Behavior Change Plan to Prevent Coronary Heart Disease

Behavior Change Plan to Prevent Coronary oculus DiseaseMaintaining a Healthy Lifestyle Behavior to Prevent a Reoccurrence of Coronary Heart DiseaseJames J. SpeenIntroductionJustification for choosing the health portI am a 57 year old male, diagnosed with diabetes mellitus II, and cardiovascular disease stemming from atherosclerosis. In March of 2006, I experienced an acute angina pectoris ardor while testing for a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do. The angina attack led to an emergency department visit at a local health facility and ultimately culminated in a quadruple coronary artery bypass graph (CABG). My healthcare providers are continually stressing the importance of devising healthy choices and maintaining a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent a reoccurrence of coronary nub disease (CHD). Further, supporting my physicians opinion, Ferris, Kline, and Bourdage (2012) claim that biopsychosocial health displayed no direct relationship to CHD bump, but positively predicted a heal thier lifestyle. A healthier lifestyle was related to lower levels of CHD risk.Over the then(prenominal) 6 months, I have strayed from my regimen of healthy eating and periodical exercise and am beginning to feel the invalidating effects of weight gain, terrible joints, and decreased endurance during physical activity. It is now behavior fitting time. This will be accomplished by discontinuing my current membrane- somaing behaviors and resuming a healthy lifestyle consisting of a regimen of eating heart healthy foods and exercise.Justification for the behavior change planI used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model, as outlined in our textbook, Health Psychology A Biopsychosocial Approach (Straub, 2012) to evaluate my current behavior. First, I determined that continuing my behavior would eventually lead to a nonher(prenominal) CABG or even worse my death. Secondly, after considering my doctors views regarding CHD prevention through lifestyle modification I chose to compl y with my healthcare providers advice. And finally, I realized that I am the only one who back manage my controllable health risk factors.MethodMaterials and ProcedureI monitored my pre-change thermal intake, blood glucose, and physical exercise levels for seven days. My caloric intake and come in of exercise was recorded using the MyFitnessPal agile application. Blood glucose levels were measured all(prenominal) day with a OneTouch Ultra 2 blood glucose meter. Glucose measurements were performed twice each day at 600a.m. and at 1000p.m.. This data was used to erect my base line cardiac healthy lifestyle compliance.After this period, I enacted a behavior change plan to regain control over my controllable cardiac health risk factors. I added the use of a HoMedics model KS-701 digital dietary scale to accurately measure my food portions and increased the amount of water that I consumed daily. Additionally, 1 hour of cardiovascular and strength training exercises was added to th e daily regimen. Caloric intake and exercise activity were recorded using the MyFitnessPal mobile application and blood glucose was measured with the OneTouch Ultra 2 blood glucose meter. Nutritional data consisting of caloric intake, carbohydrates, fat, protein, cholesterol, sodium, sugar, and fiber from the MyFitnessPal application along with blood glucose data, was imported into an outdo spread sheet for data comparison and analysis. Average daily values for each category were computed for both the pre-behavior change and behavior change periods.ResultsThe pre-behavior change number nutrition information showed that I was consuming too much fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Additionally, both my a.m. and p.m. average blood glucose readings exceeded the National Institute of Health (NIH) blood glucose recommendations of pre- meal 70130mg/dL and 2-hours post meal The modified behaviors showed significant improvements across the scope of all values monitored when compared to my behavi or change goal. Refer to Table 2 for a more detailed comparison of behavior change to the behavior change goal. Additionally, Table 3 demonstrates the effect that positive health risk behavior modification has on un-healthy controllable health risk behaviors.DiscussionWhat worked and what didnt work with my change planThis behavior intervention was successful from the standpoint that the cycle of unhealthy lifestyle choices I was making, was interrupted. Furthermore, a modest improvement in controllable cardiac health risk factors was realized. Even though, I was unable to implement the cardiovascular and strength exercise portion of my plan I experienced a 6 pound weight loss attributable to overall daily caloric reduction.External and internal factors that contributed to the effectiveness of my change planExternal factors affecting my change plan were the abundance of family support and the inability to implement the exercise ingredient of my plan due to a severe lower lumbar spr ain requiring a lengthy time to heal.Internal factors that helped motivate me to make change were the degenerative joint pain and decreased physical endurance I was experiencing. Another positive motivator was being able to see the real-time qualitative results of my daily nutritional choices.Shortterm and longterm consequences of not changing my behaviorAccording to the South Australian Department of Health (2012),the short-term consequences of not changing my behavior may include impairment of my daily health and wellbeing and reduce my ability to lead an enjoyable and active life. Additionally, move un-healthy nutrition choices can contribute to stress, fatigue, and can affect my ability to work. Furthermore, poor nutritional choices have been associated with increased incidences chronic medical conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia.The long-run consequences of not making healthy lifestyle changes to reverse the abovementioned chronic me dical conditions lead to serious life-ending diseases. errant hypertension causes thickening of the heart muscle which reduces the hearts pumping efficiency. Kidney failure is also caused by unmanaged high blood pressure in diabetics. Furthermore, uncontrolled hypercholesterolemia leads to increased plaque buildup in the arteries, which may form blockages, and induce a heart attack.The adverse effects of diabetes are immense. According to WebMD (2012), complications from diabetes are caused by damage to the bodys blood vessels, nerves or both.Damage to the vascular system causes blindness from diabetic retinopathy. Retinopathy is caused by the retina dying from insufficient blood flow. Peripheral neuropathy is damage to the nerves in the feet and can lead to open wounds that will not heal. Over time, these open wounds become infected. Left untreated, the wound develops gangrene and the limb needs to be amputated.Eventually, the cumulative negative long term effects of living an unh ealthy lifestyle void of heart healthy nutrition and a regime of exercise will culminate to that moment we sometimes hear about where we are lying on our deathbed and the most prominent thought in our mind is, I wish I would have.ReferencesFerris, P.A., Kline, T.J., Bourdage, J.S. (2012). He Said, She Said Work,Biopsychosocial, and Lifestyle Contributions to Coronary Heart Disease Risk.Health Psychology, 31(4), 503-511.Straub, R.O. (2012). Staying Healthy Primary Prevention and Positive Psychology. InHealth psychology A biopsychosocial approach (pp.167-169). New York, NYWorth Publishers.National Diabetes Education Program (U.S.),. (2014). Know your blood sugar numbers.Author. United States Centers for Disease Control and PreventionDerrher/WebMD, D. (2012). Effects of Uncontrolled Diabetes on Eyes, Kidneys, Heart,and More. Retrieved from http//www.webmd.com/diabetes/risks-complications-uncontrolled-diabetesSouth Australia Department of Health. (2012, July 6). The Risks of Poor Nut rition SA Health. Retrieved from http//www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/healthy+living/is+your+health+at+risk/the+risks+of+poor+nutritionTable 1Pre-change Health Behavior Table 2Behavior change compared to behavior change goalTable 3The effect of positive health risk behavior modification on un-healthy controllable health risk behaviors