"Are You Ready...?

Happy 2013 everyone! So happy we made it through 2012. The world didn’t come to an end on December 21st, it looks like we won’t fall off the fiscal cliff, and Jillian’s back on “The Biggest Loser”! I was going to write about all of the newest fitness gadgets, trends, and diets, and I will get to some of those as the year goes on. But, no matter how many trends there are, from Richard Simmons to Zumba; the Shake weight to TRX, the only way to see success with any program is to make the commitment and put in the work YOURSELF.

No one is in charge of your happiness but you, and what you need to realize is that there are many stages in the process of making a change. Two researchers named Prochaska and DiClemente developed the Stages of Change Model. It was originally developed as a gauge for quitting smoking, but it has been applied to those contemplating any behavior change in their life (Especially weight loss and exercise).

The first of these stages is called precontemplation- In this stage we have no real intention of changing our behavior because we are either unaware of our behavior being a problem, or it just doesn’t bother us that much. We've literally never thought about needing to change, or at least we've never thought about it seriously. We might have received hints about things we might need to change from others—family, friends, doctors—but reacted negatively because we were quite happy with our current habits.

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’ve moved beyond the first stage and have reached at least the second stage of contemplation. In this stage, we are aware of a need to change and intend to take action, but lack the commitment to actually start. We've begun to actively think about the need to change a behavior, and that can last anywhere from an “aha” moment to a lifetime. Ironically, what we think will produce this change isn't often what does. It might not be the number on the scale or buying a bigger size that gets you started, but the comment from your grandma about your full plate, or the exhaustion from a family holiday walk, or even a change of job or living situation. This is the stage where obstacles to change abound, and you can get stuck here if you don’t find a way to think about the VALUE of the change. Find your motivation by thinking about how the change will make your life better!

The next stage of this model is that of preparation. We’ve decided to start changing our behavior within the next few weeks and have a concrete plan of action, such as going to the gym a certain number of days or starting a specific diet plan. It’s the stage where we begin preparing ourselves mentally, and often physically, for action. We might join a new gym or clean out all of the “unhealthy” foods from out pantry. We schedule a start day. This is the culmination of the decision to change, and it fuels the engine that drives you to your goal. We all actually possess the ability to manifest an unlimited amount of determination when we are properly motivated!

And then once we start, we finally get to the stage of action. We actually make the specific changes like getting up earlier, taking a walk in the morning, or sticking to a specific eating or food type plan. We begin to work on effective strategies to continue the action; setting up rewards to encourage new behaviors and trying to avoid high-risk situations. As we begin to take action, we see changes, and we let the small changes continue to motivate us.

And as we continue the action stage, we have to also work to prevent a relapse. And this stage is called maintenance. Continuing to get to the gym every day. Continuing to monitor your intake of calories. And since starting a new behavior usually seems like the hardest part of the process of change, we often fail to adequately prepare for the final phase of maintenance. According to Alex Lickerman, M.D., “maintaining a new behavior is the most challenging part of any behavior change. We mistakenly believe the strategies we used to initiate the change will be equally as effective in helping us continue the change. But they won't. Where changing a strongly entrenched habit requires changing our belief about that habit…, continually manifesting that wisdom (and therefore that habit) requires that we maintain a high life-condition. If our mood is low, the wisdom to behave differently seems to disappear and we go back to eating more and exercising less.”

He suggests that we try to recognize which of the five stages of change we find ourselves in in at any one time to help us maintain realistic expectations and minimize our frustration. He says to focus on reaching the next stage rather than on the end goal, which may seem too far away.

And finally, never let a few days, or even weeks, of falling back into bad habits discourage you from fighting to re-establish the good habits you want. YOU really are the one with the power to make it work !