Show Me Your Fridge, I Dare You ;p

At a fashion shoot, photographers will occasionally step away from their professional cameras to take a cheap snapshot. It gives a quick, fresh perspective and it’s an easy way to spot adjustments to lighting, background and pose in order to get that perfect shot.

So, what if you used the same technique with your life: snapshots to get a fresh perspective? I dare you – right now- to go and snap a picture of the inside of your fridge. Since in my fridge you might spot that black, fuzzy thing at the back of the bottom shelf, I’ll let words describe my picture:

• half a cake
• apples
• leftover fries
• milk
• homemade mac and cheese

Not too bad, but there’s probably room for improvement. Knowing you might want another peek soon, I’ll shop a little wiser today and be able to show off salad fixings, some more fruit and maybe some OJ next time.

Even if you're not going public with such info, taking a snapshot is a great idea to make us more aware of our daily choices. In fact, the idea comes from a group of researchers who used cell phone pictures as a creative way to combat disease.

Since a major cause of chronic disease is individuals’ everyday health-related decisions that affect long-term health, the researchers gave families cheap cell phones for the purpose of snapping pictures related to day to day activities. Simply drawing attention to what went on over the course of the day prompted families to think about what easy adjustments they could make to improve their health. Counselors also reviewed the information with the families and added nutrition education and health tips to further encourage a healthier lifestyle. (Find the full study here in the Journal of Participatory Medicine.)

The premise again is this: A major cause of chronic disease is individuals’ everyday health-related decisions that affect long-term health.

Put that up behind a fridge magnet and ponder it.