Since the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester, chocolate has become my comfort food. I cannot spend a week without having chocolate at least five out of the seven days of the week; two to three king sizes of any given chocolate candy’s brands per day. This behavioral intention (i.e. attitudes toward the behavior) now turned into a negative health behavior. My excessive consumption of chocolate has become a health compromising behavior (i.e. behaviors that detract from or damage health) since it is now an addictive, habitual and somehow pleasurable activity to me. My high conception of sugar in chocolate could aggravate my obesity (i.e. an excessive accumulation of body fat), cause me to develop hyperglycemia (i.e. blood sugar is too high)
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First, I will start by self-monitoring (i.e. assessing the frequency of a target behavior) to determine why I turn to chocolate and how many do I eat in a set period. Second, I will use a stimulus control (i.e. changing environmental factors to promote better health behavior or reduce a health compromising behavior) to control my response to emotional stimuluses with the goal to eliminate the need to turn to chocolate. Finally, I will use a contingency contracting (i.e. an individual forms a contract with another person detailing the reward or punishment contingent on performing (or not performing) a behavior) to eliminate the chance of relapsing into old …show more content…
I will know that my strategy is working when by checking my log, I could see my intake of chocolate gradually decrease for example from three king size chocolate bars to the smaller size, then to maybe two, then one to none. In checking my log and seeing the result (positive or negative), I will also know effectiveness of my stimulus control strategy. I believe that by not suggesting myself to my possible negative stimulus, I would be more successful on reducing my daily intake of chocolate. It could become advantageous for me to apply my plan as a long-term goal because it could help me have a healthier life. One disadvantage however is that I most likely can be dishonest while self-monitoring and during my contingency contract. For my plan to work, complete honesty with myself and the person helping is beneficial. One way to solve that issue is to continuously evaluate the pros and cons of my actions: who do they hurt at the end, and I need to be sure that I am ready to change my behavior for me and no one else. This can be achieved by maybe engaging more people in my contingency contract. If for example I have one at home (my mother and sister monitoring me), at school (different classmates), and the friends I spend time with, this could prevent me from going for chocolate knowing that I always have a set of eyes on me at all time. Nevertheless, I need to not give up even when I falter in
First, I will start by self-monitoring (i.e. assessing the frequency of a target behavior) to determine why I turn to chocolate and how many do I eat in a set period. Second, I will use a stimulus control (i.e. changing environmental factors to promote better health behavior or reduce a health compromising behavior) to control my response to emotional stimuluses with the goal to eliminate the need to turn to chocolate. Finally, I will use a contingency contracting (i.e. an individual forms a contract with another person detailing the reward or punishment contingent on performing (or not performing) a behavior) to eliminate the chance of relapsing into old …show more content…
I will know that my strategy is working when by checking my log, I could see my intake of chocolate gradually decrease for example from three king size chocolate bars to the smaller size, then to maybe two, then one to none. In checking my log and seeing the result (positive or negative), I will also know effectiveness of my stimulus control strategy. I believe that by not suggesting myself to my possible negative stimulus, I would be more successful on reducing my daily intake of chocolate. It could become advantageous for me to apply my plan as a long-term goal because it could help me have a healthier life. One disadvantage however is that I most likely can be dishonest while self-monitoring and during my contingency contract. For my plan to work, complete honesty with myself and the person helping is beneficial. One way to solve that issue is to continuously evaluate the pros and cons of my actions: who do they hurt at the end, and I need to be sure that I am ready to change my behavior for me and no one else. This can be achieved by maybe engaging more people in my contingency contract. If for example I have one at home (my mother and sister monitoring me), at school (different classmates), and the friends I spend time with, this could prevent me from going for chocolate knowing that I always have a set of eyes on me at all time. Nevertheless, I need to not give up even when I falter in