WELLNESS PROJECT

A Program of Physical Fitness

Introduction (Part a)

Wellness is determined by a variety of factors which range from emotional, spiritual, occupational, environmental, and mental wellbeing. The sum of these factors determines the overall health of the individual. It is therefore apparent that wellness is much more than physical health, nutrition or exercise. While everyone would want to achieve maximum health, people are unwilling to take up the behavior change that is necessary to create wellness (Hjelm, 2010).

Social wellness is the ability of an individual to relate with others while maintaining respect with others and developing reminiscent relationships with other people. It enables one to create a system of support between family and friends especially if coupled with proper communication skills. There are conditions that must be maintained for physical wellbeing to exist. Specifically, one must maintain a healthy diet and physical exercise (Hjelm, 2010). Physical wellbeing promotes endurance to pressure and flexibility. Emotional health comprises of all the emotions of an individual. For one to be emotionally well, they must maintain those emotional conditions that promote a positive approach to life and all that it entails especially in line with behavior feelings and thoughts. Spiritual wellbeing, on the other hand, comprises of those values and beliefs that give a human being a direction in life. Spirituality varies from individual to individual. Maximum spiritual wellbeing is achieved when an individual follows the path they believe to be one of righteousness (Hjelm, 2010). Environmental health refers to the way an individual relates with other aspects of life. If maintained, environmental wellness promotes harmony and a peaceful coexistence of the individual with heir environment. It is for this reason that everyone needs to play a role in protecting and conserving the environment. The role to protect the environment cannot be transferred. One must play a leading role in protecting their environment. Finally, mental health is the ability of an individual to participate in activities that involve the brain in a creative and stimulating way. Mental wellbeing enables one to expand their knowledge as well as make contribution to the society. With mental wellness, one is able to make wise and informed decisions and therefore reach their goals and aspirations.

Every aspect of wellness is important for the individual. They also work together to maintain maximum wellness in an individual. A proper correlation between all aspects of wellness is important. My physical health, for example, is vital seeking other forms of wellness. Difficulties are likely to arise if I seek mental, spiritual or environmental wellness while in a state of poor physical wellness. Every aspect of wellness is vital for social wellness. Social wellness is strained whenever other forms of wellness are lacking. It is difficult for example for me to interact while in poor state of wellness.

On the economic front, one is required to exhaust their economic resources while trying to maximize their other forms of wellness. One is also incapable of meeting their obligations at work if they are not in a good state of wellness. On the other hand, the economic strain one is undergoing determines how an individual is capable to pursue other forms of wellness.

            My choice of project was motivated by the knowledge that the overall health is greatly hurt if an individual is lacking in physical wellness. Moreover, physical wellness is very important for the overall wellness. My job does not require me to be mobile. For this reason, I am faced with challenges of maintaining a healthy lifestyle since most of my work is done on one station. While I understand the discomfort that comes with the seeking physical wellness, I understand the benefits of achieving a physically healthy body and they exceed the disadvantages by a big margin. This project stands a way for me to change my behaviors to become more productive. Hopefully, my choice to pursue physical wellness will also help to improve my relationship with my friends and family and even contribute to their own physical wellbeing. Eventually, my friends and I will become more productive. Overall, this project has a lot of potential and could eventually contribute to making me a better person.

            To some extent, the fear of chronic disease also contributed to my choice of project. With proper physical health, a lot of risk is alleviated. People today suffer a lot of diseases including hypertension, arthritis, diabetes and cancer owing to the lifestyle I lead (Guinness, Wiseman, & Wonderling, 2011). With proper behavioral change and adoption of a proper health mechanism, I am guaranteed of lowering my risk in a big way. A sedentary life promotes the storage of energy in the form of body fat hence making one to add weight. Overweight individuals are at a much higher risk of contracting disease (Mancini, 2011). Choosing this project will allow me to avoid the risky path and also help others in the same way. As a consequence, I will also become a more productive member of society.

Plan (Part b)

It is difficult to change from a sedentary lifestyle to a completely active lifestyle. I have chosen to make small but definite changes in my lifestyle to ensure that I stay motivated on this task. The changes will increase on a weekly basis to ensure that I put up with my body’s capabilities. In regard to this decision, I will initially make small changes in my lifestyle to ensure that I prepare my body for the changes. I will then increase the pressure I put on my body and eventually create a definite and regular plan for change in my life. I have created a series of steps to make sure that the behavior change is effective.

On the first week

1. I will take the stairs every day when I leave for work in the morning. I will also ensure that I take a friend when I can.
2. I will leave the car some distance from the office to ensure that I walk for a minimum of five minutes each morning

The above two steps will require me to leave the house fifteen minutes earlier than I already do in the morning

On the second week

• I will adopt an exercise plan. Every day I walk for thirty minutes in the morning before taking my morning shower
• I will time my walk and try to increase the distance walked by at least 250 meters in a week.
• I will develop a reward scheme to ensure that I am motivated enough to stay doing it. One thing I need to buy is a running gear. If I achieve my target, within a week, I will buy myself the running gear
• I will keep track of my weight by weighing at least once every week. I believe this may serve as a form of motivation for the change of behavior

Week 3

• I will change my walk to a jog. I will only result to walking when I am out of breath. I will also ensure that my heart beat remains above the normal pulse rate.
• I will ensure that I get into a morning exercise group so that I can stay motivated and help others stay motivated as well.

Week 4 and thereafter

• I will continue with my morning jog each morning. I will try to improve the pace of my run when possible
• I will also challenge my body to a more challenging terrain with time.

Tracking (Part c)

DAY	Exercise	Progress
1	Woke up late. Took the stairs. Could not take my morning walk. Compensated in the evening by walking for fifteen minutes	Felt motivated on the first day
2	Took the stairs and walked five minutes in the morning	My muscles were sore in the morning. Muscles eased after the morning walk
3	Took the stairs twice before leaving for work. Walked for five minutes	Muscles still sore Felt thirsty in the course of the day
4	Progressed with my walk and stair schedule. Carried a bottle of water to work	Still felt motivated about the exercise scheme
5	Opted to aerobics in the house	It was raining heavily in the morning. I liked aerobics.
6	Was on a Saturday. Woke up late. Walked to the shopping mall and back. 30 minutes each way	The evening aerobics class with the instructor left me tired but satisfied.
7	Took my weight and wrapped my week. Had lost a little over one pound of weight	Liked the progress I was making.
8	Started my early morning walk. Took the stairs but dropped the habit of walking the last five minutes to work	Broke my sweat.
9	Noted I needed a heavier diet.	Still felt motivated by the
10	Still felt motivated with the progress I was making. No sore muscles	Felt motivated
11	Missed the morning walk due to rain	Resolved to compensate for the missed morning walk
12	Increased my pace to a slow jog during the first five minutes.	Resolved to buy a set of running gears
13	Went swimming for two hours	Resolved to adopt swimming every Saturday
14	Took my weight	Another pound lost. Felt motivated to continue. I also noted a better build
15	Morning rain. Took my run in the evening after work	Felt motivated
16	Enrolled in a running team.	Liked my instructor’s motivation
17	Got a friend to go jogging with me	Felt exhausted
18	Skipped the morning run	Still felt exhausted. Went for a medical check-up
19	I took the stairs and walked the last five minutes to the office.	Felt anxious to resume my exercise plan
20	Took my morning jog	I was slower than usual. Did not want to skip another day
21	Went for the morning jog. Noted speed and energy	Took more water in the course of the day
22	Got a bigger water bottle. Felt energized	Still felt motivated. Got myself a present for progress
23	Morning program was ruined by rain. Went to the gym for aerobics in the evening	Felt exhausted by evening
24	The instructor introduced me to a partner to exercise with	Partner very energized. Increased pace.
25	Changed running route for steeper terrain	Muscles sore by evening
26	Took my morning run with partner	Felt more energized. Noted better appetite
27	Walked to the mall for shopping Went swimming in the afternoon	Weight stagnant from last week
28	Had to attend this workout since it was the last of four weeks.	Felt motivated with my exercise program. To continue with program

Several behaviors came on the way of my progress. I noted that I have to get home early so as to get enough sleep. My form of exercise is likely to work in the long run. I have created it in such a way that there is increased I have incorporated increased strain and reward. As I continue with the program, I become more capable of strain and hence transform my schedule to accommodate the renewed strength. The reward scheme is recommended by for improved motivation (Schaefer, 2010). I have resolved to keep up the program in the long term. I will only make slight changes in the plan to accommodate changes in my life. This is recommended for sustainable wellness (Hales, 2012). Research shows that one is required to exercise a minimum of five times each week. In the course of the four weeks, I have managed to meet all the requirements of exercising.

Evaluation (Part d)

My tracking information supports the program in every way. First, there is improved energy and hence the improved productivity. I have been able to increase my capabilities in every way.

Week 1
Week one was easy to some extent. My biggest strain was in waking up in the morning. I however managed to accommodate the program most days of the week. Even when I was unable to meet my exercise requirements in the morning, I managed to make a way to resolve the issue.

Week 2
            I still had difficulties waking up in the morning. I however caught up by the middle of the week. I noted improvements in every area. I had reduced my weight.

Week 3

I felt unwell in the course of the week and altered my exercise program slightly. I resumed as soon as I felt better. There was progress in the course of the week.

Week 4

There was little progress in terms of weight loss. I however though that I might have added some muscle and hence the problem with my weight. I got a partner in the course of the week. Had the program up and running.   

Conclusion (Part e)

My wellness behavioral change program was mainly intended to improve my physical wellness in the form of physical exercises. I adopted a program that was based on increased tenacity and reward. This program seemed to work and saw to a slight decline in weigh over the course of the three weeks. Overall, the progress was good and the program could be recommended to anyone who has similar intentions.

References

Guinness, L., Wiseman, V., & Wonderling, D. (2011). Introduction to health economics.    Maidenhead,             Berkshire, England: Open University Press

Hales, D. R. (2012). An invitation to health: Choosing to change. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth          Cengage Learning.

Hjelm, J. R. (2010). The dimensions of health: Conceptual models. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and        Bartlett.

Mancini, M. (2011). Nutritional and metabolic bases of cardiovascular disease. Chichester,           West Sussex:            Wiley-Blackwell.

Schaefer, A. 2010. Exercise. Chicago, Ill.: Heinemann Library