Are You Ready to Lose Weight?
Research has shown that change occurs through a process, through
a series of stages.
There is a certain "readiness" to the change process.
Knowing what stage you are in is helpful to create success with
any kind of change.
If you attempt to make a change you are not ready for, you are
setting yourself up to fail.
If you think about the way you have accomplished change in the
past, you don't just go out and make it happen. You may not be
aware of the process, but it is still there.
Here is a brief description of the stages of change (Prochaska,
et.al.):
1. Precontemplation - You don't see that you have a problem. You
are in denial. People in this stage have no intention of
changing themselves and usually only seek help with strong
pressure from others. They resist change and are often
demoralized as well because they view the situation as hopeless.
2. Contemplation - You acknowledge that you have a problem and
begin to think about solving it, but you feel "stuck". People
with food and weight issues often hang out in this stage. You
know you have a problem. You may even know what you need to do
to change it, but you are not ready to commit to action.
It is not unusual for people to spend years telling themselves
that "someday" they will lose weight.
Fear of failure (or focusing on past failures) can keep you
stuck in this stage for a very long time. It can look like
searching for the perfect solution and reading lots of diet
books, but not actually doing anything about it.
3. Preparation - You are planning to take action within the next
month. You start focusing more on the solution than on the
problem. You also start thinking more about the future than the
past.
You are committed to action, but haven't necessarily resolved
all of the mixed feelings you may have. For instance, losing
weight requires letting go of some behaviors that may have
provided temporary comfort in the past.
4. Action - You take visible action steps. You may purchase
certain foods you plan to eat or remove foods from your home
that you plan to avoid. You take the steps you have been
preparing for. However, the change process does not end here.
5. Maintenance - You work to maintain the strides you have made
in the previous stages. If you don't have a strong commitment to
maintenance and a support structure in place, you can relapse
back to a previous stage.
It's the stage that no one wants to think about for fear of
relapsing. If you go on a crash diet, you are ignoring the fact
that maintenance is a long, ongoing process.
6. Termination - the ultimate goal. Your former problem behavior
is no longer an issue and you have complete confidence that you
can cope without fear of relapse.
Successful people often cycle through these stages several times
before they finally exit the cycle.
Most people struggle for years to find effective solutions.
While it may seem hard to appreciate the process, recycling
through the stages gives you opportunities to learn.
If you take action and fail, you are much more likely to succeed
the next time around than if you take no action at all.
So if you feel like you have been here before, you are not alone
- and you may just be on your way to getting out of the cycle
for good!