References

Caulton, R & Dickson, R. (2007). What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.) Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John-Wiley & Sons Ltd

Christiansen, C. & Townsend, E. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art of science and living. (2^nd eds.). Prentice Hall.

De Lore, C., & Brooke-White, J. (2000). Every kitchen tells a story. New Zealand: Harper Collins Publishers Limited.

Dukan, P. (2010). The dukan diet (pp. 1-13). London, England: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

Green, T.F. (1968). Work, leisure and The American schools. New York: Random House.

Hopkins, H.L., & Smith, H.D. (1983). Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy. In Crepeau E. (2003). Analyzing occupation and activity: A way of thinking about occupational performance. In Crepeau, E., Cohn, E., & Schell, B. (Eds.), Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy (10th ed., pp.189-198). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins

Lawson, N. (2004). Feast: Food to celebrate life. England: Hyperion.

Norman, D.A. (1988).  The Psychology of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books

Simpson, J. & Weiner, E. (1989). The oxford English dictionary (2^nd ed). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

Stubbs, D.A. (2000) Ergonomics and occupational medicine: future challenges. Occupational Medicine 50(4), 277-282

Comments

Here is a comment that I posted on Lauren’s page:

Lauren, I just loved this story that combines both the past and present =) I'm glad you are still working on friend's composition, I remember you playing it at my house during placement it was amazing. You may not realise this but when you play there is peacefulness in you and you can see thorough enjoyment in your face and body. Music really becomes you and the love you have for music is what I think draws people to you when you play =)

Here is the link to my comment as well

Here is a comment that I posted on Shilmoni's page:

Shilmoni, I love your blog but I must say that I had a hard time reading it as the font isn’t the easiest to read. I’m glad that you get to share your culture with so many people and that they enjoy your food =) I had fun when we watched Julie and Julia and you’re right cooking is very inspirational to us all in different ways. You’re an inspiration to all of us with your love of cooking =D

Here is the link to my comment as well

Here is a comment that I posted on Rachael's page:
Rach, I love your photos =) they are all amazing and I can definitely see that you have a passion for photography. Continue doing an amazing job!!! I look forward to seeing more pictures in the future =D

Here is the link to my comment.

Here is a comment that I posted on Kelsey’s page:

Hey Kelsey, I've really enjoyed reading your blog and you can tell that you love baking =) I can't wait to try out this cheesecake recipe as I love desserts!! and I might even be tempted to try the fruit salad muffins at some stage too =)

Here is a link to my comment.

The Framework and the Need

The Framework:

Need/alienation --> Affordances + Ergonomics = Activity --> Engagement/satisfaction

The Need:

In one of our tutorials we needed to identify the need of activity, I thought “oh yeah that’s easy” but then when I sat down with Mary she said to take away the scales (since my original need was to lose weight) and she asked what did I have? She asked me a number of questions to help me identify my main needs for going on the diet in the first place. Thinking about what she said really made me think about the reasons I decided to do this diet. I’ll tell you a little something about me when people pester me about things I don’t ever do but then the moment they don’t think something will work I’m generally the first person stepping up to prove them prove. All the questions that Mary asked me made me realise a few things about myself and why I’m doing what I’m doing. In that one tutorial my needs changed, I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t really thought about or that I wasn’t asking myself the right questions.

My need(s) were:

·         To improve my overall health

·         Determination to prove people wrong about the diet

·         To feel in control

·         To feel content with who I am and what I look like

·         Weight loss

·         Creativity/passion about the foods and what I was cooking

Meeting the needs:

·         Seeing the results of losing weight

·         Increased concentration and focus

·         Increased body image and self esteem

·         Satisfaction of proving people

·         Making a stand for the person I am and who I want to be

·         Acceptance of challenges

A Wee Bit about Ambience

I understand ambience to be linked to the atmosphere of a place or the character of some thing. I think that ambience and cooking are related to one another. Think about the last time you walked through the front door of your flat or house and smelt food cooking or something baking, doesn’t it create a warm and inviting atmosphere. For me personally there is nothing like getting home and walking through the front door and smelling something delicious like chicken soup or pineapple chicken cooking. Some people when they cook they play music to help them relax and it allows them to have fun atmosphere around them. So the ambience of an activity can simply be translated to essence: what is the essence of the activity?

Essence is the is the attribute or set of attributes that make an object or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essence).

The essence of cooking to me is the warmth that surrounds you when you cook. The room warms up, you feel warm, and you share that warmth with others when you cook for them. Another essence of cooking is that we do it survive. This essence of survival allows us to tend to others needs, meet our cultural expectations (if we have them) and it allows us to bring people together.

I think that cooking also defines us adults and gives us independence. You may be thinking how does cooking define as adults? Well I don’t know about you but I wasn’t expected to start learning how to cook or bake until I was around 13 and now that I flat, I feel that learning to cook at a young age has allowed me to be more prepared for the university lifestyle of fending for myself.

I think that with cooking a lot of it comes down to who you are and why you cook and what type or style of cooking you do as well.

Affordances

Okay I hear you say first ergonomics and now affordances how do these relate to cooking? What is the difference between ergonomics and affordances? The difference between ergonomics and affordances is what is brought to the activity and what the activity brings about. As you can see these things are connected closely to each other. Ergonomics is how well a person can be fitted with activities that are a good expression of their interest and skills; affordances are an examination of the actual potentials within the activity for expressing something.

Christiansen and Townsend (2010) state that affordance is “the particular arrangement of objects in the environment”. It can be the interaction between an object and a person; “the object's design suggests its purpose, function and usability and the user determines the object's affordances”.

Hopkins & Smith (1983) state that "It is through our activities that we…practice skills, express our feelings, experience pleasure…” This quote says to me that activities allow us to develop as individuals.

Norman (1988) stated that he believes that affordances result from the mental interpretation of things, based on our past knowledge and experience applied to our perception of the things about us.

My interpretation of Affordances:

Affordance is the outcome of an activity. So this is what ordinary activities bring about.  This is means to me that the initial activity leads me on to a number of different activities that then leads to the overall outcome.

Under affordances there are a number of considerations to take into account that was discussed in class.

These are

·         Communication

·         Moral Properties

·         Action Properties

·         Aesthetics

·         Spirituality

·         Connections

Affordances with my activity:

Communication:

This is how the activity lends itself to communication. Communication is an essential part of human interaction as it allows us to connect with others and is a way that we express ourselves. Communication is vital during cooking, especially if you are sharing the kitchen with a number of other people. I live with in 5 other people and when there is more than 2 of you in the kitchen it’s a bit of a nightmare to be honest. So communication in the kitchen is vital when in our kitchen with others. I live with one of my friends and the kitchen is generally our gossip area when either she or I are cooking. It is also a great time to catch up with flat mates who aren’t always around.  Cooking is also a way to express myself to others as it allows me to communicate my ideas and my food style to them. Communication is vital to me while I’m doing my diet as I am able to tell others what I am doing and why. It also allows me to explain how the diet works and why I do things the way I do.

De Lore & Brooke-White (2000) state that "in any home, the kitchen is often the place where friends and family congregate. Sure, it’s where the food and the drink are, but kitchens are seldom just refuelling stations. Conversations, gossip humour and ideas flow freely in the relaxed atmosphere of the kitchen".

Moral Properties:

This refers to the perception of the good and bad aspects of doing something. Cooking has both good and bad aspects to it, but for me the majority of the aspects are good. For example cooking with and for others can be good as they are able to help you prepare the food and to help wash all the dishes up later but then there are the bad aspects like someone might not like the type of food your cooking so you have to try and please everyone around you as well as yourself. One of my pet peeves around cooking is other people telling me what do when I’m cooking for example my flat mate is very pedantic about having the overhead fan on from the moment you start cooking to until way after you finish. I find that his lack of respect for my ‘style’ of cooking quite annoying as everyone has their own way of doing things and they should be allowed to cook that way. There are both good and bad aspects to my diet some people would probably say that I’m going about things the wrong way if I want to lose weight. Cooking on my diet is good as I eat less but I feel fuller for longer due to what I am eating, I feel more focused and healthy as well. Some bad aspects are that sometimes the food that I am allowed to eat gets old and sometimes I get intense cravings for certain foods like carbs. By as they say there are pros and cons to everything in life.

Action properties:

This is the story of the activity, so the beginning (what happened before), the middle (the activity) and the end (what happens when your finished). This involves me engaging in the tasks that prepare for the cooking.

So this is:

·         Getting all my ingredients out on the counter and cutting them up if necessary

·         Getting my equipment out – pots, pans, knives etc

·         Turning the stove/oven on

·         Cooking all the food

·         Placing food on the plate

·         Washing dishes

·         Eating the food

Aesthetics:

This is how you receive this activity to your senses. When you cook you are using all your senses to create a meal. The first thing about food is that it draws you in by smell, if it smells good you’re more inclined to eat it. When you’re in the kitchen you are using touch, hearing, taste, smell to put together a meal. The texture of the food is also quite important as well as when you are eating you are experiencing a number of different textures during the meal that add to the enjoyment of food. Colour and presentation are important as they provide visual stimulation to us, which makes us look forward to the meal if it looks good. Most of the food that I eat on my diet is pleasing others I wouldn’t eat otherwise since I am quite fussy, but sometimes when I eat a tin of tuna I can think of nothing worse than eating it. It smells a wee bit and it doesn’t look appealing even though I do eventually eat it.

Spirituality:

This is a key aspect of cooking. I have come to believe that spirituality allows me to cook for myself and for others. Cooking allows me to contribute and care for my family, friends and the wider community. Cooking also connects me to life as I have to eat to survive and I feel closer to the ingredients and where my food comes from. Cooking gives me a sense of belonging and well being within myself. I believe that food brings people together and that when you eat food with a variety a people who could be like you or different things like age, gender, culture and people’s beliefs go onto the back burner. Food has a way of connecting us all to help us understand others and to accept each other and to feel valued. When I cook certain foods, like an omelette, I feel connected to my grandfather as he was the first person to teach me how to cook one. It also allows me to be generous to myself as I can add a number of yummy foods to the omelette like chicken and peppers which make the omelette way more appetising. It is a way that I can connect to my elders without having an age barrier between us as they treat me as an equal within the kitchen.

Affordances seems to be about how an activity grows, forms or influences (both directly and indirectly) the occurrence of other activities; they bring together the occupations and routines of human beings. It also provides us with the opportunity for spiritual connections, social interactions and a sense of identity within ourselves.

I found this quote about cooking and thought it was quite fitting for my affordances blog:

"Cooking has many functions, and only one of them is about feeding people. When we go into a kitchen, indeed when we even just think about going into a kitchen, we are both creating and responding to an idea we hold about ourselves, about what kind of person we are or wish to be. How we eat and what we eat lies at the heart of who we are as – Individuals, families, communities". (Lawson, 2004. p.7).

References

Christiansen, C. & Townsend, E. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art of science and living. (2^nd eds.). Prentice Hall.

De Lore, C., & Brooke-White, J. (2000). Every kitchen tells a story. New Zealand: Harper Collins Publishers Limited.

Hopkins, H.L., & Smith, H.D. (1983). Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy. In Crepeau E. (2003). Analyzing occupation and activity: A way of thinking about occupational performance. In Crepeau, E., Cohn, E., & Schell, B. (Eds.), Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy (10th ed., pp.189-198). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins

Lawson, N. (2004). Feast: Food to celebrate life. England: Hyperion.

Norman, D.A. (1988).  The Psychology of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books

Ergonomics

Caulton & Dickson (2007) define ergonomics as “constantly making slight invisible adjustments to an activity to adapt the needs of those taking part and ensure that it continues to work for its intended purpose”.

I hear you ask what does ergonomics have to do with cooking. Stubbs (2000) emphasizes that ergonomics is concerned with the "fit" between person, task and environment. In other words it is about creating the most affective relationship between the environment (i.e. the kitchen) where the individual (i.e. me) carries out their activity (i.e. cooking) and the skills they use and need while participating in their occupation.

Here is a brainstorm that was done in class to give us some ideas about person, activity and environment.

Person	Activity	Environment
Age/gender	Beyond the cookbook	Available equipment – rich amount?
Stage of Life	Adaptations	Spatial organisation
Sense of responsibility	Pacing/rhythm	Cultural aspects – how things are done in the household and how we do things
Perception	Time of day	Seasons
Preferences	Robustness of the materials (breakable)	Social perceptions and expectations
Time available	Other types of Equipment – like having a sharp knife	Accessibility
Health deficits	Costs	Seasons
Financial circumstances	Degree of engagement required	Distractions

Here is a brainstorm that I did in class about my activity relating to person, activity and environment.

Person	Activity	Environment
Financial abilities – what I can afford to buy with my weekly grocery budget	This activity can be done at anytime of day. I mainly cook at night but I do occasionally cook my breakfast or lunch if I am home at the time. Cooking can occur at any time of day and can take a few seconds or a couple of hours.	The physical environment in my kitchen- small bench space, a few cupboards, the kitchen has a small floor space which can create havoc if more than three people around
I bring basic and complex skills to my cooking	I sometimes follow recipes depending on what I am cooking and how while I know the meal.	Have a lot of cooking equipment in the kitchen
Time available – the length of my school day and the amount of time it takes to cook a meal	Adapting – I can only certain foods due to my diet so I have to adapt the way I cook.	Cultural aspects – how I cook, how I wash up, how I prepare my food etc
I cook healthy food so that I can improve my overall health and I enjoy good food	Flexible – I am able to multitask and do other activities while I’m cooking.	Seasons – this will affect the price of the foods I buy. It will also depend on what I cook as well. Seasons also affect the type of vegetables and that I buy as well
Cooking is way that I can learn to shape what I want	I feed myself and others with this activity	Freedom in the environment to do what I want i.e. what time I use the kitchen to cook and eat
I’m able to control what my freedom – I cook and eat what I want and when I want	Certain foods can be eaten while others are excluded.	Stoked fridge, freezer and pantry.
I cook food that will give me energy and will help with my appetite	The diet has structure – what I eat, how much I eat, when I eat.	Able to control what I eat and when I eat.
Choose quick and easy meals to prepare and cook	Cooking can be an individual or group task	Social environment as people are always popping in and out of the kitchen during the day.
	Costs – I cook for myself so its more expensive than cooking with others.

References

Caulton, R & Dickson, R. (2007). What's going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.) Contemporary issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John-Wiley & Sons Ltd

A Little Bit of Information about the Dukan Diet

As you know my activity is cooking but within this cooking activity I am following the Dukan Diet. I know you’re probably thinking “No not a diet, why bother?” but before you knock it carry on reading a little bit more about it first =)

I first read about the Dukan Diet a couple of months ago in a Woman’s Day magazine that I had bought. When I first read about it, I was quite intrigued by this diet that was created by Dr. Pierre Dukan and that in order to lose weight you just had to follow four different phases that he wrote. I automatically jumped on Google to try and find out more about this diet, but sadly to say there was not a lot of information that I hadn’t already read in the magazine. Just when I was about to give up I saw that there was a book that I could buy to learn more about it. I searched 5 different book shops in Auckland for this book but only one actually had the book in store. YAY I had finally found the book I was dying to read.

The Dukan Diet

Dukan (2010) states that the Dukan Diet can be broken down into four successive phases:

The Attack Phase – average length: 5 days

An initial Attack phase led by the ‘pure protein diet’ which creates a stunning kick-start, almost as quick as fasting or powdered proteins but without the drawbacks (Dukan, 2010).

The Cruise Phase – average length: 3 days for each pound you want to lose

A Cruise phase led by an ‘alternating protein diet’ when pure protein days alternate with pure proteins and vegetable days, which allows you to reach your chosen weight non-stop in one go (Dukan, 2010).

The Consolidation Phase – average length: 5 days per pound lost

Dukan (2010) states that when the weight that you have achieved is consolidated: a phase designed to prevent the rebound effect that occurs after any rapid weight loss. This is a period of high vulnerability when the body has a tendency  to very easily  regain the loss weight.

The Stabilisation Phase

Finally, and most importantly, permanent stabilisation based on 3 simple safety measures that are easy to follow but indispensible if the weight loss is to be maintained (Dukan, 2010).

Dukan (2010) states that these steps are:

1. One pure protein day every Thursday for life
2. No more lifts and escalators
3. 3 tablespoons of oat bran a day

I know that the diet sounds intense but let me just say that this diet has been amazing for me and has helped me with my weight loss (which was why I was so interested in it). It has also allowed me to improve my general health and concentration.

References

Dukan, P. (2010). The dukan diet (pp. 1-13). London, England: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd