1. Embrace Change. Ryan, the dietitian, challenged us in week
one to go into this program with an open mind – be willing to try new things
without negative judgment. By looking at
the opportunities associated with a specific change, we will have a much
greater chance of successfully integrating the behavior.
The Optifast.com ‘Weight Loss Tips’ page has a great quote
about embracing change:
“It is important to realize that
you rarely embrace a change completely and finally. Instead, you tend to
alternate back and forth between resisting and embracing change. In your weight
management efforts, learn to recognize when you are moving into a resistance
phase and develop strategies for moving back toward embracing your challenge.”
2 Personal Responsibility. For many years I tried to ignore my excess
weight. I played the blame game, and it
doesn’t work. I felt like a victim and I
was frustrated and helpless. Blaming things like ‘slow metabolism’ or
‘genetics’ really robs you of strength and self-esteem. Taking ownership of your weight management
means that you finally understand that if you don’t embrace change you will
stay fat and get fatter, simple as that!
The Optifast binder has a couple of helpful quotes:
“Empowerment is the act of shifting
responsibility, control and power to within yourself. This shift reduces
frustration, since now your energy can be redirected away from sometimes
uncontrollable external events toward changing that which is truly changeable –
yourself.”
“In order to shift responsibility
from outside yourself to inside yourself, you need to move beyond blame and
excuses. Blaming is a natural, although immature, behavior where you place
responsibility on others for your mistakes or your lack of commitment to your
goals. Excuses, which are frequently unconsciously believed and accepted, let
you off the hook of personal responsibility and prevent constructive problem
solving. As you move beyond blame and excuses, you will get better at letting
go of something of those things you want or think you need which are actually
self-destructive or unhealthy”.
3. Values
Clarification. There are problems
with starting with numerical weight loss goals.
We often set unrealistic goals; when we fail to achieve the goal we
become de-motivated and discouraged. Goals
are boring and unconnected to real life; it’s hard to keep up a change in
behavior to a goal that is abstract.
Goals, by definition, are a ‘go, no-go’ exercise. If we achieve the goal, we can lose interest
if further progress or maintenance; if we don’t achieve the goal, we can say,
“what’s the point” and go totally ‘off the wagon’.
Values clarification has become an important part of
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for addictions.
The advantage of clarifying values when we set goals, is that it helps
the goal become more compelling. It also
removes some of the ‘go, no-go’ thinking from the goal because even if we are
not fully successful in achieving the goal, we can still measure progress
towards the underlying value.
For example, a goal might be to lose 25 pounds. In answer to the question ‘why?’, you might
come up with the answer, ‘I want to be healthy.’ Again, ‘why?’
An answer might be, ‘so I can be physically active with my
grandchildren’. The underlying value is
‘being a good grandparent. Another
‘why?’ might be something like, ‘To be able to get around more easily and
remain independent’ The underlying value
her would be ‘remaining independent.’
When I went through this exercise, I decided that the values
that were underlying my weight loss goals were: 1) Being a better husband,
parent and grandparent, 2) Being able to seek adventure; and 3) Being
independent. These sorts of underlying
values are more motivating that simple numbers on a scale.
The benefits of clarifying values:
- Provide a clearer guide to behavior
- Provide nearly instant results
- Help us continue on even when we’re going in a ‘wrong’
direction
- Gives us something to move TOWARDS, rather than something to move away FROM.
4. SMART goals.
Start small and go for a one-week period. The number one reason goals fail to motivate
is that they are usually set unreasonably high.
Be realistic. When you have
success in the one-week goal, then you can plan some incremental increases in
the following goals. Do a reality check
– would you expect a friend or loved one to be able to achieve the goal you’ve
set out?
Once you’ve set your goals, test them using the S.M.A.R.T.
test – they should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic (and relevant)
and time-related. (The
November 1981 issue of Management Review contained a paper by George T.
Doran called ‘There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and
objectives’) When the goal is SMART, you’ll
know if you’ve achieved it. If you don’t
meet the goal, you know you’ll have to engage in some problem-solving.
So for example: ‘exercise more’ is a great goal, but it does not meet
the SMART test. It will not likely get
you very much traction. Now once we get
SMART, we might end up with something like, ‘I will go for a 30 minute walk six
days this week.’ Because this is
specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable and time-dependent, this goal will
more likely get results.
Another goal trap to avoid is making a ‘coma’ goal – a goal that requires
no action, like ‘I’m not going to snack at night.’ Better: ‘I’m going to walk when I feel
tempted to snack.’
The last step of setting goals is perhaps the most important. Identify possible barriers that might deter
you from your goal. Building plans to
overcome barriers into our goals can help us deal with challenges ahead of time
and provide a better chance of success.
5. Do You Want It?
Ultimately, successful weight loss and weight loss
maintenance boils down to one simple thing: you have to want it. There is nothing magical about the Optifast
program; it does offer some excellent tools and resources, but for it to work you
have to be ready to change your thinking, ready to change your life. If I had been offered the Optifast program 10
years ago, I don’t think I would have been ready. In December 2013, I was ready.
I read an excellent quote in a book that sums it up:
“’How would you describe your food
habits?’ That’s what I asked each master to tell me in 25 words or less. As I
studied their responses, it struck me: The real issue isn’t so much ‘How do you
eat?’ but ‘How do you get yourself to keep doing what you know you should do?’
You see, the masters pretty much eat the way we should eat to lose weight and
keep it off…. But how come they can do it when so many people can’t? Kay D.
answers this question for me in a metaphorical way when she states, ‘You have
to want to be thin more than you want to eat the ‘wrong’ foods.’…In order to
change your food habits permanently, you must reach a critical turning point
where you feel that the benefits of being thinner overshadow the costs – the
effort involved.” (Eating Thin for Life ,
Anne Fletcher, P. 18)
This is where the values clarification exercise is important. If you are setting about to make your habits
more healthy, you will have more motivation if you have a clear reason to
change.
Another interesting research point was identified by the
National Weight Control Registry – the large majority of people who
successfully lost weight and maintained the loss were faced with a medical
trigger. If you can identify medical
motivations for losing weight, you will likely have the best success in the
long run.
No comments:
Post a Comment