(Spotlight4807)Changing Behavior by Keeping a Record17 October, 2011
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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Adam Navis. Voice 2
And I'm Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Jennie wanted to lose weight. She says:
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"I wanted to be able to keep up with my very energy-filled fifteen [15] month old children... I wanted to be able to take them on walks. One summer I did not take them outside because I could not stand the heat. I was very sad. I was wearing clothes designed to hide my body... But then I started writing everything I ate using a food record. Every day, I wrote what I was thinking and feeling. These records have been very helpful. I have lost ten pounds." Voice 2
Have you ever felt like making a change in your life? Today's Spotlight is on ways to change our future behavior just by writing down what we do. Voice 1
Everyone does things that they know are bad for them. Some people smoke cigarettes. Other people eat too much unhealthy food. Still others spend too much time watching television or playing computer games. You may have something in your life that you wish were different.
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We seem out of control because there is a part of our brain that still thinks like a child. This part of our brain wants to feel good right now. It does not care about what may happen in the future. This is why children need adults in their lives to help them make good decisions.
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But as adults, we need to think about the future. We need to make ourselves do what we know is good. Even if it does not feel good right now. When we smoke cigarettes or eat too much, we do this because it feels good right now. But we forget about the long-term effects on our health. So, a part of our brain is trying to get us to do things that feel good right now. And another part knows that we need to do things that will help us live long, healthy lives. One way to help this second part is to keep a record of what we do
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Our brain knows which things are bad for us. But it tells us we can permit ourselves one more serving of food or one more cigarette. Then one more. Then one more. In this way, we underestimate what we have actually done. We do this because food tastes good, smoking helps us relax, and our brain wants more, and wants it now.
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Writing down what we do removes the estimation from our brain. Jennie has learned this from trying to lose weight, she says:
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"Write down everything you eat! You will be amazed at how quickly the "little" things add up... Even when I was eating healthy foods I was eating way too much. I also had too much fat in my diet. Writing it down helped me keep an honest record of what I was eating." Voice 2
By removing the estimation from our brains we make it more difficult for our brains to lie to us. But there is still one question: how does recording what we do make us want to change? After all, most overweight people already know they are overweight.
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One reason is because writing down what you do creates a way to measure yourself. Imagine you want to watch less television. But what does "less" mean? After recording yourself you discover you watch twenty [20] hours each week. Now you have a goal you can measure. For example, you want to watch five hours less each week. This is easy to understand and measure. You can just look at your record.
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This idea can be used for eating too much as well. Saying you want to eat less is easy. But it is not very helpful. Once you know how much you are really eating, you can make a plan. You can say, "I want to eat six hundred [600] less calories each day." And then, by writing down what you do, you can more easily reach that goal.
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Meeting your goal is a positive reinforcement. One website describes reinforcement as, "something that strengthens a behavior. For example, if you want your dog to sit on command, you may give him a treat every time he sits for you. The dog will come to understand that sitting when told to will result in a treat. This treat is reinforcing because he likes it. It will result in him sitting when told to do so." In the same way, keeping a record and seeing even small progress will reinforce our good behavior.
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Sometimes people will change their behavior because they simply do not want to write down what they did. Writing it down gives them time to stop and think about what they are doing. Some people even share their record with a friend. Knowing that someone will see what they wrote down is sometimes enough to change their behavior.
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Writing down what you do is not the only method for changing behavior. Sometimes record keeping is used as one part of behavioral change. Some people may need counseling, prayer, education, or medicine to help them. It is also true that record keeping is only as good as the person who is keeping the record. People can still lie to themselves. They can fail to record everything they do. This will not help them make any real change.
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We will never be perfect people. There will always be things about ourselves that we wish were different. Further, there is nothing wrong with enjoying good food or watching television. It is only a problem when these things stop us from living the kind of life we want to live. Jennie wanted to be able to play with her children. And writing down what she was eating helped her do that. She says:
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"I am much more happy with myself. I am no longer sad and hating myself. I look forward to going out with friends. Before I would turn them down because I had nothing to wear that I felt comfortable in. There are so many benefits from losing weight!" Voice 1
Keeping a record, of either good or bad actions, will give us a clearer picture of ourselves. Once we can see ourselves for who we are, hopefully we will find the strength to become the kind of people we want to be.
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The writer and producer of this program was Adam Navis. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users can hear our programs, read our scripts, and see our word list on our website athttp://www.radio.english.net. This program is called "Changing Behavior by Keeping a Record." We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight Program.
