For my behavioral change project, I decided to change my exercise habits. I wanted to begin a more active lifestyle. I wasn’t very active before this project and I wanted to change that. I knew I wanted to make that change because of family with heart issues. I knew that many other health issues could occur if I didn’t change my habits. I started out slowly with low intensity and low frequency of exercise and began to slowly build it up so that I could attain the routine for long after the semester ends. I wanted to get closer to or even achieve a healthier weight for my age and size to reduce the risk of several diseases. Added onto this, I began eating healthier to make the exercise more effective and balance my energy intake and expenditure.
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I hardly ever exercised aside from the usual walking around on campus. Over the semester, I changed my habits. I began to work out more often, for longer periods of time. Throughout the process, I reached other goals. At first, my goal was just to exercise more often and begin building a regular routine. Throughout the process, I was able to begin working my way to a healthy weight, while also being able to maintain that healthy weight. The long-term goals of this project for me were as stated previously—to start the habit of exercising and then reach and maintain a healthy weight.
This behavioral change was anything but easy. I faced several obstacles while trying to commit to an exercise routine. I am still facing many of the obstacles as I continue to try to keep this routine which will hopefully turn into a long-term habit to stay healthy. One of those obstacles was staying motivated. I couldn’t find much motivation to …show more content…
The first step is pre-contemplation. Pre-contemplation is when the person who is considering making a change, may not see a problem with what they are (or aren’t) doing. I kind of passed over this stage. I knew there was a problem or that there could be potential health issues if I continued to be more sedentary. The next stage is contemplation. I basically started right at this stage. I was aware that I needed to make a change. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to transition myself into a more active lifestyle. The third stage is preparation. In this stage, I began making a plan on how to make this change. I decided that I needed to take it slow. So, I gradually made small changes that led up to exercises that I would do for longer periods of time and more frequently. I laid out a weekly plan of the time, intensity and type of exercises. The fourth step is action. At this phase, I was ready to take action. I began my exercise routines. Throughout the semester, I started with twenty minutes of light exercise for two or three days of the week. Then I ended the semester with about sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise and thirty minutes of light exercise for four days out of the week. The fifth stage is maintenance. This is keeping up and following through with the change. I followed through with the change and continue to keep up with my exercise routine and I am still slowly increasing
I hardly ever exercised aside from the usual walking around on campus. Over the semester, I changed my habits. I began to work out more often, for longer periods of time. Throughout the process, I reached other goals. At first, my goal was just to exercise more often and begin building a regular routine. Throughout the process, I was able to begin working my way to a healthy weight, while also being able to maintain that healthy weight. The long-term goals of this project for me were as stated previously—to start the habit of exercising and then reach and maintain a healthy weight.
This behavioral change was anything but easy. I faced several obstacles while trying to commit to an exercise routine. I am still facing many of the obstacles as I continue to try to keep this routine which will hopefully turn into a long-term habit to stay healthy. One of those obstacles was staying motivated. I couldn’t find much motivation to …show more content…
The first step is pre-contemplation. Pre-contemplation is when the person who is considering making a change, may not see a problem with what they are (or aren’t) doing. I kind of passed over this stage. I knew there was a problem or that there could be potential health issues if I continued to be more sedentary. The next stage is contemplation. I basically started right at this stage. I was aware that I needed to make a change. I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to transition myself into a more active lifestyle. The third stage is preparation. In this stage, I began making a plan on how to make this change. I decided that I needed to take it slow. So, I gradually made small changes that led up to exercises that I would do for longer periods of time and more frequently. I laid out a weekly plan of the time, intensity and type of exercises. The fourth step is action. At this phase, I was ready to take action. I began my exercise routines. Throughout the semester, I started with twenty minutes of light exercise for two or three days of the week. Then I ended the semester with about sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise and thirty minutes of light exercise for four days out of the week. The fifth stage is maintenance. This is keeping up and following through with the change. I followed through with the change and continue to keep up with my exercise routine and I am still slowly increasing