 Health & Nutrition
Thoughts on
Aging
Small Steps Lead to Big Change: Awareness - January 19, 2012
(2 minutes: 10 seconds)
 WMA (audio
only)
Audio/Video Script:
Dr. LaVona Traywick
Assistant Professor - Gerontology
[Announcer] Welcome to Thoughts on Aging with Dr. LaVona Traywick,
Assistant Professor of Gerontology with the University of Arkansas Division of
Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.
[Dr. LaVona Traywick] It’s easy to disconnect from the reality of financial and health practices.
Disconnect is denial and it can be a real problem if you’re trying to
improve your health or wealth. In fact, awareness is necessary for behavior
change. There are five “A’s” of behavior change: awareness, ability, ambition, attitude and
action. A first small step toward
successful change is to become aware of your current situation and practices.
1. Ask yourself if you are in denial. Fully acknowledge your current
situation. Look at the visible evidence. How’s your credit score? Is
your debt load less than 20%? Do you have a positive net worth? Are you
a healthy weight? How’s your blood pressure?
2. Keep written records. Record spending for two months. Most people
don’t have a clue how many dollars they spend monthly on incidental
expenses such as food and entertainment. Keep a diet journal and record
everything you eat for two weeks.
3. Identify needed changes. Use your written records to find areas
where change is needed. Spending records can be used to create a budget.
Your diet journal can help you identify potential pitfalls.
For more information, enroll in the Small Steps Challenge at
www.arfamilies.org and then you can use the Small Steps to Health and
Wealth worksheets for your written logs.
[Announcer] Thank you for listening to Thoughts on Aging with Dr. LaVona
Traywick. To learn more about this and other topics, contact your local county
Cooperative
Extension Service office.
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