20 Time Final Recap

In order to showcase what we have done for our 20 time project in a more engaging way than a blog post, we decided to create the video that is shown above. We decided to do it in the style of a draw my life video, which was a popular trend on youtube, because we thought that it would be more interesting to watch than just a video of us explaining everything.

As far as self evaluation goes, we think that we worked hard enough to earn a grade in the “A” range. We set goals that were pretty much executed as originally planned. Along with the blog posts assigned, we posted daily/weekly recaps which amounted to a total of about 19 blog posts, not counting this one. Here are a few of our blog posts to refer to:

Intro

Vegetarian (2nd week) recap

Vegan Day 9

These were just a few examples of what we posted. We have many more blog posts that you can check out on this blog. If you want to check out another version of the video with a cool effect that makes it look a bit more professional at the top of the page click here

This being the 20th blog post, we are concluding our 20-Time project :)

Individual Reflections

Monica-
     My partner (Eman Ahmad) and I chose this topic because we wanted to do something that included us as much as possible. We haven't ever tried any diets because we didn't really think we needed to. So this was something different that I don't think I would ever do this if I didn't have the opportunity to do this project. We thought that this would be a cool way to see how we could improve the environment by not eating animal products.

     At first, we were planning on doing one different diet a week each week. We were going to do pescatarian for one week, vegetarian for the next week, and vegan for the last week. But, we thought that we wouldn't get realistic results. So we changed to be vegetarian for two weeks and two weeks for vegan. We were really tempted to take a cheat day but we stuck through it because we knew that some people do this diet for their lifetime. Also we just wanted to get the full experience. Our friends really helped us out with telling us what foods we could and couldn't eat.

     We learned that this is a pretty hard diet to maintain if you didn't do it for you whole life. If it's something new then it's a bit hard to get used to. I have learned that I need to eat meat because that's the majority of what my family has for dinner and this change was pretty hard for me. But I want to thank my friends for helping me resist the urges to cheat.

Individual Reflections

Eman-
    For my 20 time project, I worked with Monica, and we went vegetarian and vegan for a month. I did this because I wanted to see how different diets would affect my body, and to also test my discipline. I was also aware of the health benefits of these diets and I was also concerned about the amount of animals being tortured and killed for food. I was focused on self-improvement and acknowledging where our food comes from.

      Our initial plan was to go pescatarian for a week, vegetarian for a week, and then vegan for the last week. We decided that one week was not enough time to see the effects of the diets, so we cut out the pescatarian part and extended vegetarian and vegan for two weeks each. 

      I personally though that it went really well. It was very difficult to keep my discipline and avoid the foods that I wasn't supposed to eat, but I was able to do it. We were also able to regularly update our blog, and I was able to measure both of our blood pressures and heart rates every other day. 

      I learned how to come up and coordinate an organized schedule with my partner. My time management with projects is usually not exceptional with projects, but this time we worked efficiently and got done quick. The only exception was with the video, which we started a bit late, so it was slightly rushed. If I had the chance to do this project again, I would have extended the amount of time we did the diets for, so that way I could really test the extent of my discipline. I learned that I have a lot of self control when I am focused and willing.

      In the future I may try this again, specifically for a longer period of time, but I want to encourage other people to try it, as if one person cuts meat out of their diet, it won't make a huge difference on the amount of animals getting slaughtered, but if a lot of people do, there is a chance for change. 

Control Summary

Over the control week, we were not able to publish any other blog posts, but we were still able to record our blood pressures and heart rates.

Weights-

Eman- 89.5 lbs

Monica- 98.8 lbs

Eman	Blood Pressure	Heart Rate
4/24	92/60 mmHg	85 bpm
4/26	97/64 mmHg	90 bpm
4/28	101/69 mmHg	88 bpm

Monica	Blood Pressure	Heart Rate
4/24	99/73 mmHg	91 bpm
4/26	103/68 mmHg	87 bpm
4/28	108/75 mmHg	93 bpm

Overall our blood pressures and heart rates were higher than they were when we were on the diets, which helps show a correlation between our diets and our internal body conditions. Our weights pretty much stayed the same throughout, which we believe is due to the fact that we were on these diets for enough time to see a drastic change.

Control Week Day 1

Eman-
     It has been three weeks since we ended our diets, so we are using this week as our control week. Today for breakfast I had waffles and a glass of milk, and for lunch I had beef and rice. For dinner I had salmon and another glass of milk. As it has been a while since we ended the diets, my body is used to my regular diet. I feel like I have more energy than when we were vegan, but I also don't have the sort of "healthy glow" that I had.

Blood Pressure: 92/60 mmHg
Heart Rate- 85 bpm
Weight- 89.5

Monica-
     I didn't have breakfast today. But for lunch I had some fettuccini alfredo. For dinner I had some curry chickpeas and rice. Then I had  some oatmeal.

Blood Pressure- 99/73 mmHg
Heart Rate- 91 bpm
Weight-98.8

After Diet Update

It has been two weeks since we have finished our vegetarian and vegan diets. We learned that it takes a lot of self discipline and commitment to stay true to a huge change like the one we went through when we changed our diets. We have heard the fact that the first 7-10 days after a change is the hardest, and based on our experience, that fact seems accurate. Personally, we had a pretty hard time upholding the diet without really wanting to cheat. We proved to ourselves that we can resist certain foods if we really wanted to.

The setbacks that we faced were mental. It was very hard to control ourselves, especially in environments where everyone around us were eating foods that we could not have. Our friends were very helpful at times, as they sometimes helped us control ourselves. Another problem was that at times we forgot we were vegan. There were multiple times when we were about to eat something that we were not supposed to, but were reminded or remembered that we couldn’t eat it.

After four two weeks of the diets, we are planning on recording the blood pressure, heart rate, and weight during our regular diet as a control. We should have done this before we started the diets, but we had forgotten, so we decided to wait two weeks after the diets to make sure our bodies were back to their regular conditions and diets. Although it was a learning experience and can potentially beneficial for the environment and animals, we don’t think that we would do this diet again.

End of Diets

Monica Lubyanitsky	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/22/17	99.6	100/65 mmHg	93 bpm
3/24/17	N/A	96/73 mmHg	95 bpm
3/27/17	N/A	100/74 mmHg	97 bpm
(End)3/2617	100.2	100/76 mmHg	90 bpm

Monica- I broke my diet at dinner. I had chicken, bean, cheese, and rice burrito. I dont really feel anything different besides that fact that i feel a little fuller.

Eman Ahmad	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/2217	91.6	104/59 mmHg	82 bpm
3/24/17	N/A	85/62 mmHg	81 bpm
3/27/17	N/A	95/61 mmHg	84 bpm
(End)3/29/17	90.0	91/63 mmHg	76 bpm

Eman-
 Today I broke my vegan diet during lunch. I had chicken strips and dippin dots that contained milk. At first I was fine, but later on in the day I had a mild stomach ache, but I don't know if it was due to what I ate. For dinner I ate bbq chicken and rice. I am interested to see how my body will react to eating animal products again. I have also noticed that my appetite is smaller, and I think this is because I generally ate less food during these diets.

Vegan: Day 12

Monica-
Today for breakfast, I had some carrots and jicama. For lunch I had some wheat thins and a sandwich with a bleach bean patty. For dinner I had some vegetable based soup. This diet has created many complications for me but I'm surprised that I could do it for this long.

Heart Pressure- 100/74 mmHg
Heart Rate- 97 bpm

Eman-
Today for breakfast, I had leftover pasta and for lunch I had wild rice. For dinner I had asparagus and rice. Over the weekend I lost my voice, but I was not able to drink the tea that I usually drink for soothing my throat, as it has milk in it.

Blood Pressure- 95/61 mmHg
Heart Rate- 84 bpm

Vegan Day 9

Eman-
      Today I did not eat that much as I did not really feel like eating the food I was given. Throughout the vegan diet, I have been eating a very repetitive diet, and I am getting tired of eating the same foods over and over again. For breakfast however, I had vegan buffalo wings, and for lunch I had wild rice. During rehearsal we were given snacks, but none of them were vegan. For dinner, I had potatoes and lentil soup.

Blood Pressure- 85/62 mmHg
Heart Rate- 81 bpm

Monica-
I didn't have anything for breakfast because I was running late to school. Also, I couldn't have a snack because I had to do soemthing for a teacher which took up my whole break. For lunch I had some vegan chili, some nuts, two tangerines, and a cucumber. For dinner, I had some vegan pizza and a salad.

Blood Pressure- 96/73 mmHg
Heart Rate- 95 bpm

Vegan: Week One recap

Monica Lubyanitsky	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/15/17	99.8	100/61 mmHg	78 bpm
3/18/17	N/A	101/63 mmHg	80 bpm
3/20/17	N/A	100/67 mmHg	91 bpm
(End)3/22/17	99.6	100/65 mmHg	93 bpm

Monica- Today for breakfast a had an apple. For a snack, I had candied walnuts, pecans, and cashews.  For lunch, I had a peanut butter sandwich. For dinner I had some white rice and some beans.

Eman Ahmad	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/15/17	90.2	101/58 mmHg	95 bpm
3/18/17	N/A	89/54 mmHg	79 bpm
3/20/17	N/A	98/62 mmHg	75 bpm
(End)3/22/17	91.6	104/59 mmHg	82 bpm

Eman- Today for breakfast I had pancakes, orange juice, and mangoes. For lunch I ate wild rice, but I did not eat a lot as I had a meeting during lunch.  For an after-school snack I had vegan buffalo wings, and for dinner I ate thai vegetables and tom yum soup.

Vegetarian and Vegan Diet Progress Report

       We have started going on our diets. We have finished our two weeks of vegetarian and are currently on our 5th day of being vegan. We have 1 week and 2 more days after being vegan, and after that, we will see how it is like to return to our normal diets again. Our experience overall has been pretty similar in the fact that it is hard to completely change our diets. We have both been struggling to stay away from the meat. We have learned that it takes a lot of discipline to uphold a new diet. We hope that our friends around us who have seen us going through this, realize that we are doing it to raise awareness. Lastly, over the past few weeks, we have been posting blog posts to give updates about our diets.

Today's update: (Day 6)

Eman-
       I did not have much of an appetite today. For breakfast I ate leftover spaghetti and pesto sauce. I skipped lunch and only ate some snacks like a bag of chips and strawberries. For dinner, I had lentil soup, beans, and brown rice. Recently, instead of drinking milk, I have been drinking orange juice.
Also, my blood pressure has been much lower than usual in the past few days.

Blood Pressure- 98/62 mmHg
Heart Rate-  75 bpm

Monica-
For breakfast I ate a carton of raspberries. For a snack, I had cucumbers, pickles, and carrots. For lunch I had a black bean vegan burger patty, some chickpeas, cucumbers, and a couple of pieces of bread. I also had some chocolate soy milk. For desert, I had a soy based vanilla ice cream. Today, O didn't have much of a problem with this diet because I actually prepared what I was going to eat.

Blood Pressure- 100/67 mmHg
Heart Rate- 91 bpm

Vegan Day 3

Eman-

    Today I skipped breakfast and I had a kiwi for a midday snack. For lunch I ate pasta with marinara sauce. For dinner I had tomato soup and chickpeas with rice. It was club rush day today at school, but I could not really get anything that was vegan. A problem that I’m having is that I sometimes forget that I’m currently vegan, and I accidentally grab something that has milk or eggs, and I have to put it back or give it to someone else. My blood pressure was very low today because I did not get to eat a lot and I came home very late

Blood pressure- 89/54 mmHg

Heart Rate- 79 bpm

Monica-
Today, for breakfast I had a variety of candied nuts. For lunch I had pasta with marinara sauce. Finally, for dinner I had pasta with pesto. It has been hard for me to choose what I can eat because I am not used to this diet. I started to feel a little light headed and I acquired a cold. I don't know if that has anything to do with this diet though. 

Blood Pressure- 101/63 mmHg
Heart Rate- 80 bpm

Vegetarian: Final Week Recap

Monica Lubyanitsky	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/8/17	98.6	99/65 mmHg	90 bpm.
3/10/17	N/A	100/70 mmHg	85 bpm
3/14/17	N/A	129/75 mmHg	121 bpm
(End)3/15/17	99.8 lbs.	100/61 mmHg	78 bpm

Eman-
Today was the first day of being vegan. It so far has not been a change except that I'm not able to drink milk anymore. I think I will feel more weak throughout the next two weeks.

Eman Ahmad	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/8/17	87.4 lbs	110/73	98 bpm
3/10/17	N/A	122/57 mmHg	80 bpm
3/14/17	N/A	93/62 mmHg	89 bpm
(End)3/15/17	90.2 lbs	101/58 mmHg	95 bpm

Monica-

Switching to the vegan diet was surprisingly pretty hard for me because there was such a tough limit on what I could and couldn't eat. There were a few things that I was about to eat, but luckily realized I couldn't. For me, this is going to be a pretty tough next two weeks.

Vegetarian: Day 14

Eman-
 I have not been feeling cravings anymore, but I have been feeling slightly week, and I don't know whether it is the diet itself or that I'm just not consuming enough calories. Today I ate waffles and a glass of milk, cauliflower and rice, and for dinner I had pasta with pesto sauce. Tomorrow we are going vegan, but I don't it will be a huge different for me, as I do not eat eggs and cheese anyways. The only change I predict may be a problem is not being able to drink milk.

Blood Pressure- 93/62 mmHg
Heart Rate- 89 bpm

Monica-
Today for breakfast I ate some trail mix, with almonds, cashews, pecans, and dried apricots. For lunch I had "chick'in" which is a vegetarian substitute for chicken. I also had some carrots, lead, and tortilla chips. For dinner, I has some pasta with marinara and a salad. I'm very nervous to be going into the vegan diet tomorrow because easting eggs, milk, and cheese are a big part of my diet. (I neasured my blood pressure right after intense musical rehearsals)

Blood Pressure- 129/75mmHg
Heart Rate- 121 bpm

Vegetarian: Day 9

Eman-
      Today for breakfast I had waffles, for lunch I had pasta with tomato sauce, and for dinner we ate out a Chinese restaurant. It was difficult as my parents ordered meat, but I could not have any of it. Other than that, I am not really having any cravings.

Blood Pressure- 122/57 mmHg
Heart Rate- 80 bpm

Monica-
Today, I didn't have any breakfast because I woke up late. For a snack, I had pine nuts and raspberry flavored Milano. At lunch I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then when I can home, I had some mac and cheese. For dinner, I had vegetarian chili and some white rice. I'm feeling a lot better about the diet because I have gotten more used to it.

Blood pressure-100/70 mmHg
Heart Rate- 85 bpm

Vegetarian: Weekly Recap

Monica Lubyanitsky	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/1/17	96.6 lbs.	115/70 mmHg.	102 bpm.
3/3/17	N/A	101/62 mmHg.	107 bpm.
3/6/17	N/A	97/69 mmHg.	87 bpm.
(End)3/8/17	98.6 lbs.	99/65 mmHg	90 bpm.

Eman Ahmad	Weight (Lbs)	Blood Pressure (mmHg)	Heart Rate (Bpm)
(Start)3/1/17	90.6 lbs.	114/78 mmHg.	98 bpm.
3/3/17	N/A	108/75 mmHg.	76 bpm.
3/6/17	N/A	109/66 mmHg.	74 bpm.
(End)3/8/17	87.4 lbs	110/73	78 bpm

Monica: My blood pressure and my heart rate have definitely improved over this week. I wonder if it’s because of the diet or if it’s because I’m eating healthier.

Eman: My blood pressure rate has improved a lot this week, as it was on the higher side at the start. I have lost weight.

Vegetarian: Day Six

Eman:
       For breakfast I had pancakes, a glass of milk, and mangoes. For lunch I had string beans and rice, and for dinner I had lentil soup, chickpeas, and rice. Today I felt a bit dizzy and I had a headache, but my cravings weren't as intense.

      Blood pressure- 109/66 mmHg
      Heart rate- 74 bpm
     

Monica:
For breakfast I ate a butter croissant. Then, for lunch I had mac and cheese. And finally for dinner,I had a vegetarian soup and some sweet Hawaiian rolls. I started really craving chicken because my family had it for dinner and I couldn't so it was kind of thought for me today. But my heart rate and blood pressure improved.

Blood pressure- 97/69 mmHg
Heart rate- 87 bpm

Vegetarian: Day Three

Eman:
      For breakfast I had pancakes and a glass of milk, for lunch I had string beans and rice, and for dinner I had cheese pizza. Today I started craving chicken and different types of food that have meat in them.

      My blood pressure and heart rate has also lowered to a more average rate.
Blood pressure- 108/75 mmHg
Heart rate- 76 bpm

Monica: For breakfast, I didn't eat anything because I wasn't really hungry. For lunch, I had pasta with olive oil and salt and pepper. I also ate a croissant. For dinner, I had mashed potatoes, corn, vegetarian chili, and some cucumbers. Like Eman, I've had meat withdrawal of sorts because my friends were constantly talking about meat for some reason.

Blood Pressure- 101/62 mmHg
Heart rate- 107 bpm

Vegetarian: Day One

      At the start of every week we will post our weight and our blood pressure, and at the end we will make a chart with our weight and blood pressures of every other day.

 Monica:
      The vegetarian diet began today. For breakfast, I ate a bagel with cream cheese. For my lunch, I had a cheese sandwich and rainbow flavored dippin' dots. When I came home I had some pasta and a salad with tomatoes and mozerella cheese. For dinner I ate sautéed broccoli and celery with hummus.

      Start weight- 96.6 lbs
      Blood pressure- 115/70 mmHg
      Heart rate- 102 bpm

Eman:
      Today was my first day of starting the vegetarian diet. For breakfast, I ate oranges, waffles, and I drank a glass of milk. For my lunch, I had cheese and spinach ravioli, and I ate cotton candy flavored dippin' dots. For dinner I ate green beans, brown rice, and tomato soup.

      Start weight- 90.6 lbs
      Blood pressure- 114/78 mmHg
      Heart rate- 98 bpm

 

20 Time intro: Diet Exploration

20 time is the opportunity and time for students to ask their own questions, do their own research, and form their own conclusions in learning, without the constraints of a typical lesson plan.

For our project we asked the question: How will certain diets affect our physical and mental states? We decided to go on two different diets, one per two weeks. The first would be vegetarian and the second vegan. We chose this project to switch up our daily diets in ways that we have not tried before, and see whether it would benefit us. We also wanted to learn about how changing our diets can have an impact on the environment around us.

We hope to gain a new appreciation how these simple diets can actually have an impact on our own lives, and the lives of animals they can potentially save. We also are interested in seeing if anything from these diets work for us and can continue to be a part of our lives.

We plan to carry out these diets for a month, two weeks for vegetarian, and two weeks for vegan. We are going to keep track of our meals on an app called YAZIO. We will also note our weight and our blood pressure every week. We hope to cultivate a better understanding and appreciation for even the simplest things, such as the food we eat.