Developing new habits and getting rid of old ones can be downright tough. It takes desire, concentration, and willpower…among other efforts. But one of the most significant discoveries in the psychology of change is that change is a process that that looks more like a spiral staircase than a straight and narrow path. People cycle through different stages of change that range from not really thinking about it, contemplating about it, preparing for it, acting on it, and hopefully maintaining and adopting the new habits.
These different stages are important processes that people pass through in order to be successful with change. People often find themselves stuck or falling back into the contemplative stage for many reasons. If you feel like you’ve been thinking about exercise for too long without being able to act on it successfully, you might be stuck here too.
One way to help yourself along with change is to do a decisional balance where you weigh the pros and cons of change. Think about the consequences of starting an exercise routine…do the pros outweigh the cons? Are the cons really that bad? Next, it is important to raise your awareness about how physically active you are and how physically active you need to be. Do you find yourself sitting most of the day? Do you know how much you should be exercising to achieve your goals? Also paying attention to how you have attached your self-image to different aspects of you life will help you discover if that is what might be holding you back.
Do you have inherent fears or lack of confidence about exercise? Is exercise seemingly not important to your friends and loved ones? Journaling all these things is one of the best ways to understand your own thought processes and why you may be stuck just thinking about the habits you want to adopt. For more help on this, check out the book Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward. Attending Clarian Bariatrics Support Groups as well to discuss the ways you need help moving forward. We want to do all we can to make this a wonderful journey in your life!
These different stages are important processes that people pass through in order to be successful with change. People often find themselves stuck or falling back into the contemplative stage for many reasons. If you feel like you’ve been thinking about exercise for too long without being able to act on it successfully, you might be stuck here too.
One way to help yourself along with change is to do a decisional balance where you weigh the pros and cons of change. Think about the consequences of starting an exercise routine…do the pros outweigh the cons? Are the cons really that bad? Next, it is important to raise your awareness about how physically active you are and how physically active you need to be. Do you find yourself sitting most of the day? Do you know how much you should be exercising to achieve your goals? Also paying attention to how you have attached your self-image to different aspects of you life will help you discover if that is what might be holding you back.
Do you have inherent fears or lack of confidence about exercise? Is exercise seemingly not important to your friends and loved ones? Journaling all these things is one of the best ways to understand your own thought processes and why you may be stuck just thinking about the habits you want to adopt. For more help on this, check out the book Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward. Attending Clarian Bariatrics Support Groups as well to discuss the ways you need help moving forward. We want to do all we can to make this a wonderful journey in your life!
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