Assignment

As you read about population health this week I'd like you to consider the role and responsibility that individuals should have in relation to their own health. In other words, the government, health care providers, etc. can only do so much to provide and promote health and it is incumbent upon the individuals within the population to supplement those efforts by making healthier decisions and taking care of themselves.

For this discussion keep a two-day journal to track the things you do each day which contribute to being healthy and things you do that are not so healthy and tell us what you've learned. Are there any tools you use to help you make healthy choices? For example, yesterday morning I had a slightly unhealthy breakfast with a little too much bacon and I also chased my dinner with a chocolate/caramel covered apple (I'm not a strong man!). However, I did have a relatively healthy lunch (to which I walked) consisting of salad and soup and healthy salmon for dinner. I found time to get outside for a run and I also got 8+ hours of sleep last night. All in all, not too bad in terms of a healthy/unhealthy balance for the day but some days are definitely better than others! I feel like I'm doing well with the exercise routine but I definitely need to make better choices when I eat (both what I'm eating and portion control). I could also stand to reduce the beer intake. I like to use either my fitbit or Polar activity tracker to keep track of how active I've been during any given day.