Behavior Modification Techniques That Can

¶ … behavior modification techniques that can be applied to overeating. The writer explores overeating and produces a workable list of behavior modification techniques that might apply to a patient who has difficulty controlling food consumption. There were three sources used to complete this paper. Almost nightly news reports across America tell society that it is overweight. Commercials for diet plans, exercise equipment and pills "guaranteed" to take off pounds feed a multibillion dollar industry designed to help people become thin. Yet, the nation as a whole continues to grow.

The basic premise to maintaining a healthy weight is not to take in more calories than one expends with physical energy. On the surface it sounds like a simple concept however, when factors such as emotional problems, cravings, and sedentary lifestyles are added to the mix it is not difficult to understand why America is growing. "One-third of the U.S.

population is currently considered obese, with a body mass index of 30 kg/[m.sup.2] or greater, and more than two-thirds are overweight, with BMIs at or above 25(Tucker, 2005)."As these statistics continue to rise the medical community continues to discover the long-term health issues that being overweight can cause. Within five years of losing large amounts of weight 90% of Americans gain it back. The key to permanent weight loss is not in a new drug, or piece of exercise equipment of a fad diet.

The key to permanent weight loss and weight management is behavior modification. BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION Behavior modification is a tool that is widely used in the mental health field to help patients break the overeating habits they have developed. Overeating is often caused by underlying psychological concerns or issues that can include: Self-worth and satisfaction. A sense of wealth or ease. Safety and distance. Sedation.

Sense of identity (Mulcahy, 2003)." Understanding these benefits that overweight people gain from overeating is important as it can help set the stage to reduce overeating through behavior modifications. Using behavior modification to prevent overeating involves the use of techniques to include self-monitoring, cognitive restructuring, social support, stress management and stimulus control. When these techniques are used effectively the incidence of overeating will be reduced and the chances of becoming overweight will be reduced.

For one to understand how behavior modification can work to reduce overeating one needs to have an understanding of behavior modification and how it works in general. Behavior modification is a technique used in the mental health field and classrooms around the world to change one's undesirable behaviors. It promotes the belief that if one changes behaviors then desired results will soon follow which will in turn enforce the benefits of behavior modifications thereby strengthening the resolve to continue those behaviors (FOREYT, 2000).

There are many ways that behavior modification can be incorporated into the problem of overeating. Overeating is often a difficult problem to address because the behavior modifications cannot include things that will help a person stop the activity completely. Unlike drug use, smoking cigarettes or chronic tardiness, one cannot completely stop eating and thereby remove the undesirable activity from their life completely. One must have food to sustain life therefore there is no way to completely remove it.

It will always been needed and necessary and for those who have difficulty controlling their impulses it will always be there as a temptation for the undesired behavior to continue, in this case overeating. While this makes it a difficult behavior to change it can be done through the implementation of behavior modification techniques. One of the first steps in behavior modification is self-monitoring. This requires the person to become aware of their target behaviors by keeping a diary or journal about their eating habits.

Initially the only thing that is required of that person is that he or she record everything eaten. In the journal they are to write it down, when they ate it, why they ate it and what they were doing at the time they ate it or just prior to eating it. While this will not necessarily change the behavior it will provide a blueprint for making the person more aware of what he eats and why it happens outside of hunger. The next step would be stimulus control.

This involves identifying the environmental cues that are associated with overeating and modifying them so that they are reduced as triggers. Suggestions for ways patients can implement this strategy include: eating only at the kitchen table without watching television; keeping no snack foods in the house; laying out exercise clothes the night before as a reminder to walk or jog in the morning (FOREYT, 2000)." Cognitive restructuring is used to help the person become aware of himself.

In addition it can help the person understand why he overeats and present a realistic expectation about the consequences of that behavior and what benefits are realistically going to come from not overeating. Stress management is also an important element in behavior modification when it comes to the problem of overeating. Many times stress is named or identified as a key factor in why people overeat.

The taste of sweets or carbohydrates, the feeling of being full or the act of "doing something for one's self" by eating something tasty are all things commonly used to combat stress. Unfortunately the act of overeating as a stress reducer can create the person to become overweight which produces a whole new set of issues and stress, thereby becoming a vicious cycle (FOREYT, 2000). Stress reduction and management can be a key component to the reduction of overeating.

One example of using stress reduction and management techniques to replace overeating as a response to stress is to teach the person to undertake deep breathing when stress is present. This works to reduce tension throughout the nervous system and make the person feel more relaxed. In addition stress management can be promoted through changing or addressing the stressor. If the person is stressed because they are constantly running late, they can leave earlier for each appointment thereby reducing that stress trigger.

If they are constantly feeling overwhelmed and unprepared, they can begin to set aside time each evening to prepare themselves for the next day whether that is completing homework, preparing a business presentation or simply making a list of all they need to accomplish that day. Social support is an important element to behavior modification as studies.