Personal Behavior-Change-Project
Mudd 2 When I performed this behavior-change-project it steadily increased the presence of happiness in my life and had also increased my energy, confidence, and overall well-being. I could not believe the personal rewards I reaped from a single school assignment, not to mention an assignment I had to base on myself. Not knowing which behavior to nominate to change at first, I directed my attention to focus on anything I wished were different in my life, or at least things I could change myself. That was not too difficult-considering I wasn't lacking behaviors I would have loved to alter in one way or another, or simply have removed from my life. My decision, which easily dominated many other behaviors I took into consideration, was the
…show more content…
fact that for years I have been unhappy.. Although my short-term memory is weak, it cannot compare to my fortunate ability of recalling long-term memories. In the majority of the ones I can remember I could reminisce about my life years ago without opacity. Unfortunately, it was clear that in those times I was an unhappy person. I believe my unhappiness began twelve years ago when I was in fourth grade; this was when I first hit one hundred pounds and realized how I was much more "heavy-set" than I was than my peers. This released stressor on my endocrine system prompting my body to lower levels of dopamine that eventually caused my depressing condition. (Asterita 35). I can remember myself as a child, thinking negatively about myself, always regarding my weight problem, and starting dangerous thinking patterns that would eventually lead to self-consciousness. Since I am a much more confident and happier person now, it is frustrating that I do not have more lighthearted memories to recollect, and I can't help regretting how depressed I was in my youth hood for being so overweight. In fourth grade, when I noticed my weight being a problem, for health or attraction, a vicious cycle began which escalated my condition tremendously.
The cycle, which is common for obese people, consisted of an urge to eat because I was depressed, my depression was fueled by my weight condition, and my weight condition was a product of my eating habits. "I can't stop eating. I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat. It's a vicious cycle." (Austin Powers, 2000). Various ingredients came into play in my depression's plenary foundation: never knowing my biological parents, having divorced adoptive parents, and of course, the painful weight struggle I've endured throughout most of my entire teenage life. If an over diminished existence of self-confidence and mental scars criticizing are not enough, my parents would bring home clothes for me that where too small and in those seldom times that I did go with them to the store they would suggest clothes that I could not fit into. Although the message was clear that I was overweight, it was not likely the message received from my parents' behalf was deliberate. Nevertheless, my condition embarrassed me and made me extremely self-conscious. Since I was too big for my clothes, old or new, I felt fat and unattractive in all the clothes I wore. Some people would consider that being ten years old is too elementary for a child to worry about a weight problem, but I've been interested in dating girls since nine and at the point of being ten years old, I was becoming comfortable talking to girls
and
Mudd 3
was steadily becoming more and more attracted to them. This was a problem because I was maturing to an age where girls were becoming a major part in my life, and at the same time, I was developing a sense of unhappiness with the way I looked. When I was complimented, I look at it as a joke. I also disliked seeing myself in pictures and wrongly believed there was no one who could possibly be interested in a person like me. Once I was in middle school, all of my close friends started dating, and when invited, I would constantly be the third or fifth wheel. In middle school, your hormones play many mean tricks on you and you start feeling ways you have never felt before. This was a bad time for me to have felt so alone. I eventually tried dieting and exercising secretly, on multiple occasions, but consistently fell to my cravings when with my friends and continuously drifted away from the exercise when I could spend time with friends instead. Having been at such a young age, it wasn't very common for one of my friends to have a lazy metabolism like myself, so I was impossible for me to confide in a friend and workout him or her. I was so overweight I became too embarrassed to ask dates to any school dances, so ultimately, I just did not go to them. In high school, I finally started asking girls out, though few and far between, and in the times that I did I got shot down. Appearance, although not everything, is clearly a substantial factor in the building blocks of self-confidence for a person like me. I was obviously unhappy with myself and I let it effect many important parts of my life. Being provided this beneficial behavior change assignment, I have nominated my physical appearance as the major subject of change. I didn't believe there was a miracle pill or super drink I can buy to make my wishes come true. I didn't have the money to buy it even if I did, so I decided that the main target behaviors that I will have to alter are (but are not limited to): Eating habits, physical activity, and water consumption. Also I would have to start saving money to buy new clothes Since I fell so many times in the past, it was very important that I organized my plan of action for my behavior-change-program perfectly and tailored to my personal needs. I would have to set challenging but reasonable but goals, follow a personalized eating guide based on my research, and execute my plan without falling off the wagon too early. This would not be easy, just like it was extremely difficult in the past. There were many factors that kept me from reaching my goal back then so I knew I needed to plan on them happening again and intercept them before they can sabotage me. I would have to reinforce my behavior-change program to meet these demands whether it be compensating, limiting, or removing things in my life. By experiencing the sabotaging urges first-hand I knew I would have to find ways to eat healthily away from home, without preparing food at home to bring with me. I also would have to adjust my schedule around my gym workouts as much as possible, to guarantee my attendance. I would also need to find someone to attend the gym with me, for the majority of the time, to encourage me to push my limits and avoid hitting a fitness plateau. But first things first, I knew I needed to be tested
Mudd 4
by a professional to aware myself of how bad my condition was and additionally, what activities I should not rush into, if any. It all started relatively easy. I came across an advertisement in a two week old North County Times I found in my garage for a local 24hour Fitness. Although a price was not mentioned it still made me realize what a good investment it would be. I could get signed up to a gym that never closed and the deal came with a free personal consultation. That is all I was informed of from the advertisement so I knew I had to pay them a visit to hear how much "damage" they would really entail from me to obtain a club membership. I knew that there were many other gyms that would have probably been sufficient, but since I was unaware of what may come up in the future ninety days, whether at work or at school, I considered going with a club that stays open for twenty-four hours so that I can attend morning or night as I needed. Deciding to bite-the-bullet and join the club, regardless of price, would be a great first investment to move me towards my eventual goal, which at that point would be priceless. I went inside the 24hour Fitness on the corner of Frazee and CA76 on the twentieth of February and walked out with only having to pay $29.00 dollars a month, $140.00 down, and scored a free one hour appointment of personal training with a tight-bodied brunette by the name of Erika. Not to bad. More importantly, by attending the free consultation I got a better perspective on the issues at hand by being given an included fat caliper test and body mass index (BMI) assessment by taking my height and weight. They also gave me a diet planner, which helped me understand serving sizes and nutritional facts in everyday foods. This was convenient since the planner was small so it would fit in my car's glove box. It would also give me both a basic understanding of how to construct a healthy meal at home and a bonus nutrition guide for foods normally offered out on the road. Just by signing that agreement I made my schedule a lot more flexible since I could go workout anytime I wanted and whenever I had to eat on the road I would have something with me that can assist me to make a better choice and not sabotage my effort. To be perfectly honest, the personal training session with Erika didn't benefit me as much as I planned since I couldn't help but want to talk to her about anything but gym-related material. But, when we got back on topic I soaked in some half-baked information about lifting correctly and how to get the most out of the time that you spend at the facility. I knew then that if wanted to get the best results I could possibly get I needed more than Erika to get me there. Since running into some difficulty finding referable information on the web for the next few days I decided the most valuable, non-bias material would be in books. I would then be able to compare and contrast the different material and start making my personalized diet and exercise program, but before I could calculate my needs, I would have to into consideration what my goals were going to be. Like I mentioned before, it would have to be rational but at the same time be intensive. Mudd 5 I was 6'2" and 258 lbs when I added Health 101 to my schedule. From a professional standpoint that is 53 lbs overweight (Whitney and Rolfes inside back covers). Taking my previously attempted diets into consideration, when I start dieting right and exercising regularly, the first weight I shed is mostly water. This is normal and is exciting for anyone who is new at fitness because it usually is a large amount of weight right off the bat. I planned on losing about 8-10 lbs of water weight but I actually ended up losing an excess of 10 lbs in my first week and a half. This was very exciting for me, of course, after that my weight loss screeched to a snail pace. After my water weight drops in the first few weeks, the only weight I will lose from then on is fat or muscle. Since fat is burned much more slowly than the excess water my body is retaining I should be able to lose up to two pounds of body fat a week. Any more than two pounds, I will be risking losing my muscle tissue (Phillips 119). Once my excess water was lost I weighed in at close to 250 lbs, not bad for a week and a half, but calculating how much weight I could lose safely in three months led me to healthily attainable objective weight of: 225 lbs. Although still 20 lbs over the highest acceptable weight for a man my age and at my height, it is much closer to a healthier body weight than 258 lbs. Unfortunately, the BMI is not the most accurate test when referring to my body because weight is not an affective assessment to use by itself. Weight cannot tell me what my body fat percentage actually is (Whitney and Rolfes 254). That is when getting the fat caliper test, or using the assessor, was for at 24Hour Fitness. After I lost the water weight I went back into the club to get a second caliper test. I was 25% body fat. That test made it clear to me how to select my perfect objectives, and they are as follows: my goal weight was 228 lbs, my goal body fat percentage was 22%. Let's ride. A schedule would be necessary if success was important. I primarily based my workout schedule visiting my club six days a week. Mondays and Thursdays were for my upper body, Tuesdays and Fridays for my lower body, and Wednesdays and Saturdays for cardio/abdominals, all two hours before breakfast. So in my case that meant I had to complete my sets at the gym before 7:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays since I had school at 10:00 a.m. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I had to complete my sets before 6:00 a.m. to be at work at 9:00 a.m. and on Saturdays I had to complete them before 5:00 a.m. to be at work at 8:00 a.m. Instead of counting calorie intake, I decided to memorize healthy portions of food and how to build solid nutritious meals. I ate six times a day, which mostly consisted of: a protein shake in the morning, a light breakfast, a six-inch Subway sandwich or salad for lunch, a protein bar for afternoon snacks, a 6 oz portion of fish or poultry served with rice and beans for dinner, and sorbet for dessert. At these frequent eating rates, I was free of hunger the whole entire day. Sunday was my day off and I could eat what I wanted; reason for this being, my body, like anyone else's, will adjust to my diet and will slow my progress down. The physiological reason to overeating once a week is to help convince your body that it is not starving (Phillips 92). March 20th, the month anniversary of my diet, brought forth the realization that persistence gets results. I hit the scale at 238, exactly20 lbs. lighter than when I started the program. By taking these few simple healthy eating guidelines from The real Vitamin and Mineral Book I reached my weight goal: 1. Avoid processed foods such as white flour 2. Eat an abundant amount of brown rice and other whole grains, as well as whole-grained breads and cereals. 3. Eat whole food rather than frozen, canned or commercially prepared foods. 4. Use butter and oils sparingly 5. Avoid using sugar 6. Eat slowly, and enjoy your food! (57) I was still 24% body fat, but I had made a significant change on my body and the way I felt physically. My energy from exercising in the morning led to higher sustained levels of energy throughout my work days. I began taking small dosages of chromium picolinate, and got started on an over-the-counter thermogenic, Ripped Fuel. Although the exercises I performed and the dieting produced amazing results quickly, I did not receive any noticeable positive changes from the picolinate; also, the thermogenics altered my body's energy feed from normally drawing from calories and fat deposits to directing the source at my muscle tissue. Of course I dropped more weight while on the thermogenics, but I was having a harder time in the long run by losing muscle I was toning and isolating twice a week. Additionally, there were many times when I fell to cravings during my week diets, but they were mostly at lunch time; besides, by the time I began wandering from my diets my metabolism was already in full-throttle from constantly eating. April 20th, 2005 was the day I reached 230 lbs. I had almost reached my weight goal, a month ahead of time, and had lost over 25lbs of fat and toned my muscle groups to the best condition they have been in my life. I had taken no supplements, since my time was wasted on the two mentioned before, and had consistently drank a surplus of a gallon of water a day since I started the program. I am now 20% body fat and feel more vibrant than ever. I am constantly approached by my friends and family, consistently approving and complimenting me on my looks and how much happier I seemed. I had been unhappy with my weight since I realized that I had a weight problem in fourth grade. It wasn't until this class that I realized that there were some things that I needed to change about myself, and I had to take action.
Mudd 1
Running Head: The Best Gift
The Best Gift You Can Give Yourself
Evan Mudd
Ms. Schafer
April 28, 2005
fact that for years I have been unhappy.. Although my short-term memory is weak, it cannot compare to my fortunate ability of recalling long-term memories. In the majority of the ones I can remember I could reminisce about my life years ago without opacity. Unfortunately, it was clear that in those times I was an unhappy person. I believe my unhappiness began twelve years ago when I was in fourth grade; this was when I first hit one hundred pounds and realized how I was much more "heavy-set" than I was than my peers. This released stressor on my endocrine system prompting my body to lower levels of dopamine that eventually caused my depressing condition. (Asterita 35). I can remember myself as a child, thinking negatively about myself, always regarding my weight problem, and starting dangerous thinking patterns that would eventually lead to self-consciousness. Since I am a much more confident and happier person now, it is frustrating that I do not have more lighthearted memories to recollect, and I can't help regretting how depressed I was in my youth hood for being so overweight. In fourth grade, when I noticed my weight being a problem, for health or attraction, a vicious cycle began which escalated my condition tremendously.
The cycle, which is common for obese people, consisted of an urge to eat because I was depressed, my depression was fueled by my weight condition, and my weight condition was a product of my eating habits. "I can't stop eating. I eat because I'm unhappy, and I'm unhappy because I eat. It's a vicious cycle." (Austin Powers, 2000). Various ingredients came into play in my depression's plenary foundation: never knowing my biological parents, having divorced adoptive parents, and of course, the painful weight struggle I've endured throughout most of my entire teenage life. If an over diminished existence of self-confidence and mental scars criticizing are not enough, my parents would bring home clothes for me that where too small and in those seldom times that I did go with them to the store they would suggest clothes that I could not fit into. Although the message was clear that I was overweight, it was not likely the message received from my parents' behalf was deliberate. Nevertheless, my condition embarrassed me and made me extremely self-conscious. Since I was too big for my clothes, old or new, I felt fat and unattractive in all the clothes I wore. Some people would consider that being ten years old is too elementary for a child to worry about a weight problem, but I've been interested in dating girls since nine and at the point of being ten years old, I was becoming comfortable talking to girls
and
Mudd 3
was steadily becoming more and more attracted to them. This was a problem because I was maturing to an age where girls were becoming a major part in my life, and at the same time, I was developing a sense of unhappiness with the way I looked. When I was complimented, I look at it as a joke. I also disliked seeing myself in pictures and wrongly believed there was no one who could possibly be interested in a person like me. Once I was in middle school, all of my close friends started dating, and when invited, I would constantly be the third or fifth wheel. In middle school, your hormones play many mean tricks on you and you start feeling ways you have never felt before. This was a bad time for me to have felt so alone. I eventually tried dieting and exercising secretly, on multiple occasions, but consistently fell to my cravings when with my friends and continuously drifted away from the exercise when I could spend time with friends instead. Having been at such a young age, it wasn't very common for one of my friends to have a lazy metabolism like myself, so I was impossible for me to confide in a friend and workout him or her. I was so overweight I became too embarrassed to ask dates to any school dances, so ultimately, I just did not go to them. In high school, I finally started asking girls out, though few and far between, and in the times that I did I got shot down. Appearance, although not everything, is clearly a substantial factor in the building blocks of self-confidence for a person like me. I was obviously unhappy with myself and I let it effect many important parts of my life. Being provided this beneficial behavior change assignment, I have nominated my physical appearance as the major subject of change. I didn't believe there was a miracle pill or super drink I can buy to make my wishes come true. I didn't have the money to buy it even if I did, so I decided that the main target behaviors that I will have to alter are (but are not limited to): Eating habits, physical activity, and water consumption. Also I would have to start saving money to buy new clothes Since I fell so many times in the past, it was very important that I organized my plan of action for my behavior-change-program perfectly and tailored to my personal needs. I would have to set challenging but reasonable but goals, follow a personalized eating guide based on my research, and execute my plan without falling off the wagon too early. This would not be easy, just like it was extremely difficult in the past. There were many factors that kept me from reaching my goal back then so I knew I needed to plan on them happening again and intercept them before they can sabotage me. I would have to reinforce my behavior-change program to meet these demands whether it be compensating, limiting, or removing things in my life. By experiencing the sabotaging urges first-hand I knew I would have to find ways to eat healthily away from home, without preparing food at home to bring with me. I also would have to adjust my schedule around my gym workouts as much as possible, to guarantee my attendance. I would also need to find someone to attend the gym with me, for the majority of the time, to encourage me to push my limits and avoid hitting a fitness plateau. But first things first, I knew I needed to be tested
Mudd 4
by a professional to aware myself of how bad my condition was and additionally, what activities I should not rush into, if any. It all started relatively easy. I came across an advertisement in a two week old North County Times I found in my garage for a local 24hour Fitness. Although a price was not mentioned it still made me realize what a good investment it would be. I could get signed up to a gym that never closed and the deal came with a free personal consultation. That is all I was informed of from the advertisement so I knew I had to pay them a visit to hear how much "damage" they would really entail from me to obtain a club membership. I knew that there were many other gyms that would have probably been sufficient, but since I was unaware of what may come up in the future ninety days, whether at work or at school, I considered going with a club that stays open for twenty-four hours so that I can attend morning or night as I needed. Deciding to bite-the-bullet and join the club, regardless of price, would be a great first investment to move me towards my eventual goal, which at that point would be priceless. I went inside the 24hour Fitness on the corner of Frazee and CA76 on the twentieth of February and walked out with only having to pay $29.00 dollars a month, $140.00 down, and scored a free one hour appointment of personal training with a tight-bodied brunette by the name of Erika. Not to bad. More importantly, by attending the free consultation I got a better perspective on the issues at hand by being given an included fat caliper test and body mass index (BMI) assessment by taking my height and weight. They also gave me a diet planner, which helped me understand serving sizes and nutritional facts in everyday foods. This was convenient since the planner was small so it would fit in my car's glove box. It would also give me both a basic understanding of how to construct a healthy meal at home and a bonus nutrition guide for foods normally offered out on the road. Just by signing that agreement I made my schedule a lot more flexible since I could go workout anytime I wanted and whenever I had to eat on the road I would have something with me that can assist me to make a better choice and not sabotage my effort. To be perfectly honest, the personal training session with Erika didn't benefit me as much as I planned since I couldn't help but want to talk to her about anything but gym-related material. But, when we got back on topic I soaked in some half-baked information about lifting correctly and how to get the most out of the time that you spend at the facility. I knew then that if wanted to get the best results I could possibly get I needed more than Erika to get me there. Since running into some difficulty finding referable information on the web for the next few days I decided the most valuable, non-bias material would be in books. I would then be able to compare and contrast the different material and start making my personalized diet and exercise program, but before I could calculate my needs, I would have to into consideration what my goals were going to be. Like I mentioned before, it would have to be rational but at the same time be intensive. Mudd 5 I was 6'2" and 258 lbs when I added Health 101 to my schedule. From a professional standpoint that is 53 lbs overweight (Whitney and Rolfes inside back covers). Taking my previously attempted diets into consideration, when I start dieting right and exercising regularly, the first weight I shed is mostly water. This is normal and is exciting for anyone who is new at fitness because it usually is a large amount of weight right off the bat. I planned on losing about 8-10 lbs of water weight but I actually ended up losing an excess of 10 lbs in my first week and a half. This was very exciting for me, of course, after that my weight loss screeched to a snail pace. After my water weight drops in the first few weeks, the only weight I will lose from then on is fat or muscle. Since fat is burned much more slowly than the excess water my body is retaining I should be able to lose up to two pounds of body fat a week. Any more than two pounds, I will be risking losing my muscle tissue (Phillips 119). Once my excess water was lost I weighed in at close to 250 lbs, not bad for a week and a half, but calculating how much weight I could lose safely in three months led me to healthily attainable objective weight of: 225 lbs. Although still 20 lbs over the highest acceptable weight for a man my age and at my height, it is much closer to a healthier body weight than 258 lbs. Unfortunately, the BMI is not the most accurate test when referring to my body because weight is not an affective assessment to use by itself. Weight cannot tell me what my body fat percentage actually is (Whitney and Rolfes 254). That is when getting the fat caliper test, or using the assessor, was for at 24Hour Fitness. After I lost the water weight I went back into the club to get a second caliper test. I was 25% body fat. That test made it clear to me how to select my perfect objectives, and they are as follows: my goal weight was 228 lbs, my goal body fat percentage was 22%. Let's ride. A schedule would be necessary if success was important. I primarily based my workout schedule visiting my club six days a week. Mondays and Thursdays were for my upper body, Tuesdays and Fridays for my lower body, and Wednesdays and Saturdays for cardio/abdominals, all two hours before breakfast. So in my case that meant I had to complete my sets at the gym before 7:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays since I had school at 10:00 a.m. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I had to complete my sets before 6:00 a.m. to be at work at 9:00 a.m. and on Saturdays I had to complete them before 5:00 a.m. to be at work at 8:00 a.m. Instead of counting calorie intake, I decided to memorize healthy portions of food and how to build solid nutritious meals. I ate six times a day, which mostly consisted of: a protein shake in the morning, a light breakfast, a six-inch Subway sandwich or salad for lunch, a protein bar for afternoon snacks, a 6 oz portion of fish or poultry served with rice and beans for dinner, and sorbet for dessert. At these frequent eating rates, I was free of hunger the whole entire day. Sunday was my day off and I could eat what I wanted; reason for this being, my body, like anyone else's, will adjust to my diet and will slow my progress down. The physiological reason to overeating once a week is to help convince your body that it is not starving (Phillips 92). March 20th, the month anniversary of my diet, brought forth the realization that persistence gets results. I hit the scale at 238, exactly20 lbs. lighter than when I started the program. By taking these few simple healthy eating guidelines from The real Vitamin and Mineral Book I reached my weight goal: 1. Avoid processed foods such as white flour 2. Eat an abundant amount of brown rice and other whole grains, as well as whole-grained breads and cereals. 3. Eat whole food rather than frozen, canned or commercially prepared foods. 4. Use butter and oils sparingly 5. Avoid using sugar 6. Eat slowly, and enjoy your food! (57) I was still 24% body fat, but I had made a significant change on my body and the way I felt physically. My energy from exercising in the morning led to higher sustained levels of energy throughout my work days. I began taking small dosages of chromium picolinate, and got started on an over-the-counter thermogenic, Ripped Fuel. Although the exercises I performed and the dieting produced amazing results quickly, I did not receive any noticeable positive changes from the picolinate; also, the thermogenics altered my body's energy feed from normally drawing from calories and fat deposits to directing the source at my muscle tissue. Of course I dropped more weight while on the thermogenics, but I was having a harder time in the long run by losing muscle I was toning and isolating twice a week. Additionally, there were many times when I fell to cravings during my week diets, but they were mostly at lunch time; besides, by the time I began wandering from my diets my metabolism was already in full-throttle from constantly eating. April 20th, 2005 was the day I reached 230 lbs. I had almost reached my weight goal, a month ahead of time, and had lost over 25lbs of fat and toned my muscle groups to the best condition they have been in my life. I had taken no supplements, since my time was wasted on the two mentioned before, and had consistently drank a surplus of a gallon of water a day since I started the program. I am now 20% body fat and feel more vibrant than ever. I am constantly approached by my friends and family, consistently approving and complimenting me on my looks and how much happier I seemed. I had been unhappy with my weight since I realized that I had a weight problem in fourth grade. It wasn't until this class that I realized that there were some things that I needed to change about myself, and I had to take action.
Mudd 1
Running Head: The Best Gift
The Best Gift You Can Give Yourself
Evan Mudd
Ms. Schafer
April 28, 2005