Experience
The behavior I chose to change was eating out/DoorDashing. One of my worst habits is that instead of eating at the dining hall, I tend to go to Tresidder/Coho/other restaurants on campus and buy food or DoorDash instead. This is primarily because 1) Lakeside, the dining hall closest to me, tends not to have the best food 2) My schedule is irregular, so when I eat tends to be outside of dining hall hours and 3) Eating out/DoorDash is more convenient, especially when studies pick up. The negative consequences of this are wasting money and losing out on the community aspect of meals. I decided to measure myself every time I had a meal starting from Friday all the way to the end of the day Tuesday (so for 5 days), and write down what I ate, where I got it from, the time, and what meal it was (breakfast, lunch or dinner). I wrote down my findings in a Google document. Overall, this experience wasn’t too tedious since I only eat 2 meals a day, and I have receipts sent to my bank account so it was easy to keep track of.
Friday (1/12)
Meal: Lunch
Time: 1PM
What I Ate: A bagel with cream cheese
Where I Ate It: Tressider
Where I Got It From: Izzy Bagels
Meal: Dinner
Time: 9:30PM
What I Ate: California Chicken Avocado Rolls
Where I Ate It: My Room
Where I Got It From: California Pizza Kitchen (from DoorDash)
Saturday (1/13)
Meal: Dinner
Time: 6:30PM
What I Ate: Burger + Fries
Where I Ate It: In and Out
Where I Got It From: In and Out
Sunday (1/14)
Meal: Lunch
Time: 3PM
What I Ate: Meatball sub
Where I Ate It: My Room
Where I Got It From: Subway
Meal: Dinner
Time: 9:30PM
What I Ate: Chicken Katsu
Where I Ate It: Home
Where I Got It From: L&L (from DoorDash)
Monday (1/15)
Meal: Lunch
Time: 12:00PM
What I Ate: Pesto Pizza
Where I Ate It: Arrillaga Dining Hall
Where I Got It From: Arrillaga Dining Hall
Meal: Dinner
Time: 7:30PM
What I Ate: Mac and Cheese, Salad, Barbeque Chicken
Where I Ate It: Lakeside Dining Hall
Where I Got It From: Lakeside Dining Hall
Tuesday (1/16)
Meal: Lunch
Time: 2:30PM
What I Ate: Chow Mein
Where I Ate It: My Room
Where I Got It From: Panda Express
Meal: Dinner
Time: 6:30PM
What I Ate: Spaghetti, Chicken, Bread
Where I Ate It: Mars
Where I Got It From: Mars
Models
Connection Circle
For my connection circle, all of the connections are positive. What I noticed was that the two behaviors I was trying to kick both led to me spending more money than if I went to the dining hall. Additionally, it seems that school and being busy generally led to me sleeping less, waking up later, and having less time to eat, all of which led to me DoorDashing/eating out more.
Fishbone Diagram
I thought the fishbone diagram helped paint a deeper picture of why this habit was happening. By breaking it down into categories, I could visualize what aspects of my life needed to change to get rid of this habit.
What I Would Do Differently Next Time
Logging wise, one thing I would do is also log how much money I spend per meal. This way, I get to better visualize the monetary impact of my actions. I would also measure how long each meal took to see if eating out/DoorDash actually saved me a significant amount of time, which is a belief I previously had.
As for my behavior, I think not leaving my room is a big reason why I tend to order in. I think by working more on East campus/changing my work habits, I’ll be outside and closer to other dining halls, which would put me in a better environment to eat at the dining halls.
