The behaviour change goal I set 4 weeks ago was to drink more water. To drink at least 2L of water a day, equivalent to approximately 8 cups.

     The past two weeks have been successful with reaching my goal. I have been drinking on average, 3L a day now and I feel much more energized. Intramural hockey season has started, and two weeks ago was my first game. After the game, I couldn’t even walk because I was so exhausted.  It didn’t help that I forgot my water bottle for the game, so an entire hour I felt so dehydrated. I realized that I am no longer in shape, and that I should to start exercising more.  I decided to incorporate a multiple behavioural change approach into my schedule, since drinking water and exercising go hand in hand. Paik and colleagues (2009) investigated the effects of hydration status on oxidative DNA damage and exercise performance. They found that dehydration impairs exercise performance, and water fluid replacement prolongs exercise endurance. 

     Multiple behaviour approach is the focus on how particular health behaviour constructs relate to one another, and how individuals actually change multiple health behaviours. In order to find a strategy that would work best for me, I had to determine whether both those treatments – drinking water and exercising—would occur simultaneously or sequentially with each. Hyman et al (2007) wanted to test whether a sequential presentation of change-based counselling to stop smoking, reduce dietary sodium levels and increase physical activity would be more effective than simultaneous counselling. At the end of the study, the results indicated that multiple behaviours in a simultaneous approach are superior to sequential approaches. Although more theoretical research is this field of study is necessary, I attempted to do my own research and see if a simultaneous multiple behaviour change would be effective, when I implemented two actions—drinking water and exercising. Since I started this strategy, I found a significant positive association between the “cons” of not drinking water and “pros” of exercising—being dehydrated while exercising. This has increased my self-efficacy to drink more water while exercising; thus, proving the multiple change behaviour strategy is effective in a simultaneous manner.  

     Since I have started exercising more and playing hockey every week, I have been drinking more water because it has been giving me much more energy.  I now feel more confident for my next hockey games, and this confidence (self-efficacy) motivates me to keep drinking water. Since drinking water is a key source for athletic performances.

Fluid replacement following dehydration reduces oxidative stress during recovery

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (May 2009), 383 (1), pg. 103-107 

Paik et al.

http://journals1.scholarsportal.info.proxy.queensu.ca/tmp/12112352397360802271.pdf

David J. Hyman, MD, MPH; Valory N. Pavlik, PhD; Wendell C. Taylor, PhD, MPH; G. Kenneth Goodrick, PhD; Lemuel Moye, MD, PhD (2007). Simultaenous vs Sequential Counseling for Multiple Behaviour Change. 

Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(11):1152-1158.

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/167/11/1152