I'm sure you already know that weight loss and improved fitness don't happen overnight. But did you know that there are steps that you can take to improve your chances of weight loss success before you even start your healthier eating and exercise plan?
There are five distinct stages of behavioral change. Knowing what stage you are at now will help you to create a road map which will help you to achieve your future weight loss and improved fitness goals.
Here are the five major phases:
Stage 1 - Pre-contemplation:
This is the point where you don't feel that any change in your lifestyle is necessary. You may be thinking that exercising just takes too much time or that fast food is just too convenient to even consider giving up. Starting a fitness or healthier eating program during this stage would probably result in failure. The best thing you can do during this phase is to reassess your life goals and educate yourself further about health, diseases and risks.
Stage 2 - Contemplation:
During this stage you may start thinking that a change is necessary.
So, you think that maybe cutting back to eating fast food only three times a week is not so bad and you might be able to at least take a walk once in awhile. This is a good time to learn more about the benefits of healthy eating and regular exercise.
Stage 3 - Preparation:
At this point you are getting more serious about taking action. You've penciled in a walk with your friend for next week and are planning to go grocery shopping to cook a home meal. You may want to research exercise equipment, gyms, personal trainers, and healthier eating programs to learn more about what you can do to get in better shape.
Stage 4 - Action:
Here's where you actually take the first step. The first step may be as simple as taking a daily walk, reducing your fast food visits to twice a month or just cutting back on daily soft drinks and unhealthy snacks. Or, you may go as far as hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym. During this stage it is very important to learn coping mechanisms that will help you avoid relapsing into your old ways. One way to avoid exercise dropout is to form new healthy habits that lead to permanent lifestyle changes.
Stage 5 - Maintenance:
This is, of course, the stage that everyone should strive to be in. Being here means that you are exercising regularly and eating healthily most of the time. It is important throughout this stage (which should last the rest of your life) that you include a variety of exercise types or workouts that change relatively frequently. You should also seek and encourage the support of friends and family and include them wherever possible in the healthier aspects of your new life.
What stage are you in right now?
So, now can you identify what stage you are at? You may find that you are in the pre-contemplation stage for nutritional habits but that you are in the preparation stage for exercises. That's okay. It's not critical for you to force both areas into the same stage. You can work on changing your nutritional and exercise habits separately.
The key to success is first identifying your stage and then taking steps to advance to the next level (unless, of course, you are already at the Maintenance stage). Use the suggestions mentioned above in each stage to help you move to the next phase.
It's also important to tune-in to your fears, past struggles and expectations. Making nutritional and exercise changes is not easy and should be approached slowly. Remember to make small changes. Don't try to go from a completely sedentary lifestyle to an hour of daily exercise overnight. Build up slowly starting with even just 10 minutes of exercise every other day.
And lastly, be sure to inform your family and friends of your plans and enlist their support. Support is extremely important for anyone with weight loss and fitness related goals.
For all your weight loss and healthy lifestyle needs, visit www.weightloss.com.au and become a happier, healthier you.
Scott Haywood
Wood Dale Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareA healthy pregnancy almost always involves weight gain. But now... Read More
Lose The Weight For Good With The Seven Phases of... Read More
There are currently over 100 billion dollars sold in weight-loss... Read More
As many of us know, it's the first few days... Read More
To say that Americans are obsessed with dieting is an... Read More
My name is Greg Ryan and I am a high... Read More
In the old West tricksters sold a snake oil to... Read More
I have been seriously working on losing weight for about... Read More
We have all set them, and we will revisit them... Read More
In many cases conventional dieting wisdom simply doesn't work for... Read More
The average American eats about twice as much protein than... Read More
This Article was originally Published in The July 2004 Issue... Read More
All weight loss diets make you FatThat's right, because on... Read More
Fat Loss Tip #3) Proper Meal FrequencyMeal Frequency (i.e., the... Read More
Remember that movie with Jim Carey, "Dumb and Dumber?" And... Read More
Speculating on the scientifically proven memory unreliability, the memory specialist... Read More
Nice girls don't speak up. Nice girls take care of... Read More
Visualizing and Declarations are today's topics.Visualize what you want as... Read More
It is important that the public not only understand the... Read More
One common question I receive is, "What do you do... Read More
With all of the conflicting studies and fuzzy interpretation of... Read More
All of the things we tell sick people so that... Read More
For some of us, food is warmth and love. We... Read More
One of the most popular diets is the low carb... Read More
Holidays and special events should be a time of great... Read More
Antigo wedding limo ..I've talked to quite a few fellow gastric bypass patients... Read More
Are you often overcome with an urge to splurge on... Read More
Have you ever stopped to calculate how much time you... Read More
The confusion about eating healthy and dieting will now be... Read More
If your health and fitness are important to you, you... Read More
We have all heard of those new diets, Atkins, low... Read More
Many gastric bypass patients report melon to be one of... Read More
We all have aspects of health we want to improve.... Read More
If You are sick of losing the same weight over... Read More
We all know it's hard to begin losing weight, no... Read More
Which is easier to do ? turn a car's steering... Read More
"I tried that diet and lost 8 pounds in the... Read More
Dieting will continue to fail most dieters, unless personalized weight... Read More
This is a perfect example of how on-line weight loss... Read More
WEIGHT LOSS:Nutrition and weight-loss researchers say that some supplements can... Read More
If you find this article helpful, please forward it to... Read More
Weight Loss Red Flag GuideDespite claims to the contrary, there... Read More
Compulsive eating is characterized mainly by periods of impulsive bingeing... Read More
Flip through a magazine, scan a newspaper, or channel surf... Read More
It is estimated that about 32 million Americans are following... Read More
From driving up your blood pressure and cholesterol, to increasing... Read More
Most Americans do not get enough calcium in their diets;... Read More
Since gastric bypass weight loss surgery gives us a second... Read More
Losing weight doesn't have to be boring when you focus... Read More
How many of your New Year's resolution start out with... Read More
Weight Loss |