The following article appeared in the January 2013 issue of PRIME. It's not been posted online as of yet.
Health Wise
A health & wellness column by Victor Acquista, MD
Director Pathways Integral Health & Wellness, LLC; Author Pathways to
Health: An Integral Guidebook
Get Motivated, Stay Motivated
In a recent column on Lifestyle and Health, I commented that much of
chronic disease is related to lifestyle choices. Making decisions and
keeping them with respect to lifestyle choices that affect health
often comes down to motivation and sustaining that motivation-- which
is all about discipline. This column addresses some ideas and
suggestions about how to get motivated and stay motivated to be
healthier.
Understanding Decisions
A good place for us to start is understanding how we go about making
decisions. In a very simplified way, we have two parts of our brain
informing us about what we should and should not do.
The emotional part of our brain is often decisive in controlling our
decision making. We have needs and desires; we make decisions to
satisfy those needs and desires. Some decisions make us happy, others
make us sad, or angry. The decisions leave us feeling satisfied or
not. This is all based on emotion and emotional fulfillment.
If I desire chocolate and eating chocolate is the only way to feel
better, then chances are I’ll go eat some chocolate regardless of the
long term consequences. Such a choice is based on short term emotional
decision making. This part of our brain can often be impulsive.
Contrast this to the other decision making center of our brain, i.e.
the rational brain. That’s the part of our brain that uses logic and
weighs out the pros and the cons of alternatives. Our rational self is
not concerned about emotions and remains cool, calm and collected when
figuring out the best choice. This part of our brain is much better at
weighing out the long and the short term consequences of our actions.
When the emotional part of our brain and the rational part of our
brain are both aligned then decision making is easy. It’s kind of a no
brainer to make a choice that is supported by both brain decision
centers as it represents a win-win situation.
But what happens when the emotional and rational parts of our brain
want different things? In the case above, what happens when emotional
you wants chocolate and rational you says that will cause weight gain
or be bad for my diabetes? This kind of conflict is common. Poets and
philosophers have referred to this as the war between passion and
reason. When it comes to health, how do you make healthy lifestyle
choices when part of you is “arguing” to do something which is
unhealthy. Eating a calorie rich dessert when you are trying to lose
weight because at the moment you are more concerned about enjoying
dessert than losing weight is a good example. Sitting down and
watching TV because you are tired and want to rest instead of heading
out to the gym or going for a walk is another good example. Here I
have illustrated the conflict around common health choices about diet
and exercise. I am sure you can relate to these examples.
Good news—there is a third part of the brain that helps to mediate
this conflict between the emotional and rational parts of our brains.
This is the volitional brain, the seat of our willpower. Think of the
volitional brain as a referee who helps you to decide what choice you
will make.
Understanding Motivation
We are all motivated by a set of internal and external factors. These
are individualized, but are best understood by examples. I may be
motivated to lose weight because I understand that my current weight
is unhealthy and puts me at risk for diabetes and high blood pressure
(a rational argument). Or, I may be motivated to lose weight because I
don’t like the way I look (an emotional argument). In both cases,
these are internal motivators.
You might be motivated to stop smoking for some very good internal
reasons such as its bad for my health or it costs a lot of money. But
you might also have some good external motivators such as, I promised
my spouse that I would quit and I don’t want to disappoint him/her.
Or, I want to set a good example for my children. In either case,
these represent external motivations. You might consider not wanting
to be late for work because I might get in trouble as a prototypic
example of an external motivator. How about, I want to stop drinking
because if I am caught operating a vehicle, I might lose my license
and land in jail. That represents pretty strong external motivation
not to drink!
I like to encourage people to think of motivators in terms of rewards
and punishments which both represent reinforcers. Things which reward
you represent a source of positive reinforcement, while things which
punish you represent types of negative reinforcement. These
reinforcers are the carrot and the stick which often underlie our
motivation.
Bringing it all home
One very useful exercise is to sit down and list the health behaviors
you would like to adopt or change and then to detail the internal and
external motivators which support your decision making. Study the list
and see if you can develop some reinforcers to support you. Think in
terms of internal and external motivators as well as positive and
negative reinforcers. For example, if you want to lose weight, you can
reward yourself with a new outfit after losing 10 pounds. Or, if you
want to exercise more often, enroll a friend to be your gym buddy who
can encourage you when your motivation fails.
And your motivation will fail from time to time. No matter how
committed you are to a particular health choice, you may slip up from
time to time. Having a plan in advance on how to deal with temptation
is advisable. Have a health sponsor that you can call when you are
feeling weak. Put a picture of your children or loved ones in your
wallet and look at the picture when you are thinking of breaking a
health promise. Bring out the list you made and review it every day.
Post it on your refrigerator or on the mirror to look at when you are
washing, shaving, or brushing your teeth.
Having good intentions about your health is a good starting point, but
keeping them is all about sustained motivation and discipline.
Perseverance or stick-to-it-tiveness will be the challenge. That’s
where your volitional brain will ultimately decide your success.
As we approach the New Year, think of your New Year’s resolutions as
your good intentions. Understand the source of your motivation to
achieve your health goals. Follow through by being resolute and
maintaining your willpower. Like the Nike commercial says, “Just do
it!”
Be healthy
Victor Acquista MD is author of "Pathways To Health: An Integral
Guidebook" and a partner in Pathways Integral Health in Palmer. For
more information on Acquista's book, visit http://pathstohealth.info/…
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment