Vegan by Valerie

Motivation and Behavioral Change

TGIF! I’ve literally spent the first two weeks of my summer vacation cleaning and organizing nonstop…. nonstop, I say!!!  You wouldn’t think there would be so much to do but since I work in two different schools, I have a TON of work stuff and it took the first week and a half to organize everything and to store it in its proper place… namely, the attic at my parents’ house!

Now that everything is clean and organized here, I’m looking forward to our 4th 2nd of July party tonight, and to having a relaxing weekend!  Here’s to holiday weekends!

You guys seemed to like the food diary post last time, so I thought I would do the same thing again today. But before I do that, I thought I would share some interesting points from a seminar I recently attended about Motivation and Behavioral Change.

I was interested in attending the seminar to learn more about how to help my students, many of whom are so surrounded by despair that they have no motivation to try well in school or to do the right thing (not join a gang, not get pregnant, etc.) because, as they tell me, they don’t even know if they will live to see their 18th birthday.

Yes, very, very sad stuff.  So, in my eyes the more I can learn about motivation, the better. I paid a lot of money for this class (I also have to attend professional development classes like this to keep my social work license valid), so I thought I may as well share the wealth and tell you guys about a few of the interesting points from the lecture (lecture by Gary Gilles at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration).

Motivation and Behavioral Change

* Contrary to popular belief, serious intent does not = behavioral change

* Instead, serious intent + action + self-efficacy = behavioral change

* A person’s level of motivation toward a particular action is based more on what they believe than on what is objectively true – basically, if I believe I have the ability to run for the U.S. Senate that holds more stock than my actual abilities

* Many researchers consider the development of personal self-efficacy to be a necessary trait for behavioral change to occur.  People are generally not expected to engage in a behavior, or even to form intentions to engage in a behavior, unless they believe that they have the necessary skills and abilities to perform the behavior.

* Self-efficacy beliefs are created by:

1) Perceptions of one’s previous performance and mastery of tasks/activities

2) Vicarious experiences of observing others perform tasks (i.e.,” if that person can do it, so can I” or “if they failed, so will I”)

3) Social persuasions given by other people (whether you are encouraged or negatively judged by others)

4) People gauge their confidence by the emotional state they experience as they contemplate an action

* So, perceived ability —————————————> Desired outcome

* We also discussed the 5 stages of change:

1) Precontemplation

2) Contemplation

3) Preparation

4) Action

5) Maintenance

Everyone moves through all of these steps but it will be at their own pace.  Therefore, if you want to help someone to make a change – such as getting a family member to exercise more – you need to meet them where they are at and to accept what stage they are at.  Then, you can help them with the particular stage they are at in order to move to the next step.

I studied psychology before going to grad school for social work so I love this stuff – what are your thoughts?

And let’s move along to the food!  As you will begin to notice, my summer eats are often very random.  I typically eat more on some days (the days when I get bored and cook and bake all day!) or less (when I am really busy and forget to make time to eat).  So, hold your judgment please

After loving the super blue lake yesterday…. wish I was eating on one of those boats!…..

Breakfast was raspberries.  Yum!  My dad grew raspberries in our garden growing up and raspberries always taste like my childhood to me.

Lunch was a random salad of spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, radish, black beans, salsa, hummus – here it is before I mixed it up.

Mixed up, plus a shot of wheatgrass on the side!

I snacked on more raspberries while making dinner…

Which was a random, quickie meal.  I made a super quick stirfry of bok choy, mushrooms, TJ’s teriyaki sauce, and black beans (I meant to make tofu but forgot so I threw in black beans for some protein) over some couscous.  I told you it was random!

I had about two bowls of this.

What are your weekend plans?  Hope you have a wonderful day!

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