goal at a time. If you decide to go for all three at once, you will likely fail. Changing habits takes time, and setting goals and strategizing about accomplishing them is an important first step toward reaching them. When you have made one goal part of your healthy habits, you can work on the next goal in your health plan.

TABLE 3 Grading rubric