MAKING LASTING LIFESTYLE BEHAVIORAL CHANGES
“Wellness is not available by Prescription, it is only available by Decisions.”
It is becoming increasingly apparent that we have to progressively participate in ensuring we live well, stay healthy and enjoy good quality of life. The decisions/ choices we make today, determine the state of our health and well-being tomorrow!
How come our good intentions for healthier lifestyles keep going south? Yo-yo diets, starting and stopping our exercise regimen, giving up your coffee for six months, then the aroma of coffee wafts into your nostrils one fine morning, you cannot resist it and you are back on the coffee train! You embark on a smoking cessation decision, you even paid for some hypnosis sessions and had succeeded for one whole year, you wake up one morning and decide ‘c’est ma vie!’(it’s my life!). Or you are like me and living in denial of chocolate addiction (the dark chocolates which are the healthier alternatives are not so tasty.)!
With all the good intentions we have when decisions for healthier lifestyles are made, why do we just keep falling off the ladder of lasting lifestyle behavioral change? All said and done, these decisions are not meant to be fads or trends, they are meant to be change for good!
The success or otherwise we make with our quest for better health and lifestyle I have since discovered, entails behaviourial change. Behavior change is a self-change process and James Prochaska, PhD, has identified five distinct stages:
I. Pre-contemplation – I WON’T/I CAN’T II. Contemplation –I MAY III. Preparation –I WILL IV. Action –I AM V. Maintenance - I STILL AM It is believed that people who successfully change their behaviour go through the five stages and probably cycle through these stages three to four times! Now I understand, why some of my lifestyle change vows were taken several times before I finally conquered them. The ‘I AM’ and ‘I STILL AM’ are great pages to be on. It might be worth reflecting on which of the five stages above you are in your health and wellness journey. The benefits associated with making lasting change are well worth it. Make a commitment to imbibing long lasting behavioral change. “Take Care of your Body, it’s the only place you have to live in.” I wish you Optimum Health and Well-Being!