Reflection Journal 3

Adachukwu Onyeme

University of Manitoba

KPER-1200-D01- Physical Activity, Health and Wellness

Professor Jay Johnson

April 5, 2024
Reflection Journal 3

In our society, it can be difficult to maintain a consistent healthy lifestyle. We are all

surrounded by circumstances, stressors and conditions that hinder or distract us

from consistently maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Personally, there have been

numerous times where I've been motivated to start a fitness regimen. At first,

everything seemed to work out fine but gradually that motivation began to decline

as I had to keep up with other aspects of my life. (Fitzgerald, 2009). For some of us

(including me), one reason for this inconsistency is we downplay the importance of

healthy living with regards to other aspect of our lives. This perception makes us

willing to sacrifice the time dedicated to exercise, cooking etc for other activities.

Truthfully, a healthy lifestyle is demanding and requires effort as much as other

aspects of our lives. This wasn't meant to be another "good things don't come easy"

narrative, but it is and I think much of this has to do with the way our society is

designed. The average environment doesn't provide enough reason, motivation or

time to commit to a consistent healthy lifestyle and we lose the benefits that come

with consistent healthy living. A question I've asked myself is "what is consistent

healthy lifestyle?". The word "consistent" implies everyday, every hour, every

minute, no skipping attitude. But that is unrealistic for the average person and that

meaning ignores the different life circumstances surrounding every individual and

makes the conclusion that healthy living is a luxury that can only be afforded by the

very privileged in our society.

But I've realised that consistent healthy lifestyle is not synonymous with everyday

lifestyle. Rather, having a predictable time period dedicated to healthy lifestyle like
cooking, exercising etc and sticking to it is consistency. One benefit of this

clarification is that it reduces or eliminates the perception that healthy lifestyle is a

burden and difficult to incorporate into our personal lives. It encourages flexibility

and make the transition towards a healthy lifestyle easier.

This benefit actually supports the self efficacy theory of exercise behaviour. (Lox,

2010). By combining the cognitive element (change in perception of consistent

healthy lifestyle) with the social element ( flexible opportunities to incorporate

healthy lifestyle into individual's lives), transition towards a healthy behaviour occurs

more easily. I love this theory a lot because it acknowledges both individual and

social aspects that can hinder or cause a change in behaviour. As mentioned earlier,

the way society is designed makes it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle but

creating opportunities in addition to determination makes the transition easier

leading to positive change in behaviour. A deeper look at the social element of this

theory highlights the role that institutions and government need to play to promote

healthy lifestyle.

Although I lay more emphasis on individual efforts and that is due to the fact that

personal determination and motivation towards healthy lifestyle is very important

for consistent healthy lifestyle, government and institutional efforts to promote the

importance of consistent healthy lifestyle is equally important and necessary to

control societal impact on healthy living. Little efforts like creating parking lots at a

distance from the entrance of a building to induce individuals to walk can be very

effective.
Reflecting further on personal determination, I've personally observed that

determinations and motivations are fleeting moments. There are days when I got

this kick inside to hit the gym after scrolling through pictures of celebrities with fit

bodies. But honestly, that feeling doesn't come all the time and adding the fact that

I'm going to be exposed to stressors and circumstances that Akter my mood each

and every day highlights how rare these feelings are. That is why writing or creating

goals towards healthy living is very important to consistently maintain that lifestyle.

At first, I didn't buy this idea because I believed that I was motivated and that feeling

was enough to carry me through, but that was never the case. (Weinberg, 2014).

There are parts of our lives that we don't like, for example, it could be the 9 to 5 job.

But we keep going because we have a goal to achieve such as saving up to start a

business, vacation, a car, house etc. That also applies to healthy living if we want to

make it part of our lives through consistency and reap the benefits. Creating goals

and genuine reasons for those goals puts accountability on an individual to do what

needs to be done to get what they want. From experience, creating goals is an art of

setting tasks that requires a delicate balance between easy and challenging. A task

that's too easy is not even a goal and creates opportunity for laziness. On the other

hand, a task that's too challenging makes it difficult to commit and creates

opportunities for reasons on why to quit.

Consistent with the social and cognitive element of self efficacy theory, having a

social validator of our goals such as a person, a reward etc can be very effective in

sticking to the goals.

The benefits of a consistent healthy lifestyle cannot be overstated and has be shown

to prevent certain diseases and lengthen lifespan. Healthy lifestyle is not just good

for the individual but also for the environment in the form of reducing carbon

emissions from the production of ultra processed food etc. (Brittany, 2023).

Personally, when I read about these benefits, I picture myself at old age still being

mobile and playing with my grand kids. I've mentioned it before in my past reflection

that my grandfather was very much mobile till he died at the age of 104. I'm pretty

sure he felt proud of himself for being independent till he died. I know a couple of

old folks who feel miserable that they have to depend on their kids and can't help it,

I know I would feel that to if I ever found myself in such circumstances. This is one of

the feelings that drive me to be consistent. I've realised that the benefits of

consistent healthy lifestyle are accumulative, building on top each other and creating

long term support for our health. It's almost like we are storing some time and

energy somewhere that will later be useful as we grow older.

Am I maintaining a consistent healthy lifestyle? No. I still fall short on numerous

occasions and a reason for that is I considered healthy living a secondary objective

and this perception reflected in my attitude towards it. My perception has changed

since I began this course and at this point, it has become clear that a consistent

healthy lifestyle is a way of life, nothing less. One of my guiding principle is "how I

think about it is how I'm going to approach it". If a consistent healthy lifestyle is a

way of life that promises so much benefits, then I have to live that life to the best of

my abilities.
I like to be realistic and I know it's going to be tough because this lifestyle involves

undoing years of negative habits and there will be unforeseen circumstances that

could distract me from maintaining a consistent healthy lifestyle. But I've told myself

that the benefits are going to be worth it and I'll thank myself for this effort in the

future.

As my final reflection, I'd like to add that this course has changed my perception of

health and wellbeing. Every aspect of my life is a part in the whole that forms my

wellbeing. Each parts has to be at peak performance to enjoy my life at its full

capacity. I'm taking this knowledge with me and will use it to bring out the best of

each year I spend.

References

Brittany, R. (2023). Healthy Lifestyle Benefits: 5 Tips for Living Your Strongest,

Healthiest Life Yet. Healthline.

Fitzgerald, N. & Spaccarotella, K. (2009). Barriers to a Healthy Lifestyle: From

Individuals to Public Policy - An Ecological Perspective. Journal of Extension, 47(1): 1-

Lox, C., Martin, K., & Petruzello, S. (2010). Theories and Models of Exercise Behavior

I. Social Cognitive Approaches. In: The Psychology of Exercise: Integrating Theory and

Practice. Scottsdale, AZ: Holcomb Hathaway, Publishers. Pp 50 - 56.

Weinberg, R. (2014). Goal Setting in Sport and Exercise: Research to Practice. In:

Brewer, B., & Van, R. Exploring Sport and Exercise Psychology. American

Psychological Association.