It’s a common held belief that it takes 21 days to change a habit.
Personal experience notes it may take years to modify some habits if at all. In the world of coaching in the area of diets and eating changes we have clients that can follow a diet to the “T” and others simply didn’t; often creating a sense of “no will power” attitude.
Habits are hard to change, but not impossible. It is important to realize that you first need to understand what your natural behavior style is. This can help you understand what will work for you in the area of diets, exercise, eating records, and all the other solutions that traditional diet knowledge postulates. The verbiage may be different, like points instead of calories, “My Plate” rather than weights and measures etc.
There
are no simple answers. Basic principle for weight loss is less calories in verses more calories spent out. There an many, many options out there. Some people will actually get the results they are looking for with a variety of “diets”. Unfortunately, keeping the results is another issue. Some may start a diet or two that seems to makes sense, buy the food with great enthusiasm and then find themselves eating foods not on the “plan”. Ending with a sense of failure because they had to, ”there wasn’t any choice” or maybe,”it was given to me and I didn’t want to hurt their feelings”. Whatever the excuse or reason, eventually they stop following the plan and usually that’s followed by another disappointment, set off by another round of searching for the next “miracle diet”.
This applies to exercise as well. Was it worth joining a class, a gym or even purchasing equipment? The stories still have a familiar ring.
The staff at the Dale Resource Group has found that most people need to adapt their way of eating to their natural style of behavior which has a direct relationship to an ability to “follow a diet” and begin to see the value of changing for a maintenance lifestyle!
According to Webster’s dictionary, the definition of diet is “as a manner of eating”. Today people think of tasteless foods, diet products and pills, denial, and just not realistic. With the myriad of offerings, that could be true. When I’ve coach people looking to effectively change, one of the first comments comes is “what do I do when I get there?”. Due to how we view “dieting”, many think what they are doing will take care of the weight or chronic disease and somehow by magic return to what they were doing before. I never tell them they can’t ever have but there has to be some changes as to how, when and how often something is included.
The first step is to acknowledge that for effective results, there has to be an acceptance of a lifestyle change. This doesn’t mean giving up your favorite sweets or favorite food. It does mean being honest about what’s the true motivation for losing weight in the first place BEFORE you are hit with the silly stick of life with a diagnose of type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, or having by-pass surgery. Do you really want a future of being on maintenance drugs for the next 30 or 40 years?
Think I’m kidding?
The 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet reported there were 1.9 million new cases of diagnosed for those 20 years and older, 79 million at pre-diabetic stages and 7 million undiagnosed. Coronary Artery Disease caused one in every 2.9 deaths in 2010. An early death is probably the last thing one thinks about.
It’s a fact that people live longer today. Question is is that due to better lifestyles or science? How many people do you know over the age of 40 that now take some sort of medication for something related to “lifestyle disease”? Blood pressure, cholesterol, insulin? I’ve seen several studies that even a heart attack or bout with cancer does not inspire patients to make the change to a healthy lifestyle. One study in the American Heart Journal found of 1,200 men and women that had suffered and attack had only lost a mere .2% of their body weight.
This is a personal choice. However as the United States move towards more universal healthcare, the battles lines will be even more clear. If you don’t make some changes now, you just might find your favorite restaurant or food banded. However recent efforts in the northeast to band soda in schools or salt in New York City restaurants have proven to have little impact.
True changes will come from education on the basics and your personal motivation. If you are ready, contact Dale Resource Group today for a complementary 30 minute consultation to determine how coaching can benefit you.
Have you noticed the proliferation of diet commercials this time of year?
According
to USA.gov, of the top 10 New Year’s resolutions made, 5 are health and weight related. Last year it’s estimated that $147 Billion was spent on obesity health related issues. $40 Billion was spent on weight loss programs alone. Some will have success, at least for the short term, but for the mass there is a 97% failure rate, especially when it comes to long term keeping the weight off. The challenge is accepting what a “diet” truly is and wanting to make the changes necessary to be successful. Having worked in the diet industry for more than 20 years I’ve seen just about every kind of diet. From “No-fat” to “No Carb”, the Zone Diet, the Atkins Diet to name a few and my all time favorite “The Banana, Hot Dog, Hard Boil Egg” diet. (don’t even ask).
The bottom line most of fail to understand the basics. There are a few key points to eliminating the excess pounds for the long haul.
- You have to burn more calories than you take in. Lots of people think that means going to the gym. Of course that’s a great tool. It helps burn more calories, it builds muscle (which burns calories) and it keeps the body fit. However, for the most working out won’t solve the problem. Ever hear anyone say “exercising makes me hungry”? Besides, less than 30% of the population has a gym membership and who walks in the cold?
- You have to know what to eat. Eating “low fat” doesn’t mean loading up on lots of pasta and refined carbohydrates.
- You need to change how you eat. Eating on the run, at your desk, in the car etc. won’t help either.
- You should change when you eat. Eating all your calories in one or two meals can actually cause you to gain weight & fat.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll be adding some basics for you to build on.
