Struggling Sticking to your Diet or Exercise Program?
You’re not alone if you have problems following the strict rules applied to your diet or exercise programs.
How many people have joined a gym only to end up paying for membership but never going? Taken up a diet you read about and not sticking to it or even joining one of the many diet clubs and being told what to eat and still not sticking to it?
Is it because you really don’t want the change? Are you destined to be like this for the rest of your life? Maybe it’s the genes and you have no choice over your destiny?
Oh contraire my friends, it could all be down to your state of mind and the “stage of change” you find yourself on.
Alright, this could be where science, yet again, manages to make a simple idea very complicated so I will endeavour to make it quick and to the point.
Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour Change (TMBC)
TMBC was invented by two guys called Prochaska and DiClementi in 1983. It states that there are 5 stages that we can be pigeon holed into. The Stages are as follows:
Pre-contemplation: not changing your routine and not intending a change
Contemplation: not changing routine, but intending to change
Preparation: making some changes and on the path to change fully
Action: achieved all the routine changes continuously for less than 6 months
Maintenance: continued all your routine changes for longer than 6 months
Importance of the Stages
Now you know the stages, the important part is identifying which stage you are at. This is what determines whether we see something all the way through or not.
For example if I give a client of mine a new exercise routine for them to follow in their own time they will only be able to stick to it if they are at the preparation or action stages. If I give a workout routine to someone who is in one of the first 2 stages then a ‘pre-contemplation’ person is very unlikely to do it at all. A ‘contemplation’ person may take it up a couple of times and then quit.
How to move smoothly through the stages
Pre-contemplation: At this stage you are probably not even reading this at the moment but you may know someone who doesn’t see the need to change their lifestyle and therefore won’t even consider it. To move up to the next stage this person will need to see the pros of the lifestyle change and they need to outweigh the cons of the lifestyle change. Eg. For exercise the health benefits need to outweigh the things that that time could be “better” spent doing like relaxing and drinking.
Contemplation: There are probably a few people out there who can identify themselves at this stage. See you are reading this but you’re not ready to take it on yet. Usually this is because you have a lack of confidence in yourself to actually maintain the lifestyle change. You know you can start it (that’s the easy bit – Beeble), but actually making it last? Not so easy. Dreading the change is not going to get you there so you need to get motivated and excited by the prospect of what lies ahead. It helps to have a professional here to guide you but it is possible to do it yourself by visualizing the change. Some people buy an item of clothing they want to fit in. Some have a photo of themselves in their underwear. Personally I believe educating yourself is the best way forwards, you know it is good for you, but why? Reading sites like beebleblog will help educate you and put this information into practice. What ever it is it needs to be enough to push you from thinking to doing.
Action: This stage means that you have started the lifestyle change but motivation and interest is so important here to keep you going through the stage that in my opinion is the easiest to give up on. Keep on educating yourself as I believe this will still help but more importantly at this stage you must enjoy the change. It has to be fun and rewarding for you to continue through this all important 6 month stage. If you have taken up exercise see to it that you have regular updates to your workout routine to keep it interesting. If you have taken on a diet keep a diary of everything you eat and keep the new food you are eating exciting by learning new recipes and trying them out on guests. Just make sure you are enjoying the change and having fun.
Maintenance: Congratulations you have got through all of the toughest stages and you new lifestyle has become the norm. After that 6 month stage of action you have forced yourself to stick with it, now it is more like habit. Keep it up, keep it interesting and keep learning. In this industry you can never know it all.
So I hope this illustrates why some people never really get to the change they want. They go through all the motions that they read about in magazines or are told about by their trainer but very rarely do they stick to it for long enough to see the change.
What you should do now
- Work out at what stage you are and start from there.
- Choose good sources of information
(your best mate telling you how to lose weight is not a good source of information, even if they are annoyingly slim or fit – Beeble).
- Understand your goals and what you want to achieve.
- Get professional advice where you can
- Most importantly enjoy change!
Good luck to all of you who are trying to make a difference to your lives. I hope this helps to give you an idea of where you need to focus your energies. Stay healthy!
June 9th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
[...] I recently wrote an article on “The Stages of Change” where I pointed out that not everyone is ready just to get up and make the change and you have to pigeon hole yourself into a particular category to be able to guarantee a successful start. Don’t worry, I have not changed my mind about this, but we are not all the same and whilst this category-based approach will help some people there is a definite group that this still won’t help. This group are the people that although a diet and fitness regime should help them achieve their goals it is not something that they will willingly stick to or make their new lifestyle change without a “prison warden” watching their every move. [...]