Before Starting: The behaviour I have chosen to increase in frequency is going to the gym more often. I love going to the gym as it makes me feel strong and happy. Quiet recently I got a trainer to motivate me to go to the gym and push beyond my limits. Towards the end of our six month sessions, I had become addicted to weightlifting. I would do it first thing in the morning and cardio in the evenings. However, that was during the first semester, when I had less school work and was able to control my migraines.
Things are very different now because factors such as the crazy work load from my four university grade 12 courses and new medication for migraines have made it harder for me to set time apart for gym. Usually, I would be able to make it to the gym during the mornings but the new medication does not let me wake up early. Furthermore, most of my evenings are used to complete the mass amounts of homework I have. Nonetheless, I still try to make it to the gym three days in the week.
Three day Baseline The first few days I will observe my behaviour as to what motivates me or demotivates me to go to the gym. First Day I woke up at 6:30am and tried my best to fight through the temptation to go back to sleep. I then washed my face many times with cold water to wake myself up and got ready to go to the gym with my mom. Whilst at the gym, I tried not to pay attention to the sounds around me that may or may not induce my migraines, so I do not have excuses to stop working out.
After gym, I went straight to school and noticed that working out left me to be very energetic and optimistic. Doing gym also helped me eat healthier and drink more water. I was happy to get the task out of the way so I did not need to worry about it throughout the day. Second Day I tried to wake up earlier but I had an assignment due the night before so I slept very late. My mom came to wake me up to go to gym but I kept on fighting to go back to sleep because every time I woke up I would be incredibly dizzy.
Furthermore, my muscles were incredibly sore throughout the day because of the intense workout I did the day before, so I could not wait to go back to the gym. However, as the school came towards an end, I got incredibly tired and did not want to go to the gym. All wanted to do was go to sleep and finish my work. At about 11pm I realized I did not take my medications. This leads to many prominent side effects to arise that interfere with my will to go to the gym, including dizziness, fatigue, and oversleeping.
Third Day I gave up on trying to wake up early because I knew that no matter what the medication was going to keep me in bed. I went to school like normal but fatigue was a challenge throughout the day. Between trying to make it through the school day and the amount of work piling on, I did not have the chance to even think about gym. Later on, I got a really bad migraine and ended up going straight home to go to sleep. When my mom asked me around 7pm if I wanted to go to the gym, I said no because I did not feel as if I had the energy to work out.
I slept at 11pm and finished no homework. Observations from the baseline I realized through my observations that going to the gym in the morning is a really effective method, only if I stick to it. There are many contributive factors to me delaying or missing gym, including my unpredictable health, the effects of my medication, the amount of school work, etc. I noticed that if I leave gym for the evening, I am more likely to not go, that is why I have to try harder to wake up earlier. Aditionally, there are many benefits that come from working out.
It helps to maintain or lose weight, keeps the body toned, boosts endorphins, reduces stress and anxiety, prevents many cardiovascular diseases, etc. Many of these benefits might reverse if I do not workout, including weight gain and being susceptible to more health complications. Futhermore, doing harcore workouts such as weighlifting has led a serious development in my muscles, so even if I do not workout for 2-4 days, my restless and sore muscles will force me. Day 4 to Day 10 Step 1: Determine a Reinforcement Currently what rewards me for not going to gym is laziness and comfort.
When thinking about all the preparations I have to make, the actual act of working out, and exhaustion that leads afterwards makes me stay in bed because it all seems like too much work. Thus, as a positive reinforcement, everytime I go to the gym I will reward myself with more netflix time. This way I get a chance to be a little lazy while gaining a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, as a negative reinforcement, no coffee will be allowed to me on the days I decide to miss gym. This is a small but big sacrifice for me because without coffee, I feel very tired and sleepy.
Restricting my caffeine will push me to get my energy boost from the gym. Step 2: Record and Monitor Treatment Since going to the gym is not an ongoing behaviour to modify throughout the day, I had an easier time modifying it. The first four days were easy because I was very motivated by this assignment. I would wake up excited for what the day might bring and start planningwhat I would be doing in the gym. I found out taking simple measures like maintaing my sleep and eating my medications on time, can make it easier for me to go to the gym the next day.
I would reward myself for going to the gym by watching 2 episodes of “13 Reasons Why”, and start working on my assignments for school. However, on the fifth day I had a really bad migraine first thing in the morning and was not able to make it to the gym. As the day progressed, I got more tired and really wanted caffeine, but could not have it because it is a punsihment for not going to the gym. This made me want to gym even more so I can enjoy the coffee and Netflix. The next 3 days I made sure I went to gym in the morning to avoid the negative reinforcement, and receive my reward.
The more often I went to the gym, I realized that I was becoming more and more excited for it rather than dreading it. Step 3: Record Results By the end of the week, I could see a significant difference in my behaviour. The positive and negative reinforcements were really effective because I greatly valued both caffeine and netflix. So while trying to earn the rewards and avoid the punishments, I ended reaching my goal of going to the gym more frequently. Doing gym more often gave me many natural positive reinforcements such as feeling light, happy and more confident.
