Everyone joined the Weight loss Challenge with the same fervent desire: to tackle a personal issue or make progress on a particular weight loss goal.
But it's pretty clear that desire -- even when it's precipitated by a crisis, like my goodness I cant even walk up a flight of stairs or a Doctor telling you you have a heart problem or giant weight problems-- doesn't immediately translate into actual change.
Why?
As someone who is always looking for the secret to weight loss, I decided to do a closer analysis of this mysterious process, based on my experience -- and on the research of James Prochaska, Ph.D., co-author of "Changing For Good" and a leading authority on how and why change occurs.
The process of change
Over the last 10 months, I mapped out the natural progression (or lack of it) that the people seem to go through as they've tackled their weight issues.
1. Panic: Often accompanied by feelings of nausea, helplessness and depression. This is the moment when you realize, "Wow, I'd better deal with these weight issues."
2. Determination: You pull yourself off the couch and resolve to take some action, make a plan. Just as soon as you finish that last spoonful of chocolate-chip raspberry caramel swirl.
3. Cluelessness: Plan? What plan? You realize you don't have a plan. So you buy a personal weight loss book, log onto a Web site, take a class, call your mom or join weight watchers (always an option).
4. Confidence: You've developed a weight loss strategy and taken the first successful steps toward fixing your problem. You realize, "Hey, I can do this! I'm going to be OK!"
5. Despair: You relapse, lose focus, return to your old ways. You think, "I'm a failure, so I might as well take out that double choclate fudge ice cream and have some fun, because clearly I'm not cut out to be trim anyway."
6. Renewed faith: You discover that backsliding is only temporary and work at restoring your momentum. You pull out of your personalfunk, polish up your plan and get back in the saddle.
Note: Most people repeat steps 4, 5 and 6 several times before breaking out of the loop and moving to …
7. Success: After many months, maybe even years, you finally get the hang of making happy and healthy diet and exercise choices. Some days it feels natural, some days it's a struggle, and sometimes you may slip up. But overall you're able to sustain the kind of body you've always wanted.
We are only human
Thus far, I have to admit, the marjority of the people in the weight loss Challenge are stuck in the 4-5-6 loop.
- People really want to get in and lose weight. But it's hard for them to stick to the necessary lifestyle changes that would help them eat healthier and exercise more.
- Deborah joined wanting to lose weight, lost 23 lbs and 14 inches but not knowing how –and with a few life style changes- and now she's doing it.
- Jennifer has gone missing, and I wonder if it's because, when last we spoke, she was having trouble with step 4 (i.e. making a plan that would work for her).
Not that I would judge anyone for getting stuck in quicksand on the way to losing weight. I have my bad days like everyone else.
But the main thing I've learned, and what Dr. Prochaska's research supports, is that change never looks perfect. It's always messy, hard, uncomfortable. The only secret, really, is not giving up.
How change works
Prochaska has studied tens of thousands of people as they attempted various life changes, e.g. quitting smoking, giving up drugs, getting out of debt, etc. He says weight loss problems are no different than any other negative pattern. "They're all habits, and habits are hard to break."
According to his work, people reliably pass through five stages when they change successfully:
- Precontemplation. You might be aware you have a problem, but you don't plan to do anything about it.
- Contemplation. You know there's a problem and you really want to do something about it, but you haven't committed to action.
- Preparation. You've resolved to tackle the problem and you're creating a plan.
- Action. You change your behavior, environment, experiences, relationships in order to overcome the issue.
- Maintenance. You sustain your efforts and try not to succumb to old habits.
Mistakes and misconceptions
One reason you, me and the people involved in the weight loss challenge get stuck, Prochaska says, is that we don't understand how change really works. A big misconception is that it's all or nothing, he says: "Either you take action or you don't."
This black-and-white scenario leads people to feel, mistakenly, that there are only two options: Either you take action and succeed -- or you fail. For that reason, Prochaska prefers the word progress rather than action. "Progress IS change," he says.
In other words, change isn't an upward diagonal line on a graph. It's more like a squiggle -- with ups and downs, hiccups and pauses and lots of small but steady steps forward, despite bad moods and bad weather and a tax refund you accidentally decide to spend on a Mini Cooper.
Weigh the pros and cons
In my experience, recognizing that all the small measures do add up is particularly hard in the physical fitness realm. weight takes months to lose.
On top of which, life intervenes, throwing a wrench into the best of your intentions -- as Stephanie discovered when she moved into a new apartment, or Beth when she lost her job.
So how do you stick to your personal resolutions, even when you stall, even when the barrage restaurants and friends try to derail you?
Let your priorities be your guide
Sustained weight loss progress requires an awareness of something Prochaska calls the "decisional balance": i.e., being aware of the pros and cons of changing.
He says it's important to write down what you stand to gain -- and what you have to give up -- in order to make the desired fix in your personal life. The key to successful change is being aware of how your internal set of pros and cons influences each of your choices.
Elizabeth, for example, has been so focused on the weight loss that this priority has outweighed the difficulties of cutting back her lifestyle to be a couch potato.
There is no 'right' answer
Another fascinating insight from the research on change is that one technique is as good as the next. There are dozens of different ways to quit smoking -- or manage your money. One isn't better than another in terms of guaranteeing the success of your efforts.
What works is the effort itself, moving forward, messing up, keepin' on keepin' on, as they say.
As the owner of Sweat fitness Center I sometimes worry that the people are not making enough progress, that they aren't taking their weight loss seriously. I wonder if there's more I can do.
All I can do for my members is tell them what I've learned: recount from experience Every step counts.
