BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
Research suggests that people know and understand the benefits of physical activity and healthy lifestyle. (66% of Canadians) but over 70% of new and returning exercisers are at risk for early dropout. This course is designed to try to get you to understand that everyone needs to adopt an attitude that this is a lifestyle: for life!
Why do most people not stick to a healthy lifestyle?
What are a list of excuses / barriers / obstacles that people use to drop out of a fitness program? (Think about this: most people do not start life with a weight problem…but as people reach their late teens we are seeing trends of weight issues…use that point to help you think of answers)
You are taking this course so you have made a decision to start a fitness program. What are your motivations for beginning this fitness program?
What might be your own obstacles?
How might you overcome these?
OVERHEAD: WHY PEOPLE DO NOT STICK TO AN EXERCISE PROGRAM
· Start a course, do the course, course finishes and then they stop exercising :
· Too busy
· No one to exercise with
· The gym hours are inconvenient
· Job conflicts
There are many excuses…think about being a product of your environment:
· Transportation: we are driven everywhere when we are children – even short distances
· We witness people take elevators, escalators…
· We see people use remote controls, pagers, cell phones…
· We see people stop at fast food places and order super-sized, calorie dense, high fat foods
· We see people watch TV and surf the net for hours at a time
· Even modern technology like shopping centers have automatic doors so you don’t even have to push it open, there are not enough stairs so if you want to walk up the escalator you can’t because people in front of you are blocking you
· Trails and paths in many places aren’t enough
· Places for safe exercise are fewer in cities
· Food portions in many places have increased
** All of these influence our thought process and hinder our ability to be physically active and adopt healthy behaviors into our personal lifestyle
**THE POINT: IT IS DIFFICULT TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR AND ADOPT THIS ATTITUDE AND LIFESTYLE….IT TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT BUT IT IS NECESSARY AND WORTH IT!!!!
OVERHEAD: LIST OF BARRIERS TO CHANGE
PROCRASTINATION:
People seem to think that tomorrow, next week of after the holiday is the best time to start
PRECONDITIONED CULTURAL BELIEFS:
If we let ourselves believe that we are a product of our environment we won’t change
GRATIFICATION:
People like instant gratification – see immediate change …this takes a while…
RISK COMPLACENCY:
The consequences of unhealthy behaviors don’t catch up with you for many years later. IE: I will use the tanning beds now and deal with cancer later…
COMPLEXITY:
People think the world is too complicated and they have too much to deal with – this one is tough because it may be valid but take it one step at a time
INDIFFERENCE and HELPLESSNESS:
A defeatist thought process takes over and people often feel they have no control over their health
ILLUSIONS OF INVINCIBILITY:
At times people think that unhealthy behaviors will not harm them IE: I can smoke now and in a few years I will quit before it causes damage
OVERHEAD: MOTIVATIONS FOR A FITNESS PROGRAM
Understanding motivations may help you plan your fitness program:
Some typical motivations include:
· I WANT TO GAIN HEALTH BENEFITS
· I WANT TO HAVE FUN
· I WANT TO MEET NEW PEOPLE OR EXERCISE WITH FRIENDS
· I LIKE THE CHALLENGE OF SETTING GOALS AND DOING WELL IN COMPETITION
· I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT
· I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A STRONGER, MORE TONED BODY
GOAL SETTING:
Setting appropriate, realistic goals can mean the difference between success and failure in fitness programming.
Goals need to be SMART (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic and time-oriented). People will often start a program and think they can lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks. Reality is your progress will be slow, especially while your body adjusts to the new activity. Eventually, consistent exercise will result in noticeable improvement. Setting goals includes considering everything you have assessed about yourself: your fitness level when you began, your reasons for exercise, and your motivations and attitudes about physical activity. Keep your physical limitations in mind (ie: how much activity can you fit into your schedule)
Complete the following goal setting activities for this course:
Section 1: Personal Wellness Quizzes
a. Review your answers from quizzes and choose 3 target behaviors to change. Record these 3.
Section 2: Long term goal: Typically these are 6 months of more but we only have 5 so…by the end of the course what would you like to see changed? Select 3 fitness goals (one for cardio, one for muscular strength and one for flexibility). Use our fitness test and our starting scores to select which ones you want to use. Remember they have to be SMART.
1. S
M
A
R
T
2. S
M
A
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3. S
M
A
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SECTION 3 SHORT TERM GOALS:
These are those you want to achieve in less than 6 months – we are going to use monthly goals as we do our fitness tests monthly. These goals will help you achieve your long term goals. Using the long term goals you have set – set monthly goals for each. Make sure they are SMART!!
1. OCT NOV DEC JAN
2. OCT NOV DEC JAN
3. OCT NOV DEC JAN
Rewards: People tend to repeat behaviors that are rewarded and disregard those that are not rewarded or are punished. How can you reward yourself for achieving your goals?