RUNNING HEAD: Diary Assignment 1

Diary Assignment
Teaching Strategies & Interventions
By: Felicity Phillips
For: Jason Carter
February 1, 2014
DIARY ASSIGNMENT 2

JANUARY 24, 2014
INTRODUCTION
The topic that I chose for my baseline recording intervention is to maintain a healthier
lifestyle. As someone with Congenital Heart Disease, I do try to maintain the healthiest lifestyle
possible. After my last open heart surgery in 2010, I was walking 10 km a day and eating healthy.
Unfortunately, what it turned into was a borderline eating disorder. I would eat one banana, one
granola bar and whatever my parents would eat for dinner. In 2011, I was diagnosed with Celiac
disease; in 2013 I was diagnosed as lactose intolerant. Once I started my first time in college, I
stopped exercising like I used to and started to learn to eat gluten free. I would indulge in
Wendys salads almost daily, eat high calorie gluten free toast that I didnt even like and then eat
a modified version of whatever my parents were eating. Since then, I have learned to cook for
myself but I still often struggle with eating healthy and gluten and lactose free. I often need to
exercise more because it will improve my heart health and my mental wellbeing.

MY INTERVENTION PLAN
EXERCISE MORE
My primary diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease is transposition of the great arteries.
My cardiologist has given me permission to exercise as much as I would like to or chose to.
Research shows that with the new technological advances in surgical procedures, adults with
transposition of the great arteries should not have any physical exercise limitations (LeMura &
Duvillard, 2003). For me, I believe that self-paced exercise is the best intervention strategy for
exercising (Williams, 2008). Self-paced exercise allows the individual to control their exercise;
research shows this form of exercise provides more pleasure than other forms (Williams, 2008).
As someone who struggles with keeping up with weight loss as a result of being overweight and
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having heart disease, I believe that self-paced exercise will be the most beneficial to me. If I do
self-paced exercise, I feel like I wont fail. I will also be completing these exercise at home.
My psychologist showed me breathing techniques to help me through difficult times.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed during the process, I will be completing guided imagery to ensure
that I maximize the intervention plan to the best of my abilities.

EAT HEALTHY
Whenever I eat unhealthy, I consistently find myself feeling down about it and wanting to
give up. In an article I found on Psychology Today, a psychologist who specializes in eating
patterns developed a list of things to say to yourself that inspire healthy eating. Some things that
this woman encourages include: its a progress, each day is a new day, keep trying and not
referring to food as good or bad (Albers, 2013).
I have been struggling with finding the appropriate intervention technique for my health
as I have to maintain a gluten and lactose free diet. Therefore, I have chosen to meal plan as my
intervention technique. I will also be updating my food diary on the website myfitnesspal.com to
ensure I eat enough calories, fat, protein and fibre daily.
MY PEER
The peer that I have chosen to be my primary person to check in is my childhood best
friend, Emily. In Greys Anatomy when Christina says that Meredith is her person; thats how
Emily is to me. Emily goes to University of Waterloo but we still manage to find time to talk to
each other almost every day and we get together every time she comes home from school.
Emily always works her hardest to keep me sane and promote my personal wellbeing.
The night before my last open heart surgery, everyone was wishing me good luck and telling me
everything would be fine when they didnt clue in that I was freaking out about it. The next thing
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I knew, Emily told me that she could tell through my texts that something was off and was at my
house. She took me out for ice cream because she knew that my anxiety was extremely high, and
I needed to take my mind off of it. The fact that she did that when nobody else seemed to worry
about my own mental health and wellbeing right before open heart surgery proved to me that she
is definitely one of the greatest friends someone could ask for.
Emily sent me a text message this morning and this evening to ensure that I ate healthy
and did not get fast food or a latte at Starbucks.

TODAYS EATING HEALTHY & EXERCISE
Unfortunately, I did not find the time to exercise today. For eating healthy, I had a banana and a
handful of walnuts for breakfast. For lunch, I had 1 cup of homemade potato bacon soup. For
dinner, I had cup of brown rice and 1 package of Green Giant California vegetables.
Tomorrow I plan on working out.




DIARY ASSIGNMENT 5

JANUARY 25, 2014
EXERCISING
Today, I have managed to eat healthy and exercise! I did my morning at home workout,
and although it didnt work out fully as planned, I managed to get a good amount of fitness in. I
forgot to take my Beta Blocker this morning, and as a result, my heart rate got extremely high
while trying to do cardio. Therefore, I stuck to strength training. My parents have invested into
multiple things for personal fitness as my dad has health problems and cannot attend a gym. At
my house, we have an exercise bike, a treadmill, a Bowflex machine, dumbbells, a kettlebell,
yoga equipment and exercise videos.
Yesterday, I chose self-paced exercises. I really felt as if I was successful today simply
because I was able to keep up at my own pace. While attempting to do cardio, I found myself
struggling to keep a good heart rate that was safe; therefore, I stopped doing cardio today. If I
chose an intervention where I kept going, I believe that it would be unsafe and I would be very
unhappy. My workout day consisted of:
Kettlebell exercises 100 around the body passes, 50 two-handed front swings,
50 side lunges (25 each side)
Bowflex 200 leg extensions, 50 pull downs
To some people, this may not seem like a lot of exercising but I believe that this is a good start
for my health.
EATING HEALTHY
Today, I woke up and had a protein shake for breakfast. According to myfitnesspal.com,
my shake consisted of 426 calories, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of fat, 27 grams of
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protein and 4 grams of fiber. To me, this is a good breakfast and will help in developing a
healthier lifestyle. For lunch, I had 20 sweet potato fries, 2 tablespoons of chipotle mango mayo
(made with light Miracle Whip). I am also going to have a pear with my lunch. My lunch
consisted of 272 calories, 49 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of fat, 2 grams of protein and 9
grams of fiber. For dinner, I had cabbage roll casserole which is made with cabbage, extra lean
ground beef, rice and tomato sauce. My dinner consisted of 432 calories, 46 grams of
carbohydrates, 15 grams of fat, 29 games of protein and 7 grams of fiber.
Overall, I think that I have eaten extremely healthy today, with a lot of delicious options.
As I talked about yesterday, I used to go to Wendys almost every day and eat a salad. I usually
had the Baja salad. I am bored of salad, and most people believe that you need to rely on salad to
lose weight. Today has definitely showed me that it is extremely possible to eat healthy and eat
good food.
MY PEER CHECK-IN
Emily sent me a text this morning to encourage me to workout when I woke up. She also
sent me a text in the afternoon to ensure that I did workout to find out what I did. She also sent
me a motivational quotes by one of my favourite celebrity fitness gurus, Jillian Michaels that she
once posted on Facebook. You're much more likely to reach your goals if they're your goals,
speaking to your desires, rather than the desires of outside influences. Goals that are meaningful
to you will keep you inspired and driven towards success (Michaels, n.d.).
I found this was an extremely nice message to receive. Whenever she texts me through
this process, I find that it feels super nice to know that someone cares enough about me to take
time to check in. Emily is coming home next week from school, and shes excited to find out
how my process is going in person.
DIARY ASSIGNMENT 7

JANUARY 26, 2014
EATING HEALTHY!
Happy meal prep Sunday to myself! This morning, I woke up at 7:00 and went grocery
shopping with my mom. I got mainly produce, a container of coconut almond milk, a bag of rice
and meat. I came home, and prepared my lunches and dinner for the week. I made a broccoli and
flank steak stir fry, brown rice, raw cauliflower rice, quinoa spaghetti, a watermelon and
cantaloupe fruit salad and carrot sticks (well my mom made them). I also bought preservative-
free pepperoni sticks, which are one of my absolute favourite snacks.
Today at church it was my ministers birthday, so I did end up eating a gluten and dairy
filled cake. I have ate healthy the rest of the day, though. For breakfast I had an apple dipped in
peanut butter. My breakfast had 140 calories, 8 grams of fat, 18 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams
of protein and 4 grams of fiber. For lunch I had broccoli, one tablespoon of peanut butter and a
gluten free vegan protein bar. My lunch had 405 calories, 29 grams of fat, 25 grams of
carbohydrates, 17 grams of protein and 4.5 grams of fiber. For dinner, I had a chicken breast
with a homemade rub made of spices, 1 tablespoon of VH Sweet and Sour Sauce, 3 cups of
cooked carrots and one baked potato with 1 slice of soy cheese. My dinner had 562 calories, 8.5
grams of fat, 69 grams of carbohydrates, 53 grams of protein and 12 grams of fiber. All of my
measurements today were done on myfitnesspal.com.
Tomorrow, I believe will be a much better day as I will not be indulging in cake
for my ministers birthday.

DIARY ASSIGNMENT 8

EXERCISING
Tonight was the Grammy Awards. I didnt want to sit and watch the Grammys by myself
because I knew that I would find a bag of chips to indulge in, like I normally do during award
shows. Instead, I watched the red carpet show from my exercise bike, as well as the first half
hour. Then I completed an exercise with my kettle bell, then did some strength training with my
Bowflex. Overall, I think I did a pretty good workout today.
PEER CHECK-IN
Today, Emily was only able to check in one on me once and that was before I even woke
up. My response was not the politest because she woke me up at 9:00 on a Sunday morning!
When I am working with clients, I will definitely try to avoid waking them up to complete an
activity in the baseline recording chart. After this mornings incident, I believe that although
timing may be convenient for the staff but not for the client. Therefore, I have learned to respect
my clients wishes as it may cause more behaviours for the day.


DIARY ASSIGNMENT 9

JANUARY 27, 2014
EXERCISING
Today, I did not attend class due to the weather. In addition, I went to the doctors today
and was diagnosed with Croup. This means that I need to take extra care for exercising to avoid
making myself more ill. Today, I did ride on the exercise bike for 20 minutes, and did about 20
minutes of strength training with my Bowflex. I also did 15 minutes of yoga. I found myself
extremely short of breath on the exercise bike, and related it to the unplowed roads that I drove
home in. At that point, I got off the exercise bike, sat on a chair for 10-15 minutes and completed
guided imagery of somewhere more relaxing. Once my heart rate dropped and the anxiety went
away, I returned to exercising. Guided imagery is one of the few breathing techniques that makes
me calm. This was definitely a self-paced exercise routine, as if it someone was pushing me I
would not have been able to stop for guided imagery. Tomorrow, I hope to be able to work out
more and not face any difficulties.
EAT HEALTHY
I ate pretty healthy today. As I said when discussing my exercising, I went to the doctors
this morning. As I was in a rush, I had a quick smoothie and 2 buckwheat pancakes with 1
tablespoon of peanut butter between them. For breakfast I had 601 calories, 19 grams of fat, 101
grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fiber. For lunch, I had 3 ounces of
leftover chicken and cup of brown rice. For lunch, I had 571 calories, 8 grams of fat, 70 grams
of carbohydrates, 51.4 grams of protein and 4 grams of fiber. My dads a chef; for dinner he
wanted to show my mom and me that he finally learned how to flip an omelet so I had an omelet
DIARY ASSIGNMENT 10

with soy cheese and peppers with salsa on top. I did not track how many calories were in my
dinner.
Reflecting back on today, I believe that I could have made wiser choices, instead of
eating 600 calories in one sitting. I believe that its better than the stuff I used to eat for breakfast
this time last year, which would be homemade hash browns, eggs and bacon or just a hot
chocolate and smoothie.
PEER CHECK-IN
Emily returned to checking in twice today. Actually, she checked in about ten times after
finding out that I had Croup. Thinking back to it though, its so nice to know that someone cares.
Although yesterday I was a little angry that she woke me up early, I was grateful for her
checking in today again. Yesterday, I discussed how I thought it may throw a clients day off if
someone was to wake them up to just check in on their behaviours and baseline recording. Today,
I was asked if I wanted to talk about it when I was ready; so I started texting Emily right before I
left for my doctors appointment. I still stick to that belief and will remember that as something
to avoid when I complete my residential placement and when working in the field.
I do think that my anger yesterday with Emily did not interrupt our relationship; which is
how the staff should react when the client when they have a bad day.


DIARY ASSIGNMENT 11

JANUARY 28, 2014
EATING HEALTHY
Today, I ate healthy except for dinner. For breakfast, I had a smoothie with 1 banana, 1
cup of coconut almond milk, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon of sweet coconut.
My breakfast had 250 calories, 47 grams of carbohydrates, 8 grams of fat, 4 grams of protein and
5 grams of fiber. For lunch, I had some of my steak and broccoli stir fry I made on Sunday, fruit
salad and carrot sticks. My lunch had 371 calories, 37 grams of carbohydrates, 10 grams of fat,
35 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. For dinner, I was at home with my parents so I had 2
hamburger patties and 20 sweet potato fries. I also had 2 tablespoons of chipotle mayo dip, made
with 2 tablespoons of Miracle Whip. My dinner had 520 calories, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 14
grams of fat, 45 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber.
I feel like my dinner may have been high in calories, but overall my day was pretty
healthy. Myfitnesspal.com states that I ate 1, 241 calories and burned 683. I ate over my goal for
protein, but I dont think too much protein is bad. My dad had the Slimband surgery in 2011, and
his dietician from the company told him that every meal should be extremely high in protein over
everything else. My dad has lost over 100 pounds at this point, so this high protein diet is helping
him.
EXERCISING
Today, I rode the exercise for 45 minutes, then used the kettle bell and Bowflex. Heres what I
did for exercising:
Kettle bell 150 around the body passes, 50 two-arm front swings, 100 side lunges (50
each side)
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Bowflex 70 wide arm pull lat downs, 50 narrow shoulder lat pull downs, 25 leg
extensions, 25 deadlifts, 50 arm curls (each sides)
After todays workout, I am hurting but in a good way. I cant wait until I start to see
progress from the changes in my life. I have not lost any weight yet, but my mom has
consistently reminded me that the scales dont matter; how I look and feel does.
PEER CHECK IN
Today, Emily did her usual two times a day check in. She sent me a quote that she knows
that I love and she felt that it had to do with situations that I am in terms of my life in general and
this lifestyle adjustment. It said:
Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You figure for it, strive for it, insist
upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to
participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your blessings. And once you have
achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must
make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat
on top of it. (Gilbert, 2006, p. 279)

I feel as if this quote suits the situations that Im in extremely well. Anyone who has
known me since I was younger know that I absolutely love quotes to describe my life. I think
Emily was right on target with this quote. The second time that Emily checked in was closer to
bedtime to make sure that I had actually worked out. I am so grateful to have someone have the
ability to check in on me regularly. I have been discussing with Ann where Id like to do my
placements. At this point, I have chosen to complete my first placement in dual diagnosis and my
second placement in neurodevelopment. The things that I have learned about myself and how
people likely feel in certain situations will definitely help me with baseline recording and
working through the ABCs with the clients whom I work with.


DIARY ASSIGNMENT 13

Event Recording Sheet
(Used to record all instances of a specific, discrete behavior during a time period)

INSTRUCTIONS: TALLY EACH OCCURRENCE OF THE BEHAVIOR IN THE BOXES.

STUDENT: ________________ DATE: _______ TIME (START): _________ TIME (END): _______

BEHAVIOR:
________________________________________________________________

CONTEXT/ACTIVITY (EX. MATH CLASS OR FREE PLAY): ___________________________________

Baseline Intervention










TOTAL: _________________ RATE: _____ PER MINUTE



STUDENT: ________________ DATE: _______ TIME (START): _________ TIME (END): _______

BEHAVIOR:
________________________________________________________________

CONTEXT/ACTIVITY (EX. MATH CLASS OR FREE PLAY): ___________________________________

Baseline Intervention





DIARY ASSIGNMENT 14







TOTAL: _________________ RATE: _____ PER MINUTE


Notes:





Data Sheet created by Nicole Caldwell, www.PositivelyAutism.com


DIARY ASSIGNMENT 15

Record of Anxiety
Date: Time: am/pm Location:


With: Friend/s Class Parent/s Alone Team


How Long Did It Last?

Intensity Scale
l l
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Mild Moderate Extreme

Sensations: (tick)
Pounding heart Choking Tight / Painful chest
Sweating Feel Sick Fear of Fainting
Breathless Trembling Fear of going crazy
Numb Tingling Fear of Dying
Cold Dizzy
Hot Unreality
This fact sheet has been developed to provide general information to victims of crime. It is
not intended as a replacement for medical, therapeutic or legal advice. If you have
particular concerns please contact your general practitioner, counsellor or Victim Support
Service.
DIARY ASSIGNMENT 16


Record of Anxiety

Date: Time: am/pm Location:


With: Friend/s Class Parent/s Alone Team


How Long Did It Last?

Intensity Scale
l l
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Mild Moderate Extreme

Sensations: (tick)
Pounding heart Choking Tight / Painful chest
Sweating Feel Sick Fear of Fainting
Breathless Trembling Fear of going crazy
Numb Tingling Fear of Dying
Cold Dizzy
Hot Unreality
DIARY ASSIGNMENT 17

Record of Anxiety
Date: Time: am/pm Location:


With: Friend/s Class Parent/s Alone Team


How Long Did It Last?

Intensity Scale
l l
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Mild Moderate Extreme

Sensations: (tick)
Pounding heart Choking Tight / Painful chest
Sweating Feel Sick Fear of Fainting
Breathless Trembling Fear of going crazy
Numb Tingling Fear of Dying
Cold Dizzy
Hot Unreality
Prepared June 2010 Commercial in Confidence
Copyright Victim Support Service Inc. 11 Halifax Street, Adelaide SA 5000
Phone: (08) 8231 5626 Country Toll Free: 1800 182 368 Fax: (08) 8231 5458
email: info@victimsa.org website: www.victimsa.org


DIARY ASSIGNMENT 18

REFERENCES
Albers, S. (2013, October 17). 10 Thoughts That Inspire Healthier Eating: Comfort Cravings.
Retrieved from Psychology Today: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/comfort-
cravings/201310/10-thoughts-inspire-healthier-eating
Caldwell, N. (n.d.). Event Recording Sheet. Retrieved from PositivelyAutism.com:
http://www.positivelyautism.com/RecordingSheet_Event.pdf
Gilbert, E. (2006). Eat, Pray, Love. Penguin.
LeMura, L., & Duvillard, S. v. (2003). Clinical Exercise Physiology: Application and
Physiological Principles. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Michaels, J. (n.d.). Jillian Michaels . Retrieved from Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jillianmichaels
Victim Support Service Inc. (2010, June). Record of Anxiety. Retrieved from
http://archive.victimsa.org/files/fact-sheets/20.-record-of-anxiety-fact-sheet.pdf
Williams, D. M. (2008). Exercise, Affect and Adherence: An Integrated Model and a Case for
Self-Paced Exercise. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 471-496.