Behavioural Modification Process - Essay Example

Part One

Benefits of Increasing Good Behavior

For one to be considered fit and healthy, that person must be physically active. Regular fitness is responsible for the protecting us against diseases like obesity, heart disease, cancer, plus many other fitness related diseases. One of the best behavior exercises that I have adopted is cycling. I consider cycling as one of the healthiest behaviors given the fact that it is enjoyed by majority regardless of age and social status. Riding a bicycle to either work or shopping center is believed to be the most efficient way of mixing regular exercise with one’s daily routine (Network, 2017). I have grown fond of this behavior in that whenever I have free time the only thing that I can think of is cycling.

The reasons as to why I consider cycling as a good health and fitness behavior is because it does not take a long time to achieve the general improvement to one’s health. Cycling behavior is the best since it has a low impact because it has a low strain and it has minimum chances of getting injuries compared to other forms of exercise for instance weight lifting, playing football and many others. Another thing about cycling is that it is a fun way of being fit. Studies have shown that cycling is an aerobic activity (Bernstein, et al, 2017). Cycling behavior has health benefits if it is done regularly, the benefits include an increase in cardiovascular fitness, it increases muscular strength and flexibility, and it also decreases the stress level (Network, 2017). My plan is to cycle daily especially in the evening after finishing my daily activities then retire to bed healthy.

Decreasing Negative Behavior

There are a lot of benefits of having a good sleep in our daily lives. One of the major bad habits that I have developed is poor sleeping behavior. How can someone know that he has a bad sleeping behavior? Under normal circumstances, human beings are supposed to sleep for at least eight hours, but for immediately I joined high school my sleeping hours reduced. I started sleeping for fewer hours due to different reasons ranging from late night outs with friends, to watching movies and many other activities, in the end, I was always sleeping during the day, especially during class hours.

There are a lot of benefits of decreasing this bad behavior of having less sleeping hours. According to research, poor sleep makes people gain unnecessary weight. As a matter of facts, short sleeping hours is one of the causes of obesity. So having a good sleep reduces the chances of being obese. Poor sleeping behavior has a way of interfering with someone’s concentration and productivity (Chaput, et al, 2016). This can be seen in workplaces and classes. Employees and students who tend to have poor sleeping habits lack concentration during class and working hours, this is because they become inactive and fall asleep. Studies have shown that short sleep can have negative effects the brain function (Chaput, et al, 2016).

There are a lot of benefits of reducing this poor behavior, reducing chances of getting heart diseases and stroke, reducing the risks of depression, improving the immune system plus many other benefits not mentioned (Carter, et al, 2017). To solve this matter, I have decided to put in place measures that can help me reduce this bad behavior. The first step is to reduce late night activities that keep me awake for instance going out with friends, late night movies except on weekends, then at least to retire to bed as early as nine o’clock.

Plan of Action (Part Two)

Monday (The first Day of Exercise)

This is my first day of the exercise (bicycle riding). After finishing my daily routine, I decided to call some friends for an evening fun and exercise. We came together and formed a group of around five people with bicycle and cycled for about twenty kilometers which took us one hour to finish our target. I returned home after about one and half hours and took supper and retired to bed by nine o’clock. It was a nice day though tiresome and no time to go out partying.

Tuesday (The Second Day of Exercise)

We met at our normal place, but the number had increased. One of my teammates decided to invite his two friends, and we were around five people. Today we cycled for one hour but covered a distance of thirty kilometers.

Wednesday (The Third Day of Exercise)

In the evening I set for the exercise a bit early since we agreed that we would be covering a longer distance, the group members are beginning to catch up. The GPS showed that we covered forty kilometers within a span of two and half hours, but that was due to the puncture that one of the bicycles had.

Thursday (The Fourth Day of Exercise)

We met by around three o’clock in the evening and planned on the route that we were to take and we decided to go off-road. The speed was a little bit faster following the fact that none of us had bicycle lights or reflectors. We covered a distance of forty-five kilometers within three hours.

Friday (The Fifth Day of Exercise)

In the evening I decided to go for biking for thirty minutes since I have developed a strong passion for this activity. I cycled for thirty minutes and covered a distance of fifteen kilometers.

Saturday (The Sixth Day of Exercise)

Since it is a weekend I decided to change my routine, instead of going for biking in the evening only, I decided to go for biking both morning and evening it was awesome.

Sunday (The Seventh Day of Exercise)

It is a relaxing day with friends and families, watching movies, and having fun; going to bed early to start the week with a fresh mind the next day. When Monday comes, I continue with the same routine.

Monday (The Eighth Day of Exercise)

Went biking alone and covered a distance of fifteen kilometers, then cycled back since I had some other assignments to do. Covering a distance of fifteen kilometers in thirty minutes is not a bad speed.

Tuesday (The Ninth Day of Exercise)

I decided to do a different version o cycling suggested by a friend. I went to the gym and tried cycling; I got a new experience on how to work out indoors from the gym instructor. It was quite an experience, and I believe I will enroll to the gym so that I continue having fun in both biking and indoor cycling.

Wednesday (The Tenth Day of Exercise)

Met with the group again and agreed on the distance to be covered daily, we agreed on the importance of setting a target. We took forty-five minutes to cover twenty kilometers; we rested once for ten minutes after covering twenty-five kilometers.

Thursdays (The eleventh Day of Exercise)

I decided to go to the gym after realizing that my bicycle developed a mechanical problem. On my way to the gym, I passed by a bicycle repair shop and left it there to be checked then informed my friends on changes.

Friday (The Twelfth Day of Exercise)

Decided not to attend any late night parties, I went for biking and covered a distance of thirty kilometers in forty minutes. I did not realize that I was cycling at high speed until I checked my GPS app.

Saturday (The Thirteenth Day)

Went for evening biking with friends just for fun covered a distance of five kilometers in one hour.

Sunday (The Fourteenth Day)

Relaxing in the house as usual and watching movies.

Part Three

Behavioural Modification Critique

My plan to improve on my bad sleeping behavior is to avoid late night events, for instance, late night parties and late night movies. This behavior has so far interfered with my concentration and productivity. For this plan to be executed successfully, I decided to increase my good behavior which is regular exercise through biking. I plan to go for biking five for days in a week except on Fridays and Sundays. There will be an exception on Fridays though, in that I will be going alone for thirty minutes before meeting my friends.

Going for biking twice on Saturdays is over exercising so I will be sticking to evening routine. As I was planning the exercise, my main goal was to come up with an idea on how I can solve the bad sleeping habit of staying awake at night and being sleepy during the day. So far the plan has been working well the only thing that I will have to improve on is the exercising hours and to come up with a target, for instance, a specific distance to be covered within a particular frame of time.

Covering a distance of twenty kilometers per hour daily is not a bad exercise, it will help me burn the body fats and the same time keep me occupied from attending other activities that interfere with my sleeping routine. In the end, I will be going to bed early enough to have a good night rest. Following the improvements that I have made so far, they have become a motivator, and I have also developed a strong passion for the exercise.

There are a lot of benefits of reducing this poor behavior, reducing chances of getting heart diseases and stroke, reducing the risks of depression, improving the immune system plus many other benefits not mentioned (Carter, et al, 2017). To solve this matter, I have decided to put in place measures that can help me reduce this bad behavior. The first step is to reduce late night activities that keep me awake for instance going out with friends, late night movies except on weekends, then at least to retire to bed as early as nine o’clock.

Plan of Action (Part Two)

Monday (The first Day of Exercise)

This is my first day of the exercise (bicycle riding). After finishing my daily routine, I decided to call some friends for an evening fun and exercise. We came together and formed a group of around five people with bicycle and cycled for about twenty kilometers which took us one hour to finish our target. I returned home after about one and half hours and took supper and retired to bed by nine o’clock. It was a nice day though tiresome and no time to go out partying.

Tuesday (The Second Day of Exercise)

We met at our normal place, but the number had increased. One of my teammates decided to invite his two friends, and we were around five people. Today we cycled for one hour but covered a distance of thirty kilometers.

Wednesday (The Third Day of Exercise)

In the evening I set for the exercise a bit early since we agreed that we would be covering a longer distance, the group members are beginning to catch up. The GPS showed that we covered forty kilometers within a span of two and half hours, but that was due to the puncture that one of the bicycles had.

Thursday (The Fourth Day of Exercise)

We met by around three o’clock in the evening and planned on the route that we were to take and we decided to go off-road. The speed was a little bit faster following the fact that none of us had bicycle lights or reflectors. We covered a distance of forty-five kilometers within three hours.

Friday (The Fifth Day of Exercise)

In the evening I decided to go for biking for thirty minutes since I have developed a strong passion for this activity. I cycled for thirty minutes and covered a distance of fifteen kilometers.

Saturday (The Sixth Day of Exercise)

Since it is a weekend I decided to change my routine, instead of going for biking in the evening only, I decided to go for biking both morning and evening it was awesome.

Sunday (The Seventh Day of Exercise)

It is a relaxing day with friends and families, watching movies, and having fun; going to bed early to start the week with a fresh mind the next day. When Monday comes, I continue with the same routine.

Monday (The Eighth Day of Exercise)

Went biking alone and covered a distance of fifteen kilometers, then cycled back since I had some other assignments to do. Covering a distance of fifteen kilometers in thirty minutes is not a bad speed.

Tuesday (The Ninth Day of Exercise)

I decided to do a different version o cycling suggested by a friend. I went to the gym and tried cycling; I got a new experience on how to work out indoors from the gym instructor. It was quite an experience, and I believe I will enroll to the gym so that I continue having fun in both biking and indoor cycling.

Wednesday (The Tenth Day of Exercise)

Met with the group again and agreed on the distance to be covered daily, we agreed on the importance of setting a target. We took forty-five minutes to cover twenty kilometers; we rested once for ten minutes after covering twenty-five kilometers.

Thursdays (The eleventh Day of Exercise)

I decided to go to the gym after realizing that my bicycle developed a mechanical problem. On my way to the gym, I passed by a bicycle repair shop and left it there to be checked then informed my friends on changes.

Friday (The Twelfth Day of Exercise)

Decided not to attend any late night parties, I went for biking and covered a distance of thirty kilometers in forty minutes. Read More