Successfully Achieve Your Diet and Exercise Goals Through Behavior Modification

Starting a new diet or exercise program could be very intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be! With the right mindset and proper tools, it could actually be quite simple and worthwhile. In my last blog post, “COR Method: 3 Strategies to Help You Achieve Your Fitness Goals,” goes further into depth about being Consistent, having different Options, and most importantly allowing your body to Recover when it comes to achieving your fitness goals. In this week’s blog post, my goal is to help you become more mindful of your behaviors so that you could have greater success in achieving your diet and exercise goals.

Studying psychology as an undergraduate and graduate student, I learned a lot about behavior. Being passionate about physical health and psychological well-being, I designed and conducted research studies that analyzed various healthy and unhealthy behaviors. Needless to say, I was ecstatic with the findings because I didn’t expect to find such a significant difference in the role of mindfulness when analyzing healthy and unhealthy behaviors in my research participants. The results suggested that research participants that expressed more mindfulness were much more likely to engage in healthy behaviors like working out and consuming a healthy diet compared to those that did not express mindfulness. For more information on my research, check out my thesis.

Behavior modification could be simply defined as an approach used to change a specific behavior. Typically, behavior modification is used to change a negative behavior by replacing it with a positive behavior. Two common concepts used in behavioral psychology are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning involves associations to signal a behavior whereas operant conditioning involves reinforcement or punishment following a behavior. As you could imagine, behavior modification could be used in all aspects of life and across various discipline and industries. From breaking bad habits and forming healthy habits, to successfully managing students in a classroom, to improving moral in the workplace, and even teaching an old dog new tricks, behavior modification is widely used to make positive changes in behavior.

Now that you have a better understanding of what behavior modification looks like, my hope is to provide you with tools that will help you become more mindful of your behaviors so that you could be confident and motivated to achieve your diet and exercise goals. When it comes to changing behaviors it’s important that you are you mindful of your behaviors so that you could identify triggers that cause you to engage in a specific behavior, regardless if it’s a positive or a negative behavior. Let’s say that your goal is to stop snacking after dinner, but as soon as you sit down on the couch to watch TV, your sweet or salty craving creeps up on you. This may take some trial and error, but say you’re able to easily identify your trigger and you’ve come to the conclusion that sitting on the couch to watch TV is your trigger for snacking after dinner. If that’s the case, then it’s important that you break this habit by changing your routine of getting up to go to the refrigerator or to the pantry to get a snack. Instead, reward yourself with something else by replacing your behavior to snack on something sweet or salty. Maybe try taking a walk around the block, reading for a few minutes, or doing something else that you enjoy that could possibly break your routine of snacking and get your mind occupied with something else that is rewarding. The more you resist your urge to snack, the easier it is to fight the trigger(s). The hope is that after a few weeks of staying committed to your new routine you will be able to stop snacking all together. The reason why this technique is so successful is because you are literally training your brain to rewire itself. By changing your routine, you are forming new connections that change the physiology of your brain by developing healthy habits when you engage in non-snacking behaviors.

As I mentioned before, this technique could be used in so many different aspects of life. Especially when it comes down to implementing new diet and exercise goals. A lot of times we already know what to do to achieve our diet and exercise goals, but the reason that we fail is because we are not mindful of our behaviors. For me personally, feeling good physically and psychologically is enough of a reward for me to stay committed to eating healthy and exercising. However, that doesn’t mean that things don’t come up in my life from time to time making it more difficult for me to stay committed to my goals. With that being said, I especially need to be more mindful of my actions by being more intentional in what I am doing so that I could stay accountable when life gets in the way. If that’s not enough to keep you motivated, then find a routine and a reward that helps you to stay committed so that you could combat any triggers, negative self-talk, or anything else that could potentially get in the way of preventing you from achieving your diet and exercise goals. Whether it’s another person that will help you stay accountable, feeling more comfortable in your clothes, staying active in an online community, or having more energy throughout the day, find what works for you so that you could achieve your goals.

If you’d like more information or some pointers on what you could do specifically feel free to reach out. A great resource that I’ve come across is the book “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg. You could also check out his website that goes more into depth about the “Habit Loop” specifically. I personally learned a lot from reading this book and maybe it could also be a great resource for you too! As always, I look forward to hearing about your experience or any feedback that you might have.

Stay healthy!

Via

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