Helping you understand how to change so permanent weight loss is possible is one of the goals of this blog, and one of the research models I base much of my teaching strategies on is described in a book that is titled - you guessed it -
Authored by James Prochaska and Carlo DiClimente, with John Norcross in 1994, Changing for Good describes the six-stage process that successful self-changers cycle through on their journey toward positive lifestyle change.
Most diet workshops and programs actually start you out at stage 4 - equipping you with a calorie counter and a shopping list. That's starting with ACTION. And some people are ready to start there, because they have processed the first three stages already - maybe even more than once.
Briefly, stage 1 is denial, or Pre-contemplation - you don't want to think, hear, or talk about losing weight. You think of yourself as "big-boned." or healthy just the way you are.
In stage 2, you open the door to the thought that maybe you could stand to lose weight - nothing fits, or your doctor has told you your diabetes is caused by overweight, or you are finding it hard to bend over to tie your shoes. So you start thinking: what should I do? You are in Contemplation The best thing that can happen here is that you start listening and gathering information from reputable sources. Ask people who have lost weight how they did it. Sometimes people stay stuck in the "thinking" stage for years....the classic contemplator will by the magazine with both the headline "Lose 5 Pounds This Weekend" and the picture of a Double Dark Chocolate layer cake on the cover --- eventually deciding to bake the cake and eat it too.
Sooner or later, successful self-changers make the decision to move on to the third stage - Preparation. They make a phone call to a doctor or nutritionist or Weight Watchers to get help making a plan to change. They definitely plan to actively start a new way of life within a month. To me this is the most important stage of all. Some of you reading this are in this stage now and some have completed it already - how do you know? The preparation stage is all about PLANNING!
Your plan for successful weight loss is going to include all of these: a short-term and long-term weight goal, an eating plan with your daily calorie range and the kids of foods you will be eating, resources for nutritious recipes and foods that you will actually eat and like; tools like a food diary and the Hunger Scale to help you learn about your own eating patterns; ideas for what to do INSTEAD of eating when you you know you really aren't hungry or when you are dining out or at parties, and a plan for getting regular physical activity. When you have all these plans in your "tool box" you will be well-equipped for the next stage:
Action or Doing It! The action stage is actively "dieting" when you are losing weight...although, like the exercise guru Richard Simmons, I like to call it live-it, not die-it. A good eating plan for losing weight should be one that you can use as the basis of your everyday eating from now on - not something you go off of so you can return to your former way of eating. Those days are gone. because as we said yesterday, if you keep doing what you always did, you'll get what you always got ( extra pounds!).
Stage 5 and 6 provide for the rest of your life -- they are Maintenance and Termination. In the maintenance stage, you enjoy your goal weight and new habits for "good", but you may slide back or relapse from time to time. Been there before? It's ok, just recognize it, go back to your basics and start over.
You can read more about what it takes to be successful at changing yourself by visiting this link:
Prochaska's stages of change aren't meant to be read as a straight line, from point A to point B, but rather like a spiral. And that's a realistic, forgiving way to look at ourselves and our weight loss journey.
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