Our 2-TIP WEIGHT LOSS SERIES
Here, Tip #1.
Tip #1:
A SUCCESSFUL LOSER SECRET?
MEET THE 5 STAGES OF CHANGE
Part 1 of 2
— By Deborah Kesten and Larry Scherwitz —
Two decades ago, psychologists James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente developed a pioneering model for how people change eating and other lifestyle habits, such as smoking, managing stress, and physical activity. The five stages of change they discovered have special significance for the millions who struggle with weight, because not only did the stages identify what it takes to make changes that “stick,” the psychologists’ step-by-step process revealed that true change requires an experiential shift in a person’s attitudes and perception; indeed, in their “way of being.”
This means that if you work your way through each of the stages, you strongly up your odds of losing weight and keeping it off. But the converse is also true: If you don’t take the time to “graduate” through each of the stages, you’re more likely to fail to make lasting change…in what you eat, how you eat, and your weight.
Achieving True Transformation
What may be of special interest about the stages of change to the many millions who go on diets—and then gain back the weight…and more—is this fascinating factoid: the stages reveal that changing for the long-term often involves setbacks, but with repeated efforts the chances for success increase. In other words, making changes in your relationship to food so that you lose weight and keep it off—is not a black-or-white, all-or-nothing decision. Rather, the stages of change reveal it’s a process, and “failure” isn’t really failure; it’s actually part of a cycle that leads to success if, as the song goes, you “pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start all over again” (perhaps by reworking the stages).
Indeed, Prochaska and DiClemente posit that to achieve lasting change, it’s quite normal to need to make more than one attempt.1 Their research also revealed that a large part of weight-loss success depends on working your way through the stages of change to discover if you’re really, really ready to lose weight and keep it off. Or, conversely, is it something you “should” do or “want” to do, but in reality, you’re really not ready for true transformation? Wending your way through the stages of change can help you answer such questions—which are pivotal to weight-loss success for the long-term.
What’s also pivotal to weight-loss success is this: The mistake most of us make when we think of losing weight by “going on a diet” is being ignorant about where we are in the stages-of-change cycle. Once you know which stage you’re in, you can rationally and thoughtfully progress to the next stage. By not jumping ahead to a stage for which you may not be ready (such as “taking action” and dieting), you lower the odds of slipping back into old eating habits. In other words, the stages of change ups your odds of being a successful loser by giving you insights into how to change, as well as specific strategies for how you can best help yourself achieve true transformation in your relationship to food, eating, and weight.
Meet the Stages of Change Cycle
Are you really ready to lose weight, or do you just want to? Spend time with the stages and you’ll know the answer. Here they are: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. And keep in mind that if you revert to pre-contemplation, contemplation, or preparation during your efforts to change your relationship to food, eating, and weight, you’re in another part of the cycle: the relapse stage.
Familiarize yourself with the stages, below, then take the time to identify the stage you’re in right now. You’ll know if and when you are ready to change when you understand the stage you’re in and stay with that stage until you’re truly, deep-down ready to move on to the contemplation stage or the action stage. Empowered by these self-insights, you’ll be poised to turn the defeatism of traditional dieting upside down.
Pre-contemplation. This is a kind of precursor to the four other, more formal stages that empower you to change your food choices, eating behaviors, and weight. You’re in the pre-contemplation stage if you’re not yet interested in changing your food and eating habits (“This is the way I am; I’m big-boned”), if you’re not concerned about being overweight (“Most Americans are overweight; I fit right in”), or if you don’t recognize that you have a problem with food or weight (“It’s society’s problem, not mine”). You may also be ignorant of health risks linked with overweight or obesity and, instead, blame your weight on biology, metabolism, or genes inherited from your parents. You’re not too open to advice, and you’re not yet contemplating change.
Contemplation. If you’re thinking about changing what and how you eat, and you’re kind of easing into it—perhaps you’ll get to it tomorrow or sometime in the next few months—you are in the contemplation stage. At this stage, you may have some ambivalence, because considering a change in lifelong food habits can be a life-altering decision. As you progress through contemplation, you will come to a decision about your next step.
Preparation. In the “preparation” stage, you’re getting in touch with the downside (the cons) of the current way you relate to food, eating, and weight; at the same time, you’re considering, organizing, and planning the benefits (the pros) of changing your relationship to food. If you’re in this stage, you’ve decided to make a change; you’ve shifted from “I ought to” to “I’m going to.” Making changes in your food choices and overeating styles (see our research for more about this) is just around the corner; you plan to do it within the next month. To prepare for success when you make your shift into the “action” stage, first weigh the pros and cons of your current relationship to food and eating. What’s the downside to what and how you’re currently eating? What are the benefits you’ll receive by changing your relationship to food? What’s working well for you? What exactly needs to change? What’s keeping you from making changes? After you’ve thought through the pros and cons, it’s time to create your plan of action.
Action. During the preparation stage, you identified obstacles to making changes as well as strengths you bring with you along the journey. You have entered the action stage when you’ve prepared yourself for change and created specific steps. Now you’re motivated and ready to implement the plan of action you’ve been thinking about for the past weeks or months. (Please visit “Special Weight Loss Edition: The 3 free Programs” for scientifically sound action you can take…for life.) Not only are you clear about what you want to achieve and how you’re going to go about it, but you’re actually doing it and being it.
Maintenance. Maintaining optimal food choices, eating behaviors, and weight loss calls for progressing through the previous stages until they become habitual. Keep in mind that it typically takes weeks to change a habit (twelve weeks is a guesstimate), and to achieve lasting change. This may be a good time to weigh the benefits and obstacles you identified in the preparation stage, and to make changes accordingly. (To up your odds of success, please visit “Special Weight Loss Edition: The 3 free Programs” for scientifically sound optimal eating plans.)
Relapse. The stages of change aren’t an all-or-none proposition (unlike most diets); rather, they’re a process, guidelines for transitioning from food fretting and yo-yo dieting to lasting change. Realize that it’s common to return to what’s familiar and comfortable, even though it may not be what you want or what’s good for you. Be aware that many of us will relapse and return to prior eating habits and food choices for a short or long time. This isn’t the time to get discouraged and give up. Instead, go back over the stages and plan how to overcome the obstacle that got in your way (for help with setbacks, see Lesson 20: “Overcoming Obstacles” in “The Program”). When you’ve done this, return to the action stage. Be compassionate with yourself, and repeat each of the stages until the action stage becomes second nature.2
From Dieting…to Self-Reflection…to Success
Food choices (fast food, fresh food, etc.) and eating-related behaviors (such as overeating) are deeply instilled habits that, for most of us, are hard to change—unless you find out where you are in the stages of change model and then progress through each stage.Here’s the tip you need to use the stages to strongly up your odds of attaining and maintaining weight loss:
Tip #1
Re-set your intention from “going on a diet” (see “Lose Weight without Dieting”) to “befriending” the Stages of Change so you can transform your relationship to food, eating, and weight in a deep, profound way.
In other words, losing weight and keeping it off calls for true transformation on a meaningful, experiential, personal level. With this in mind, please read this entire post again. Really “get it.” Then take time to do the self-reflection it takes to jump off the dieting treadmill and instead, be a successful loser…for life.
For your consideration…
Once you’ve gleaned insights from the stages of change we’ve told you about in this post, you’re more likely to reap the rewards of our 3 free, scientifically sound, weight-loss programs. We created the programs to give you the re-visioning and understanding you need to redefine the role of food and eating in your life. The Programs accomplish this by empowering you with the practical skills, strategies, tools, and tips you need to transform your relationship to food, eating, and weight, and in the process, find true nourishment.
References:
- C. C. DiClemente and J. O. Prochaska, “Self Change and Therapy Change of Smoking Behavior: A Comparison of Processes of Change in Cessation and Maintenance,” Addictive Behaviors 89 (1982):133–42; J. O. Prochaska and C. C. DiClemente, “Trans-theoretical Therapy: Toward a More Integrative Model of Change,” Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice 19 (1982): 276–88.
- Psychology Matters, APA Online, “Understanding How People Change Is First Step in Changing Unhealthy Behavior,” www.psychologymatters.org/diclemente (accessed December 21, 2006); Robert Westermeyer, “A User-Friendly Model of Change,” Habit Smart, September 5, 2005, www.habitsmart.com/motivate.htm (accessed December 21, 2006).
Next post:
Think outside the diet to make weight loss last with Tip #2: “WHITE PAPER: LOSE WEIGHT WHILE YOU SLEEP (REALLY!)” posted on our mwllNOW blog.
You’ll get plenty of clarity about what’s true and useful—or not—by keeping up with nutritionist Deborah Kesten, MPH, and research scientist Larry Scherwitz, PhD, the writers of this post, by liking them on Facebook, following them on Twitter, or sending us an email.
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