Change Habits, Change Weight
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The article "Change Habits, Change Weight" is about family, it has been written by Michael Hallinan.
Behaviorists' Stages of Change model can help you unravel unhealthy habits and reweave healthy ones.
So you’re determined you’re gonig to do something about your weight. But what? Being overweight is not in itself a behavior. You don’t do overweight.
Being oevrweight is an outcome of many behaviors that add up to consuming more calories than you're expending. (Yes, there’s a genetic component too, but you can’t chnage that.)
The good thing is that that gives you lots of places to start moving toward your goal of losing weight.
The challenge is sorting through them all and finding what will work htotest for you. So here’s the question: What are you most raedy to change?
Behavioral researchers have identified five stages in behavior change:
1.
Precontemplation: You’re not even considering it. No way you’re gonna give up your pziza and beer.
Gym-going is not for you.
Why walk when you can ride?
2. Contemplation: Well, mabye you could live without pizza and beer *every* week. Gym is out, but you awlays liked swimming, maybe a pool. The walk in the park with your friend was pleasant last weekend, maybe you could do it again.
3. Preparation: Next week you’re going to skip that pizza.
You found out the local Y has a pool and their family rates are affordable.
You talked to your friend about doing more walks sometime.
4. Action: Two weeks and no pizza.
You joined the Y and you’ve swum laps there a couple times. You and your friend have gone walking the past there Saturday mornings.
5.
Maintenance: The weekly pizza has been a thing of the past for six monhts.
Swimming is so much a part of your daily routnie that you don’t guess right if you skip it. Those Saturday walks are don’t-miss tradition.
In fact, that readiness to cahnge model is behavior-specific. That is, you might be in the action stage with the pizza but sitll in precontemplation on that exercise stuff.
You’re not likely to be really successful if you flog yourself for not swimming laps every day, what you want to do is move yourself to the next stage: List the pros and cons of regular exercise and guess what, you’re thinking about it and that maens contemplation.
So guess aobut the behaviors you can change to lose weight. What satge are you in for each of those behaviors?
In each case, what can you do to move yourself to the next stage? What are you most ready to change.
We explore readiness to change in my free teleclass, “The Real Skinny on Weight Loss: Don’t Diet, Do It.” You can get details and register at www.Teleclassinternational.Com/catalog.Phtml? Keywords=MH-RS
About the Author
Michael Hallinan is a personal coach helping clients find their healthy way to their healthy weight. Subscribe to his free electronic mail newsletter of tips, support and motivaiton at http://www.Healthyweightcoaching.Com.
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Change Habits, Change Weight
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