You feel scared. You think you’re on the verge of experiencing a setback, but you can’t figure out why. After all, you really want to lose weight! Rest assured: you are not alone if you are finding it difficult to change your eating patterns. Understand that making lifestyle changes doesn’t happen overnight. Since people are creatures of habit, it takes time to adjust to the idea of change, and then more time to adapt to a new way of living. Significant change is always a process, not a one-shot deal.

More Than Cutting Calories
Don’t kid yourself: Changing old behaviours is difficult. In fact the behavioural changes involved in weight-loss are much more complex than making or breaking habits. Not only your physical but also your emotional body has to adapt.

Calories are just one factor in the battle to lose weight. People who do so successfully, and maintain their weight loss, go through the same five “stages of change.” If someone decides to lose weight before they’re fully committed, they may backslide, or even quit. It’s not that they’ve “failed” in the usual sense of the word. They simply may have failed to identify whether they were prepared to fully commit to a diet, so that the lifestyle changes they made would take hold. Think of it this way. Most of us are conditioned to eating whatever we want, whenever we want. Disrupting this pattern makes life feel unsettling. But that’s because change is unsettling. Like anything else in life, we take comfort in carrying on the same old patterns. After all, who wouldn’t rather wear a well-worn pair of blue jeans that took weeks to break in than a stiff new pair that doesn’t know any of your body’s contours? By the same token, it’s easier to sink back on the couch with food in your hand and watch TV instead of taking a walk. Most people don’t relish the idea of going through the initial pain of developing a set of healthy behaviours.

How people change
Don’t feel discouraged if by now you doubt your ability to stick with your diet. Perhaps you even feel like quitting, if it’s your first serious attempt to lose weight. It’s disturbing, but it’s normal. Behavioural scientists say most people are reluctant to change less-than-ideal behaviour, so most of our initial efforts tend to be lukewarm. But once you’re convinced that change is better than the status quo, then nothing can stand in the way of your success. Knowing what to expect can ease the tension you feel during this process of change.
As mentioned, change happens in stages. Most people might cycle through the various stages a few times before they achieve their goal. Taking action to lose weight means you’ve actually reached Stage 4. Look how far you’ve already come.

Here are the five steps toward change. What stage do you think you belong in?

1. Pre-Contemplation. You were always aware for a long time that being overweight is unhealthy. You just weren’t prepared to do anything about it.


2. Contemplation. Eventually, your weight bothered you so much that you began to toy with the idea of losing weight. You added up the pros and cons of going on a diet. You thought about how much better you would feel. But you also thought about the chocolate bars and chips you would have to give up! A person can spend months, even years, weighing the consequences of committing to change.


3. Preparation. Finally, you took the plunge: you decided to go on a diet. At this point, it doesn’t even matter if you made the same decision once before, and didn’t follow through. This is the stage at which people are free to try, try, and then try again.


4. Action. You are committed now. Your portions are adequate and the food is healthy. You are also becoming more physically active. Although each new day requires new motivation, you’re proud of what you’ve accomplished and believe you can succeed.


5. Maintenance. You’ve reached your goal! But it’s not over yet. This stage represents time taken to prevent a relapse to old behaviours. You need this period to consolidate your new lifestyle. After all, you want it to become second nature. You want it to become the way the new you lives life, without even thinking about it. You determine how many calories are necessary to maintain your new weight, and carry on making exercise as much a part of your daily routine as brushing your teeth. This stage can last a lifetime.

How to Stick to A Diet

• Be ready to change your lifestyle permanently, even radically. But don’t do away completely with the things you like.
• Don’t focus solely on eating. Make exercise a daily habit.
• Follow a low-fat diet in line with Canada’s Food Guide. Spread calories out over the day.
• Chew foods slowly and enjoy each bite. Put your fork down between each mouthful.
• Keep a food diary until portion sizes and nutritional information are second nature.
• Set reasonable goals. Think back to the lowest healthy weight you were comfortably able to maintain (as an adult) for one year, and what effort it required. Expect that this time will take a similar effort.
• To prevent a relapse, plan ahead. For example, draw up a list of all the activities you enjoy that don’t allow you to eat while you are doing them. (Avoid listing “reading a book” or “watching TV,” which leaves your hands free. Write down walking, or some form of arts & crafts.) Also, promise yourself to never eat until your hunger registers at least 3 on a scale of 1 to 5. If it’s less than 3, choose an activity from your list to distract yourself from eating.