Exercising Beyond Barriers: Embracing Change

From Marching Band to Daily Movement: Rediscovering the Joy of Exercise

Exercising is an important key to feeling good and staying healthy. It goes beyond just trying to look good, but also allowing a person to enjoy a better life. I chose to change my lazy behavior to better my health. I want to start feeling good about myself as well as motivating the people around me. My goal is to get a few minutes of daily exercise. While I was in high school, I was a part of the marching band, and I got hours of exercise almost six days a week.

However, ever since graduation, I haven't even thought about exercising. The most I get nowadays is the 2-minute walk out to the parking lot and my car. My target duration is a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity a day.

Exercising Discipline: Navigating Punishments and Reinforcements

A reinforcer is "any internal or external event that increases a behavior" (Feist & Rosenburg 305). I will be using two positive and two negative reinforcers. The negative reinforcers are: Reminding me of my current state vs. how I picture my future state. The other negative is focusing on how I could have improved rather than acknowledging my achievements. The positive reinforcers are: Recognizing and celebrating my goal wins and achievements. As well as finding uplifting things to say to me every day about my efforts. Punishments are defined as "any stimulus that decreases the frequency of a behavior" (Feist & Rosenburg 307). I will also be using two positive and two negative punishments. The negative punishments are: Adding extra chores that I normally don't do and usually hate, e.g., laundry and the dishwasher, to my daily exercise if I don't get 30 minutes in before 6:30 pm.

Along with not reaching my daily goal by 6:30, I will remove my privileges of snacks and junk food for the following day. The positive punishments I would use are: Having my mom yell at me to get up and be active if I'm not doing something productive or otherwise important at the time. I will also take away the ability to listen to music while exercising the following day if I don't manage to reach my target time. In a "fixed-ratio schedule, reinforcement follows a set number of responses. The pattern becomes predictable, so the response rate is not steady. Typically, there is a pause in response immediately after reinforcement occurs, and then the response rate increases" (Feist & Rosenburg 312). The fixed ratio is the schedule that I will be using. After every 7 minutes of pure exercise, I will award myself with a 2-minute break.

Exercising Determination: Balancing Motivation and Overcoming Barriers

I'm very motivated to start taking up a healthier lifestyle. I want to start having more energy throughout the day and reduce any risks for health problems that can arise from an unhealthy lifestyle. However, the main reason I chose to become more active as my behavior changes is because I like the positive feelings after completing several minutes of exercise. Even though I am highly motivated, I am aware of the barriers that I am going to have to overcome. The most notable barriers are time management, the weather, and becoming lonely. Being a full-time student during the day and a full-time worker at night does make things a little challenging. Because of my busy schedule, I'm aware that 95% of the time, I would be exercising alone. I could start becoming lonely or even bored when I have no one to talk to while exercising.

Another problem that might arise is the weather. Most of the 'exercises' I chose were walking the dog, gardening, and mowing, all of which involved me going outside. With the recent season change, it might start to become too cold, might be raining, or even snow. A behaviorist might anticipate several boundaries a person might have when starting an exercise-focused goal. For example, If a person like me didn't have a lot of free time, the behaviorist would be able to identify available time slots, then monitor the person's daily activities for a few weeks, and then record the results. If someone has a lack of energy towards exercising, a behaviorist might schedule physical activity on certain parts of the day when the person feels the most energized. Another barrier they might see is if someone has a lack of motivation to complete their goal. The behaviorist might then plan for them to join exercise groups or have a friend or family member exercise with them when they start to lose their motivation.

References:

1. Feist, J., Feist, G. J., & Roberts, T.-A. (2013). Theories of Personality. McGraw-Hill.

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