Prevalence and health issues related to weight gain
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Health behaviour I wish to change I wish to change weight gain as prevalent health behaviour that has affected me for the past six years. According to Conley, McFarlane, MacLaughlin, Johnson and Campbell (2018), weight gain leads to the emergence of lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular ailments, and bulimia nervosa. An extensive amount of research links excessive weight gain to poor dietary intake and inadequate physical activity among the affected individuals. According to Coffey, Curran, Kenny and Holmes (2017), weight gain is effectively addressed through inclusion of efficient strategies aimed at checking the nutritional patterns and levels of activity of the subjects under consideration. Dickey, Arday, Kelly and Carnahan (2017). explain that between 2014 and 2015, about 64% of Australians aged over 18 years were either obese or overweight. Of this population, 6.3 million people were declared overweight while 4.9 were considered to be obese (Berlit et al., 2017). A part from the aforementioned lifestyle diseases, overweight individuals may be faced with psychological and social challenges such as: v A significant upsurge in the levels of appetite resulting from depression and stress v Sleep apnea v A decrease in the respiratory capacity function v Social embarrassments v Neurological issues such as dementia, loss of sight as a result of diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, and false brain tumours (Daentzer, Hohls and Noll, 2015) v Psychological challenges such as depression, stress, anxieties and eating disorders v Respiratory issues such as pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary embolism and asthma (McLaughlin et al., 2017) v Musculoskeletal conditions such as vertebral disk disease, arthritis and lower back pains v Reproductive challenges such as irregular menstrual cycles among women, polycystic ovarian syndrome and erectile dysfunctions among men (McLaughlin, Hamilton and Kipping, 2017). Therefore, I made the decision of addressing overweight as a health behaviour change due to its increasing rates of prevalence. Further, the fact that overweight individuals face multiple social and psychological challenges acted as key catalysts to the study of this health behaviour change. |
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Short-term goals to achieving this change · Adopt a diet chart to control my daily meal intakes · Include at least three servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in my meals. · Reduce the consumption of junk foods during week days. |
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Long-term goal to achieving this change · Stock my house with fresh fruits, vegetables and healthy snacks as a replacement of junks. |
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Positives versus the negatives of changing your behaviour
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Impact of changing the behaviour on your health Weight management has played a significant role in minimizing my risks of exposure to lifestyle conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular ailments. According to Christensen et al. (2017), losing weight leads to an improvement in the affected person’s health-related quality of life (HRQOL). On the other hand, Aoike et al. (2015) demystify that successful weight management leads to advancement in comorbid health status of people depicting lifestyle conditions such as diabetes. For instance, before adopting the program I was faced with issues such as complexities emanating from sleep apnea, high blood sugar levels, high blood pressure and excessive sweating. However, the weight management initiative that incorporated instilling changes in my eating habits played a crucial role in lowering my blood sugar and heart rate. According to Molina (2018), overweight patients tend to enhance their levels of muscular endurance and strength by balancing their ratios of energy intake and output through avoidance of high fat foods such as junks. |
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Impact of changing the behaviour on your lifestyle The decision to undertake a weight management program imposed multiple changes in my dietary intake and social interactions. For instance, the choice of reducing my levels of alcohol intake from 7 times to 4 times in a week minimized my interactions with the historical friends I met in social areas. According to Coffey et al. (2017), excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks is closely related to an increase in the risk of chronic illnesses, weight gain and malnutrition. Currently, I am able to spend more time with my friends during lunch walks. On the other hand, I experienced multiple lifestyle challenges in coping up with the new dietary amendments I had undertaken. Before adopting the change initiative, I had adopted the behaviour of spending time in local restaurants and fast fries joints. However, the weight change initiative played an influential role in restricting my social boundaries as I hand to spend most of the free time at home to ensure that I limited the rates of consumption of unhealthy meals such as junks. Further, the program made me increase my levels of interactions with sellers operating fresh fruit and vegetables stalls in the local supermarkets. |
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Record your progress on a weekly basis
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A Reflection of my Change Journey
I adopted the behavior of buying and consuming foods sought from a local grocery store based on its geographical convenience and proximity from my house. The fact that I had adopted the food consumptions patterns implemented by my parents made me prepare meals using high fat and oil recipes based on the familiar routines. Therefore, fresh fruits and vegetables only formed a small portion of my weekly food portions.
On the other hand, I spent a lot of time with workmates, school mates and friends in recreational facilities that served alcoholic drinks; an aspect that minimized the extents to which I partook home cooked meals. Consequently, I became skeptical about making alterations in my dietary intake based on the fact that I had grown accustomed to the habit of consuming fast fries, junks and alcohol. Besides, I developed the fear of unknown in the efforts of trying new and healthy meals that comprised of fresh vegetables and fruits.
Knowledge of my overweight status
I discovered of my status as an overweight individual about here years ago when I visited one of the local medical facilities. Prior to this visit, I had faced multiple difficulties in my sleeping patterns. I experienced breathing difficulties with occasions of sweating; an aspect that disrupted my sleeping patterns. On the other hand, my heart rate was so high that I could not engage in most of the social activities conducted by my family members. Upon visiting the hospital, the medical officer revealed that I was overweight. According to Aranda and McGreevy (2014),
body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are considered as the two primary instruments of analyzing the weight status of a patient. Tsang et al. (2016) reveal that people with a BMI ≥ 30 are considered to be overweight. On the other hand, Conley et al. (2018) demystify that men depicting a waist circumference ≥ 40 inches need to be declared overweight. Therefore, the fact that my BMI was determined to be 34 with a waist circumference of 44 was a clear indication of my status as an overweight patient.
Possible causes of Overweight
Pistiler (2015) explains that a person is considered to be overweight when his caloric intake is greater than the energy put into use. On the other hand, Rico (2017) demystifies that genetic, environmental and psychological factors ply a significant role in steering weight increments. I would attribute my current condition as an overweight patient to the environment in which I live, my psychological position and hereditary factors as described in the ensuing subsections.
Strategies for addressing weight gain
Hereditary factors
Choi and Brings (2016) explain that obesity is genetic and may be depicted among members of a given lineage. On the other hand, Davis and Sekula (2018) explain that the transfer of obesity in a family could be due to the fact that members of a lineage do not only share hereditary materials but also lifestyles and meals that may contribute to excessive weight gains. The fact that my grandfather died of diabetes and my father is diabetic made me uphold this viewpoint. On the other hand, my elder brother was also diagnosed to be overweight about 6 years ago.
Therefore, there are tendencies that I inherited these genetic materials from my paternal lineage. Similarly, my parents run a fast fry’s restaurant and are addicted to a sedentary lifestyle. Over the years, I have emulated both their cooking and eating habits; an aspect that might have contributed to my current state as an obese person.
Environmental factors
A person’s environment acts as a significant contributor of weight gain (Dickey et al., 2017). According to Keren and Rainis (2018), the environment incorporates an individual’s lifestyle and interactions. On the other hand, Daentzer et al. (2015) demystify that one’s habitat dictates the eating habits adopted by the individual under consideration. For instance, my home settings played an important role in shaping my feeding habits. The fact that my parents and keens got used to consuming high fat meals and fast fries made me consider these as the major foods both at home and in the restaurants I visited.
Decision to make Changes
I made the decision to instill lifestyle changes after undertaking the medical examinations. The move taken by the healthcare practitioner to recommend me to weekly counseling programs was of great importance in steering the change initiative. In the counseling sessions, I was educated on the dangers of being overweight and the most effective measures of curbing this health hazard. For instance, the practitioner informed me that I faced the risk of contracting other lifestyle conditions such as hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular ailments, diabetes, gallstones, gout, gallbladder sicknesses, osteoarthritis and breathing issues such as asthma and sleep apnea. Further, the counselor revealed that individuals that are 40% overweight face higher risks of experiencing premature death compared to their counterparts with normal body weights.
Further, the counselor enlightened me on the importance of losing weight through inclusion of healthy feeding habits and physical exercises. According to Mani et al. (2017), weight loss presents multiple benefits among overweight individuals based on its inherent ability to enhance glycemic control. On the other hand, Marinez-Ramos et al. (2015) demystify that inclusion of proper feeding programs aimed at instilling moderate weight losses leads to an improvement in the degrees of action of insulin, minimization of blood glucose levels and reductions in the need for medications targeting diabetic patients. As a consequence, the counseling sessions were effective in educating me on the importance of adopting healthy meals such as fresh fruits, vegetables and water as key replacements for fast fries and junks.
Short-term and long-term goals
Barriers Experienced in the Change Process
The change process was negatively affected by social, psychological and financial barriers as discussed in the ensuing subsections.
Social barriers
Previously established ties acted as key barriers to the change process. For instance, most of the friends I had initially adopted embraced sedentary behaviors such as watching movies and reading novels for more than 8 hours on a daily basis. On the other hand, other acquaintances were fond of consuming alcohol, roasted meats and fast fries. Similarly, I was faced with the challenge of making new connections and social ties with vendors dealing in fresh fruits and vegetables. Considering the fact that my presence was highly acknowledged in the social places I initially visited to purchase junk foods, I developed a sense of uneasiness when interacting with the new vendors.
However, my routine visits in these stalls coupled with the vendors’ appreciation played a crucial role in fostering my adaptation. Therefore, these ties acted as key hindrances to the change process since any interaction fostered misled me to the initial traits. Similarly, the environment at home barred the alterations sought based on the fact that most of the family members were used to the consumption of unhealthy meals and junks. However, I tackled these barriers by limiting the time spent with people I considered to be of bad influence. Further, my inherent ability to stick to the counselor’s advice played an influential role in tackling social barriers.
Financial barriers
The change process was financially draining. For instance, I was faced with the challenge of replacing my food intake habits. Considering my previous choices for meals that included unhealthy meats, junks, alcohol and fast fries, I had to include large amounts of fresh foods and vegetables. Such alterations required heavy financial resources.
Psychological barriers
The change initiative drained my emotions. For instance, I was faced with the challenge of making new friends. On the other hand, I faced multiple stressful moments in the process of adopting new meals and excluding the foods I was initially exposed to.
Facilitators in the Change Process
Despite the barriers, the emotional support offered by my counselor played a great role in facilitating the change process. For instance, the advisor made tireless efforts to encourage me on the importance of losing weight through inclusion of healthy diets. On the other hand, the therapist educated me on the health hazards associated with my condition. Such fears were of great influence in steering the change process.
Positives and negatives of behavior change
Application of Experiences to a Person with Substance Use Disorder
Patients experiencing substance use disorders are exposed to multiple social and psychological vulnerabilities (Nielsen et al., 2017). Consequently, I would recommend the adoption of a social therapist for such a case. Further, I would use my previous experiences to educate an individual with substance use issues on the importance of including intermittent transitions to acquire the desired behavior as opposed to undertaking multiple strategies aimed at meeting the goal of treatment within a shorter period. Further, I would advise such patients to foster self-acceptance as a crucial step to recovery.
References
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Berlit, S., Hornemann, A., Sütterlin, M., Weiss, C., & Tuschy, B. (2017). Laparoscopic hysterectomy in the overweight and obese: does 3D imaging make a change?. Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 295(1), 125-131.
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