Sample Chapter

2
Mapping the
Journey
BEHAVIOR CHANGE AND GOAL SETTING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• List and distinguish the benefits of physical fitness in terms of the various
dimensions of wellness.
• Identify barriers against and motives for behavior change that incorporates
recommended levels of exercise into your routine.
• Describe the role that SMART goals play in assisting behavior change, and
develop implementable goals.
• Develop an exercise plan that includes behavioral change strategies and
tactics that will increase and maintain your physical activity at a level that
will return health, social, and emotional benefits.
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CH A P T E R 2
Mapping the Journey
INDICATIONS OF YOUR JOURNEY’S
DIRECTION
It is nearly impossible to accidently live healthfully. To be frank, your daily choices tell
much about your direction. For example, your wallet and calendar are two primary indicators of your decisions. What you buy and consume and how you schedule your day become
gauges for yourself and signs to others of how you conduct your life. Exercise can and
should be such an indicator as well on your journey’s direction. Although you should always
be traveling the path to better fitness, many times you may feel restricted by money and
time. Why is this so dangerous? To sum up: Health not valued is lost. Few things in life can
slip away from us so silently. Being proactive is your best weapon in combating a decline
in your health and limiting your risk for disease.
In this chapter, you will build on what you have learned about your stage of change,
ability to make time to exercise, and your motives for aerobic and resistance exercise.
We will discuss simple concepts that will help you make and maintain meaningful
changes in your life. More importantly, we will continue to personalize your FitQuest
journey based on additional self-assessments that you will complete and feedback that
you will receive.
Figure 2.1: What you learn and practice today will help you find your path to better
fitness and wellness.
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YOUR PERSONAL JOURNEY
Who Makes Decisions About Physical
Activity Recommendations?
Several organizations are well respected and analyze national statistics to make recommendations about exercise.
One such organization is the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The ACSM is the largest organization of
sports medicine doctors and exercise science professionals in the world with more than 45,000 members. ACSM’s
mission is to advance and integrate research in education and practice.1
The ACSM recommends that every adult engage in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, 75 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity, or an adequate combination of the two each week. Practically speaking,
you can reach this goal by doing 30 minutes of a moderate-intensity activity 5 days a week, or you can do a more
vigorous activity 75 minutes or more 3 days a week. The point is that you don’t have to spend a lot of time in your day
to get the amount of exercise you need and receive significant health, social, and emotional benefits.
The following video will show you the impacts of inadequate physical activity, but also how little time is required
to improve your fitness. Watch carefully. You will find that multiple questions in the chapter quiz relate to the video.
Production: Insert IL0201 here and embed EVANS 23.5 hours video from the following link here (http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo) Can the illustration be hyperlinked so that the students go to the video when
they click the image above?
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CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
THE MANY DESTINATIONS OF FITNESS:
DIMENSIONS OF WELLNESS
Inactivity and poor diet are two of the decisive factors that lead to chronic diseases.
When you consider that lifestyle factors contribute to many of the most common causes
of death and that they are also preventable, you must recognize the important role of
physical activity in the lives of people of all ages. In other words, you have modifiable
influences– simple choices you can make – that can decrease our disease risk of common
killers. From children to older adults, the benefits of regular physical activity and proper nutrition are proven to affect physical, mental/emotional, intellectual, occupational,
social, environmental, and spiritual dimensions of wellness. Accordingly, the so-called
“diseases of lifestyle” are largely preventable with a little planning and work.
Figure 2.2: How much time during the day do you spend stationary?
Physical Wellness: Lower Your Risk to
Chronic Disease
A 2013 fact sheet from the World Health Organization details interesting data from 2008:
Approximately 57 million people died in 2008. Roughly 36 million deaths (63% of all
people that died) were due to noncommunicable diseases. The four most common types
are cardiovascular diseases (17.3 million), cancers (7.6 million), chronic lung diseases
(4.2 million), and diabetes (1.3 million).2 According to www.health.gov, cardiovascular
disease is the leading killer and disabler in the United States.3 What might come as a surprise is the fact that cardiovascular disease is a chief killer of people in the prime of life.4
We would be remiss if we failed to mention the prevalence of overweight and obesity. According to www.health.gov, 60% of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese.3 While other
sources may note a different percentage, we all understand overweight and obesity to be
11
an epidemic. Excess adipose tissue (commonly called “fat”) has a strong association with
life-shortening diseases. Obesity is defined by excess fat in the body and is dangerous to your
health. There is strong evidence in medical research that obesity coincides with social stigma,
declining mental health, self-blame, low self-esteem, and depression among other factors.
Many people will not like to hear about these descriptors but the evidence is sound5–7 and the
quality of life deficits are now evident in obese children as young as 8 to 11 years of age.8
There are more great reasons to exercise beyond the physical dimension of wellness.
We emphasize the physical wellness perspective, because the primary factor related to
death is a lack of aerobic fitness. Aerobic fitness improves your heart’s ability to pump
oxygen to the rest of your body. As you will soon find out, physical activity has direct and
indirect impacts on all of the dimensions of wellness – physical, mental/emotional, intellectual, occupational, social, environmental, and spiritual.
Figure 2.3: No corner of the country is untouched by the obesity epidemic.
Source: Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, Center for Disease Control.
Mental and Emotional Wellness: Celebrate
Your Self-Image
Mental and emotional health are often discussed in tandem. They include concepts related
to feelings, thoughts, self-image, and your overall psychological well-being. Indicators
of this dimension of health include levels of anxiety, depression, self-concept, perceived
stress, or perceived vigor.
Engagement in regular physical activity is associated with lower levels of anxiety,9 fewer
depressive symptoms,10 and improvement of self-concept.11 Based on current research,
aerobic exercise offers powerful mental and emotional benefits. While resistance exercise
may be beneficial, there is less evidence available in scientific research. This is an area that
may get more attention in the future.
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CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
The mechanism by which exercise can create change in mental and emotional health
is multifold, but the stimulation of endorphins (the body’s natural mood enhancer) is likely
involved. Endorphins are a group of neurotransmitters that are released primarily from
the pituitary gland in the middle part of the brain. The word endorphin comes from the
words “endogenous” which means produced or growing from within and “morphine” as
in the addictive drug. Endorphins are the body’s natural opiate released in response to
excitement, pain, exercise, and spicy food (among other things). They produce a feeling of
euphoria or wellness by binding with opiate receptors in the brain to reduce perception of
pain. Although endorphins act similarly to drugs such as morphine and codeine, they do
not lead to dependence.
In addition, physical activity can make you feel a sense of accomplishment, and empowering experiences directly tie to self-esteem. One researcher categorized depressed
patients into one of three groups: medication-only, exercise-only, or exercise and medication. Results indicated that exercising 3 times each week for 30 minutes was as effective
as taking Zoloft® in improving depressive symptoms in patients after just a few months!12
Even more astounding, subjects in the exercise-only group were less likely to become
depressed again over the course of the next six months – even compared to those taking
Zoloft®! Researchers believe that taking medication may leave you feeling as though your
source of help is beyond or outside of your natural ability, and therefore you undermine
your ability to help yourself.13
The Surgeon General of the United States is the leading spokesperson for all matters
related to public health, including advocating for effective health programs and promoting
quality public health practice. On the Surgeon General’s Web site, www.surgeongeneral.
gov, it is written, “Positive mental health allows people to realize their full potential, cope
with the stresses of life, work productively, and make meaningful contributions to their
communities.”14 Anxiety and depression are associated with higher probability for alcohol
and drug risk behaviors, family violence, obesity, cardiovascular disease, HIV, and premature death.14
We want you to have a zest for life, a sense of confidence, and dynamic and meaningful relationships. Exercise is important for supporting you in this realm of physical
wellness. Exercise is the most potent and underutilized antidepressant in the world…and
it’s free. Perhaps your mental and emotional wellness could benefit from engagement in
regular physical activity.
Intellectual Wellness: Improve Your Academic
Performance
Intellectual health has broader implications in occupational settings, but at younger ages,
it certainly includes aspects related to academic abilities and performance. Grade point
average, standardized test scores, memorization, and concentration might serve as indicators for the intellectual dimension of wellness in children and adolescents. Students who
participate in regular physical education classes learn their academic concepts faster.15, 16
This result may occur due to the fact that physical activity has been shown to assist with
concentration and memorization activities17, 18 even in persons with additional difficulties
such as reading disabilities.19
In support of these ideas, physical education researchers François Trudeau and Roy
J. Shephard found that students who attended physical education classes more frequently
had slightly improved grade point average, concentration, memory, and even classroom
behavior compared to students who were not exposed to physical education classes.20
Researchers have also found that students who engaged in more vigorous exercise during
13
Figure 2.4: Physical activity can improve your academic performance.
physical education class scored 10% higher in Science, English, Math, and Social Studies classes compared to other students who engaged at lower intensities of exercise.21
Researchers later said, “We have precious few studies that link activity or fitness to measurable academic outcomes … a 10 percent increase by the most physically active kids is
huge.”21
Even very advanced research into brain plasticity, the study of how the brain reorganizes neural pathways in response to various experiences, supports the belief that exercise
leads to positive results in intellectual wellness.22–24 This is relevant for people of all ages.
It may even take greater importance for you as you age! To sum it up, regular exercise is a
“simple means to maintain brain function and promote brain plasticity.”24 In other words,
exercise = better brain function!
Occupational Wellness: Be More
Successful on the Job
Occupational wellness encompasses aspects related to the ability to collaborate and be a
productive worker. From an employer’s perspective, healthy workers take less sick days,
reduce health care costs, and stay at their jobs longer.
It’s easy to understand that higher physical fitness and functional abilities make demanding physical work easier. But, even if your job is not physically demanding, physical
activity can improve your performance on the job due to the increased quality of wellness
that carries over from the mental, intellectual, and social dimensions.
To investigate the relationship between physical fitness and absenteeism, one researcher looked at the health, fitness, and body mass index scores of nearly 7,200 military personnel. Lower muscle fitness and lower endurance ability were related to having long sickness
absences (more than 7 days!) compared to personnel who had better fitness. In addition,
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CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
lower muscle fitness, lower endurance ability, and higher body mass index related to being
absent more often overall.25 In a study of more than 8,300 male and female workers, higher
levels of cardiovascular fitness were related to lower levels of absenteeism.26 In addition to
being absent less, physically active people cost their companies less money for health care.
One researcher investigated more than 23,000 employees and found that exercising 1 to 2
times a week saved nearly $250 in health care costs per person.27 Unfortunately, in the
National Worksite Health Promotion Survey only 6.9% of the surveyed employers offered
comprehensive worksite wellness programming options for employees.28 Nevertheless, for
each dollar investment in fitness and wellness programs for their employees, companies
can receive three to fifteen dollars in return through reductions in health care, insurance
premiums, and loss of workers with the return being realized in 12 to 18 months.29
Figure 2.5: Being physically fit will give you more energy at work.
In summary, you could be a better worker (or a better employer) when exercise is
incorporated in your professional life. As an employee, your livelihood is linked to your
occupation. You work to earn money to survive and thrive. Physical activity can support
your occupational wellness directly through physical fitness and indirectly through mental, intellectual, and social wellness factors. If you are entrepreneurial in nature or in a
business-minded field, you may help your company’s bank account by adapting a physical
activity program and incentive program for your employees or coworkers. If I told you to
give me a dollar and that I would give you between three to fifteen dollars in return, would
you do it? Of course you would. That is a good investment. In the same way, exercise is a
good investment as well.
Social Wellness: Play with Others
Social wellness is the ability to interact with your family, friends, colleagues, and community in a respectful, meaningful, and productive way. Good communication and listening
15
skills are the foundation for building meaningful relationships and respecting yourself,
family, friends, and others.
Research is being done to determine how the Internet and social media impact social
wellness. Some of the research shows that you are engaging in fewer meaningful conversations and as a result may actually feel less connected to others around you, experience
greater anxiety with dating and unpopularity,30 and have poor balance between work and
leisure activities.31
Figure 2.6: Being active with others is a great way to form friendships.
Social isolation, which is the opposite of social wellness, is linked to an increased likelihood for depression and chronic diseases (including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes),
recovery time after being sick, feelings of loneliness, and a decrease in vitality, satisfaction
with life overall, and even life spans. Exercise has direct and indirect paths to keep you
away from the negative impacts of social isolation.
First and foremost, exercise and sports participation have the ability to bring you together with people who are practicing healthful habits. This social support alone may enhance your motivation to stick with a program. It may also result in meaningful encounters
with others face-to-face. Learning a new sport or activity from others, sharing healthy food
recipes with classmates, or discussing your program and goals with friends have the ability
to help you experience empowering connections while feeling socially united. The profits
of engaging in exercise or a sports program for social reasons can easily extend beyond the
social and physical dimensions to enhance the mental and even the intellectual dimensions
of wellness.
Environmental Wellness: Enjoy the World Around
Environmental wellness relates to living in harmony with the natural surroundings and
making choices that are considerate of our resources. It is a two-way interaction be-
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CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
tween you and the world around you. Your environment greatly dictates the
availability of resources. While resources are important in their own right,
environmental wellness deals with more than just picking up trash and
choosing to recycle plastics and newspaper. Your community is an
extremely influential part of your environment and can positively
or negatively impact your overall health.
There are times in life when choosing or changing your
living conditions are not an option. In other instances, you
may be able to choose where you live. When environments
are dictated, well-planned choices can help you overcome
poor, and in some cases, unforeseeable events. An example is alcohol and drug use on or around college campuses
– both of these are serious public health issues. Some people end up in the cliché “wrong-place at the wrong time”
situation as a result of being around these items. You may
have little control over what goes on around you at this point
in your life. Hopefully, you do not choose to engage in illegal
activities of any kind. To improve your environmental wellness,
you can choose to avoid a toxic neighborhood. Consider the following points.
Neighborhoods are powerful agents of inspiration or
Figure 2.7: The environment that you live in greatly
discouragement for residents.32 Individuals that reside in
impacts your exercise options and participation.
neighborhoods with lower levels of education and higher
levels of poverty are not as likely to exercise when compared to those from contrasting areas. While a higher level of income may be a predictor
of achieving success with exercise, the neighborhood you live in may actually be more
important than adequate wealth.32 The reason may simply be that people have the resources
or desire to exercise but the neighborhood does not provide the comfort to allow or inspire
engagement.
Several neighborhood characteristics are predictors of success with exercise. Higher
levels of exercise occur in areas where trust and community support among neighbors is
thought to be higher and where perceived violence is low.32 The perceived walkability
from safe sidewalks, presence of streetlights, and close proximity to fitness facilities, paths,
parks, and shopping stores are also key.33
Another obvious impact of the environment on physical activity is the geographical location where you live. Climate and seasonal changes play a significant role on your ability
to maintain consistent exercise patterns. Excessive heat or cold spells are major impediments to outdoor activities. Having an alternative mode of exercise under these conditions
is imperative if you are going to reach your fitness goals.
Outside of your community or neighborhood, you can also explore the greater beauties
of the world. Many people experience the benefits of environmental wellness in the peace
and calm that resonates when they find themselves in nature or looking at natural phenomena. Choosing to “get away” or head to the beach, lake, or mountains to relax, reconnect, or
clear your mind can be invigorating. We are optimistic that your immediate environment is
supportive and your engagement of the larger world is inspiring. Having good environmental wellness is one common way to influence mental and spiritual wellness.
Spiritual Wellness: Find Your Inner Peace
Spiritual wellness relates to beliefs and rituals which may or may not result in behavioral
patterns or center around congregation.34 Religion is often used to discover spiritual
17
meaning in life. Religion is conceived as beliefs and
rituals associated with a particular grouping of people
who assemble because of specific, sacred elements.34
Overall, spiritual wellness is very individualized and
is one common way that people find meaning, comfort, hope, or peace.
Perceived connection with the divine and attendance at private religious practices are methods of
measuring spirituality. Both of these measures are
linked to better quality of life35, 36 and lower risk for
morbidity and mortality.37, 38 According to one researcher, the connection between engagement in physical activity and spiritual wellness may be influenced
by the mental wellness dimension.39 Increased mental
wellness due to spiritual practices may result in a more
positive outlook on life or life’s events and therefore
help improve engagement in exercise. The beauty of
nature is also a common way for people to engage the
divine and feel spiritual renewal.
Figure 2.8: Everyone’s path to inner peace is different.
WELLNESS BEHAVIOR ASSESSMENTS
The aim of this eBook is to help you understand yourself and your tendencies better. At
this time, your task is to complete several assessments about important factors in your
movement toward overall wellness. Please read each assessment carefully and respond
based on your current lifestyle.
The factors that you just selected within the assessments are a compilation of some of
the more important influences related to exercise choices and behaviors for college-aged
students.40, 41 It is pivotal to consider what inhibits you and what inspires you. For the first
time in your life, you might have just consciously considered and identified reasons why
exercise is a difficult task to complete or how you might do better at exercising. Knowledge
is power. You are now armed with more important information. You have self-selected factors that are difficult to overcome, that you can also face head-on as you plan to make your
exercise program work consistently. On the positive side, you have also selected factors
that you think are valuable and worth working toward. The factors that you just picked out
are referred to as barriers (Assessment 2-3), motivators (Assessment 2-4), and motives (Assessment 2-5) for exercise. Although the word “barrier” invokes a negative feeling, some
barriers are positive pursuits. An example of a “positive-pursuit” barrier is feeling like you
do not have time to exercise because you want to achieve a high grade in a class.
MOTIVES, MOTIVATORS, AND BARRIERS
TO CHANGE
By definition, exercise is a planned, structured, and repetitive task used to maintain or
improve physical health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. As previously discussed,
exercise also brings about benefits in other dimensions of wellness. The main problem
for most of us is finding the drive or willpower to continually overcome life events and
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CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
make exercise a priority. Have you ever heard
anyone say, “The next thing I knew, I was super healthy because I was accidently exercising all the time?” Of course not. You do not
accidentally find ourselves exercising. You
must purposefully plan time and build a program to realize our desired health or fitness
outcomes. We believe you will benefit by understanding more about motives, motivators,
and barriers to behavior change.
The Power of Identifying
Your Motives
Figure 2.9: One step at a time. You may find it motivating to
know that others face the same barriers.
A motive is something that causes an individual to act in a certain manner in order to bring
about a particular outcome. The word motive is
often linked to law enforcement investigation.
Finding the reason for why a crime occurred
is the basis for determining who might have
been involved and then how the events unfolded. This substantial understanding applies
to exercise as well. You need to identify the
motive – the reasons or causes – for why you
want to exercise. Motives for exercise could
include the desire to improve overall health,
extreme muscle power, aerobic fitness to
reduce the risk of heart attack, or your look
aesthetically.
Motivators for Behavior
Change
If your motive is the reason for why you seek
Figure 2.10: Knowing your motives for exercise can help you an outcome, your motivators are what drive
you to accomplish the outcome. To facilitate
make lasting change.
behavior change you must identify your motive and then set goals to accomplish the associated outcome. To assist you in this process, we will discuss goal setting strategies
with SMART goals later in this chapter. For now, think of it this way: Your motive is the
“why” behind your healthful choices, your motive becomes the director of your SMART
goals, and your motivators are what spur you to accomplish your SMART goals. Motivators might also be called motivational factors. Although motivators are generally broken
into two categories based on the source, motivation might be thought of more like stair
steps than separate categories. As you climb higher on the motivational scaling, you are
more likely to successfully meet your outcome (motive).
The two categories of motivation are called extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is
drive from sources that are outside of you. Intrinsic motivation is a self-initiated drive and
is the highest step (or source) of motivation. A special term describing this drive is locus
of control. When people feel that outside influences dictate most of their life events, they
19
have an external locus of control. When people feel they control their choices and actions,
they have an internal control. External locus of control coincides with extrinsic motivation
and internal locus of control coincides with intrinsic motivation. In some cases, people
may have absolutely no drive at all, which is like being on the ground level. When viewed
as steps, amotivation is ground level, external regulation is the first step, introjected regulation is a middle step, identified regulation is the final step, and intrinsic motivation is
standing on the top level of motivational sourcing. The middle three steps are a part of the
extrinsic category. More detail on the sources of motivation is provided below.
Amotivation
If someone has no drive towards a particular outcome, they are said to be amotivated (which
means “not motivated”). Amotivated individuals do not see the need or feel any thrust to
change their behavior. Amotivated smokers, for instance, would have no thoughts about
quitting for any reason (e.g. guilt, embarrassment, cost of cigarettes, risk of cancer, etc.). In
the opposite fashion, amotivated exercisers feel no desire, guilt, or push to begin positive
steps toward regular exercise. Amotivation leads a person to continue doing what they are
doing. They are not spurred to change any actions.
Extrinsic Motivation
There are several steps of extrinsic motivation but only three will be mentioned presently.
In order, each of these steps moves you further away from amotivation and closer to intrinsic
motivation: external regulation, introjected regulation, and
identified regulation.
Individuals who are externally regulated work toward an
outcome based on self-imposed pressures or pressures from
others. Actions are not chosen for enjoyment, but rather they
are completed to satisfy the pressures. For these reasons,
reward systems are often exciting for people who are externally regulated (it makes the pressure a little more fun or
worthwhile). Unfortunately, because the action is completed
to satisfy a pressure, long-term success is not common with
this type of motivation. In this example, extrinsically motivated people might appear to adopt appropriate nutritional
habits and achieve recommended levels of exercise. However, externally regulated individuals might make good food or
exercise choices only when a certain friend or family member is around. The likelihood for establishing and maintaining good habits is almost non-existent when your source of
motivation is external.
Some individuals take pressures from an outside
influence and begin to make them personal feelings or emotions. This source of motivation is called introjected regulation. These “partially internalized” emotions might be felt as
guilt or a need to maintain self-esteem. The pressures are partially internalized because they are triggered by those around
you or your perception of those around you, but the feelings causing the action are self-created. An example could
be choosing foods or completing exercise because someone
else might be watching or because you want to feel accepted Figure 2.11: Knowing what motivates you to
or adequate when they are around. People drawing on this exercise can assist in developing and maintaining
source of motivation may enjoy the benefit of the action it- positive health behaviors.
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CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
self, but they do not choose to complete the action for the fun of it; rather internalized
pressures push them to do so.
There are times when people choose a given path because of the value or personal
benefit of the action. This certainly holds true for nutritional habits and exercise. Many
people do recognize value in choosing to eat well and exercise regularly. They might like
the benefits of exercise or how they feel after eating healthy meals. Seeing value in healthy
habits can be a strong motivator. In actuality, this is the strongest source of extrinsic motivation. Whatever the perceived outcome is, it holds significant value to the participant.
Interestingly, the person may not enjoy exercising or eating well, but they do it for the
benefit or value that comes as a result.
Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is motivation which is driven by a love for the particular activity.
People with intrinsic motivation have greater success in reaching goals than those motivated by other sources. Some people feel compelled into healthy habits via guilt, outside
pressure, or perceived benefits, but those who are intrinsically motivated participate because of sheer enjoyment or love for the activity. If two people had the same nutrition
or exercise goal and one was driven by extrinsic sources while the other was driven by
intrinsic sources, the latter would tend to have
more success.
Barriers to Change
Figure 2.12: Love can be a powerful intrinsic motivator.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
There are many reasons why making healthful changes in behavior is difficult. All of the
reasons are brought together under the term
barriers. Barriers are anything that make
changing behavior a challenge and they can
be physical, psychological, real, or even perceived. Barriers can be thought of as the hurdles that you must overcome to make positive
change in your life. Several researchers have
done extensive work in the area of behavior
change, and the following list is a compilation
of some of the more common reasons why
people do not make healthy choices and become more active.42, 43
Lack of time
Lack of convenience
Inadequate motivation (as in self-motivation)
Little enjoyment of activity
Lack of confidence in the ability to be physically active
Fear of injury
Inadequate self-management skills (ability to set goals, monitor or record progress,
etc.)
By understanding common barriers to regular physical activity, you can create strategies to avoid these pitfalls. While this list is comprised of barriers for exercise participation,
some of the same reasons might apply to other areas of life including nutrition. If a lack of
physical activity were treated as a disease, you would look more closely at the signs and
21
Figure 2.13: Physical barriers are only one kind of barrier that you may encounter.
Lack of exercise knowledge or confidence can feel like true road blocks on your
journey to wellness.
symptoms that occur with each barrier to help avoid trouble. Then, you would diagnose and
treat the condition. We wonder if any of the following “diseases” might resonate with you.
The “diseases” listed above are, understandably, not diagnosable. Nevertheless, you might
feel as though you can identify with one or more of the examples once you read the signs,
symptoms, and special notes.
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CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
YOUR PERSONAL JOURNEY
Why Are Many People Extrinsically
Motivated Towards Their Fitness Journey?
Everyone is on a fitness journey – whether they address it with conscious thought and action or not. The irony is that even though we are
all on a similar journey, at times it can feel like a lonely, unsupported
venture. For most people living in their isolated world, something
has to prompt them to make a change. That outside prompt is an
external locus of control. Examples might include a wedding or trip
to the beach. These scenarios usually initiate quick changes in
body weight and shape. They do not cause lasting change
however.
Another common influence? It is called New Year’s.
Physical activity and nutrition-related resolutions are
among the top annual resolutions world-wide. Unfortunately, these prompts only take a person so far.
That “distance” is rarely more than a few months.
The reason is simple: The self-induced pressure of
the external cue gets drowned out by everyday life or the
wedding or trip comes and goes and the pressure leaves.
Consider why you might slowly “lose motivation” toward
making healthy choices and why. There is a good
Figure 2.14: For many people, a new year is an opportunity chance that you are driven by extrinsic sources of
to make new resolutions for change.
motivation.
The point of this table was to bring some humor to what may feel like a daunting or
serious situation. Those unable to overcome barriers are in danger of becoming a fitness
and nutrition isolationist. If you cannot overcome barriers, you will likely be extrinsically
driven to proper exercise and nutritional habits. We know from research that extrinsic motivation is not the most successful source of motivation for success.
SELF-REGULATORY TOOLS:
SELF-MONITORING AND GOAL SETTING
A commitment to lifestyle modification will be the mechanism by which you accomplish
improved fitness and simultaneously decrease your risk of disease. A strong commitment
can lead you to make changes and it can also lead you to success. The key to success for
fitness and disease risk reduction is not making changes, but rather sustaining the changes
through an active lifestyle.
What you need are behavioral change tools to draw upon. We will call these tools
self-regulatory skills. Two of the most beneficial skills are self-monitoring and goal
setting.
23
Self-Monitoring
Equipped with understanding about your motives, motivators, and
barriers, you are better positioned to make a true and lasting change.
The first self-regulatory skill you need to leverage for your good is
self-monitoring. Self-monitoring is a fancy way of saying that you will
take inventory of what you do and when you do it. Self-monitoring
is a great tool – it makes you aware of what you do with your time.
In the context of an hourglass, a dynamic visual of time ceaselessly
slipping away, what things get the majority of your sand?
We want you to achieve 30 minutes of moderate exercise on
5 days (or more) each week. In total, 30 minutes of moderate-intensity
exercise out of 1,440 minutes today or a total of 150 minutes out of
10,080 minutes this week can change your disease risk and fitness!
If you write it as a fraction or a decimal, it seems even more absurd
to not accomplish it. You only need to give 1/48 of your time today
or 5/336 of your time this week to realize substantial health benefits!
That is 2.08% of your day or 1.49% of your time this week. As you
self-monitor, you will have definitive evidence to answer this important question: “Can exercise get 1.49% of your sand this week?”
One word we will use in tandem with self-monitoring is antecedents (what comes before an action). We want you to think about how you
arrive at what you do by considering what steps you take beforehand.
Certain situations in your life usually precede appropriate choices while other cues precede poor choices. Environment or social circles are common situational cues for behavior. For some individuals,
being around the wrong person or group will nearly always trigger
Figure 2.15: Monitoring daily choices and
progress towards your goals are vital components of healthful, behavior change.
Figure 2.16: Are you investing your time in activities that promote long-term health
outcomes?
24
CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
poor decisions. This can be the case with exercise and diet. Social influence can be positively impactful or unhelpfully deleterious to your fitness and health. If you have never
considered antecedents to your poor or proper health choices, now is the time. Documenting antecedents to your positive behaviors may be a key agent of change.
A very simple means of self-monitoring can be done in a journal-style recording format. Start by writing whether you exercised or not on a given day, the antecedents to the
action, and the type and duration of the exercise. At the end of the week, you can determine
rather easily if you meet the recommended amount of aerobic and resistance exercise. This
process is not meant to show you a failure rate. Remember, negative tactics do not work
long-term. Self-monitoring is meant to highlight your slow, steady progress toward lasting
change – a healthy change!
More advanced self-monitoring with a journal might include information such as time
of day of exercise, intensity of the exercise, or even information about eating and drinking.
The key is to start simple and add this type of detail gradually as you go along. While journals, notebooks, or calendars can serve as places to monitor exercise and antecedents, the
more probable choice for self-monitoring might be on a computer program or with a phone
app that graphs and charts progress. Figure 2.17 shows the Wellness Activity and Nutrition
Worksheet, which you can find in FitQuest Module 6 online.
Goal Setting
When you combine self-monitoring with the
second self-regulatory tool – goal setting –
you are likely to be more successful in your
FitQuest journey. Self-monitoring indicates
what you do and what antecedents precede the
action; it does not indicate direction or vision.
Goals give you direction and vision. The great
painter, poet, sculptor, architect, and engineer,
Michelangelo, provides insight into an important idea we will discuss with goal setting:
Figure 2.17: Use the My Wellness Fitness and Activity Log to “The greatest danger for most of us is not that
track your progress.
our aim is too high and we miss it, but that
it is too low and we reach it.” Reaching low
goals does little for improving confidence and internal drive. That is just one reason why
SMART goal setting is so vital.
Using SMART Goals
Setting goals and self-monitoring can be motivating because it is a way for you to see that
you are making progress. With each step, you gain self-confidence, and self-confidence is
one of the strongest predictors of success.
It is for these reasons that your exercise plan should include SMART goals. SMART
stands for:
S:
M:
A:
R:
T:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-dependent
25
The first characteristic of SMART goals
is Specific. A specific goal involves clearly
defining what you are doing, when you are
doing it, and where at. This might include
details about where you might exercise, the
type of exercise, or the time of day you might
exercise.
Measureable goals contain language
about what your accomplishment will look
like and the metrics that will be used to determine if the goal is met or not. Being specific will likely help your goal become more
measurable.
Attainable means you have the knowledge, skills, and resources to reach your goal.
If your goal is to run a marathon for the first
time, but you only have two weeks to train for Figure 2.18: Progress doesn’t happen in a straight line, but if
it, is the goal attainable? Certainly not. Most you will see it if you persist and adapt your plan.
people need 2 to 3 months to train and successfully run a marathon. Your goal needs to
stretch you but not be set so high that failure becomes imminent.
A relevant goal directly supports your purpose. Is your purpose to improve heart
health? If so, set a goal around aerobic exercise. If you want to improve muscle or bone
health, set a goal around resistance exercise. We cannot overemphasize this. We want
you to choose goals relevant to you because accomplishing the goals means you have
moved successfully closer toward your desires and a healthier lifestyle.
Finally, goals should be time-dependent so that the goal is given a practical sense
of urgency. You are much more likely to achieve a goal when you know there is a
deadline.
BRINGING IT ALL
TOGETHER: SUMMARY OF
SELF-REGULATORY TOOLS
Incorporating self-monitoring and goal setting into your life can
be life changing. Unfortunately, few people use these self-regulatory
tools effectively (or at all). If you are the type of person who cannot
readily recall what you did each day this week (without help), you
are the perfect candidate for using these tools. Why, you might ask?
Because healthy living takes conscious choice, preparation, and action. If
you do not recall what you have done this week, you are not likely consciously
choosing activities after truthful reflection. You are more likely going to classes
or work and then allowing the rest of the day to run together with social activities
filling the majority of your time. Taking three to five minutes to set Figure 2.19: Self-assessment, reflection,
SMART goals around aerobic and resistance exercise might help you
and behavior change strategies are tools
effectively use 150 of your 10,080 minutes this next week. Is healthy
that you can use in all dimensions of your
living worth 1.49% of your week?
life.
26
CH A P T ER 2 Mapping the Journey
GLOSSARY
Amotivation – A complete lack of motivation
Antecedents – A circumstance that preceded an action
Barriers - Anything that limits in making behavior change; barriers can be physical,
psychological, real, or even perceived
Brain plasticity – The ability of the brain to alter neural pathways for improved function
Cardiovascular disease - Any disease of the heart (such as blocked arteries or congestive
heart failure)
Extrinsic – Being outside or operating or coming from the outside; external regulation,
introjected regulation, and identified regulation are all examples of extrinsic sources
of motivation
Goal setting – The act of setting an aim or direction and then establishing an
implementable plan to accomplish the outcome; goals should be specific,
measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-dependent
Intrinsic – Belonging to or coming from within
Locus of control – A theoretical idea about where a person perceives control of their life
arises
Motivators – Something that induces, provokes, or prompts you to make a change
Motive – Something that causes an individual to act in a certain manner to bring about a
particular outcome
Noncommunicable diseases – Conditions that are not transmitted through contact with a
person who is infected or afflicted (such as cancer or heart disease)
Self-monitoring – Use of any device or instrument to observe, record, and reference
actions (such as what you do and when)
Self-regulatory skills – Skills or tools used to monitor and assess behavior and to support
healthy habits and behavior change; examples include self-monitoring and goal
setting
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