Heather Verity
Behavior Change-Exercise
Contemporary Health 2
Exercise is important and beneficial for many reasons. For me, it is important because I
have a family history of heart attacks and anxiety, both of which can be controlled with regular
exercise. I find that my anxiety levels have intensified over the years and in turn, I have had to
increase my dosage of medicine. I have also recently become aware that many of my relatives on
my father’s side of the family have passed away due to heart attacks. Although I am not
overweight as many of them were, I do fear the consequences of living a sedentary lifestyle. It is
because of these reasons that I decided to use this assignment to become more active.
Research demonstrates that exercise can lower the risk of high blood pressure,
cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety, diabetes, certain types of cancer, and arthritis, just to
name a few (Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity, 2011). Exercise also improves
mood by stimulating many different brain chemicals, helping you to feel relaxed, happy, and
have lower levels of stress (Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity, 2011). Exercise
gives you more energy by transporting extra oxygen and nutrients to the tissues (Exercise: 7
Benefits of Regular Physical Activity, 2011). Exercise can strengthen your bones, lowering your
risk of Osteoporosis later in life (The Incredible Benefits of Regular Exercise, 2010).
I know that in order to live a happy and healthy life, I need to make sure I am in good
physical condition. Since I am predisposed to certain health issues such as anxiety and
cardiovascular disease, I want to incorporate exercise into my daily regimen. That is why I have
made my behavior change to exercise four days a week for at least 30 minutes.
I found that I moved from preparation into action rather quickly. Once I had made the
gym schedule for myself I jumped right in and began only a few days later. Every once in a
while I found myself slipping and becoming less motivated, but I got back on track within a short
amount of time. I noticed from my tables that I had many days that I said I felt proud of myself,
which motivates me to continue with my goal.
I feel great about my change. I have noticed that I’ve become stronger and I have lost a
little bit of weight. I also feel less anxious and I have more energy. Exercising makes me feel
strong and confident which has raised my self-efficacy and self-esteem. I feel very proud of
myself that I was able to create a goal and stick to it.
I used a few strategies for my behavior change. First, I made sure to make a plan ahead of
time of when I could go to the gym so that I wouldn’t use the excuse of being too busy. I also
dressed in the morning for the gym so that while I was on campus I’d be ready to workout. I
bought myself new gym sneakers to make myself excited about the change. Lastly, I told myself
that I want to look fit and healthy for a vacation I am taking in June to give myself more
motivation.
I did achieve my goal, for the most part. There were a few weeks that I went to the gym
only 3 times instead of 4. I found that on the days I did not go to the gym, my feelings were
actually just excuses; such as “I’m too hungry and tired” and “I’m preoccupied with other
assignments”. Although I am happy that I have been going, I do wish that I would have gone a
few more times throughout the weeks.
The most difficult aspect of changing is breaking my old habits of being sedentary.
Sometimes I am so exhausted from class that the last thing I want to do is workout at the gym. I
enjoy coming home after class and watching television in bed; especially when it is freezing
outside. Another difficult aspect of changing is that I am not too familiar with the machines at
the gym. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know what I am doing when I am there, which makes me
feel less enthused about working out.
The easiest part of change was getting myself motivated. Because I am studying health
and exercise science, I feel like I should be part of the gym scene. I am often the only one in each
of my classes that does not have a passion for exercising. For this reason, I feel motivated to
commit myself to exercise in order to better fit in with others in my field of study.
The most satisfying part of change was the feeling I got when I was done a workout. I felt
very proud of myself and I felt more confident overall. It was nice to see other students from my
major at the gym because I felt like I was finally fully devoted to health and exercise science.
Once I began to feel stronger and healthier I felt even more satisfied. I also was very happy that I
kept my commitment to myself about this change.
It worked well for me to keep myself from thinking about the change too much. I found
that if I was dreading going to the gym all day long, I usually wouldn’t go. If I kept my mind off
of going to the gym, however, I would automatically just walk to the rec center after class and
my workout would be over before I even noticed. I tried to stay positive and to think of all of the
reasons I wanted to change. Instead of thinking how I didn’t feel like working out, I would think
of how it would feel to look great in my bathing suit during my vacation in June.
I don’t think I would change anything about how I approached this behavior change. I
believe that I really helped myself commit by planning ahead and thinking of the positives of
change. I found it really useful to track my actions and feelings because I could monitor how
many times I actually went or skipped the gym. If I were to do another behavior change, I would
use the same strategies as I used for this change.
I have learned that I am much more capable than I thought I was when it comes to
making changes. I am really proud that I was able to motivate myself to go to the gym so many
times over the past few weeks, even if I didn’t go as much as I had originally hoped. I have tried
to incorporate exercise into my life many times before but it has never continued for as long as it
has this time. I feel that my self-efficacy and self-esteem have both increased.
I am planning on continuing this behavior change for a long time. I do not want to end up
like many of my relatives with heart problems and I do not want to rely on medicine to control
my anxiety. I plan to continue exercising 4 days a week for at least 30 minutes and I am hoping
that I will eventually increase my time spent at the gym. I also will keep myself motivated with
new ideas of how to work out so that I don’t get bored with my routine.
References
Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity. (2011, July 23). Mayo Clinic. Retrieved
March 14, 2013, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676
The Incredible Benefits of Regular Exercise. (2010, March 7). Teen Health Center: Information
on Teens. Retrieved March 14, 2013, from http://teens.webmd.com/benefits-of-exercise