Write these down!
Make a mental and written list of
changes which are practical.
We have learned the most effective change is joining a gym or just establishing
a
"Lifestyle Body Buddy"
who will share in the cross-monitoring and motivation to eat right and exercise.
A Buddy must be reliable (for example, to meet you for exercise or activities), have
similar motivations, time, and understanding. We have found that many of the
relapse weight problems can be avoided with a carefully selected friend and
better yet, a co-participant "Lifestyle Buddy."
Why pay a fortune
having a center keep up
with your progress....a friend or family member will enjoy this MUTUAL effort.
On this site, we provide USDA links to
Wonderful Interactive TOOLS
all about Diet and Weight loss
which help with charting
progress...but you must recognize who would make a great, hopefully permanent
"Lifestyle Buddy."
What's needed is to engrain
healthy thoughts...into muscle memory and your limbic system
that good health is fun. That's what those athletes love-exercise. Then all
those other good things like eating
better, fall into place.
Let's look at common stressors or
changes that everyone should eliminate.
We
have compiled the most common stressors and given "Dear Abby"-like solutions.
Now, you make your list of problem areas
and talk and laugh with your "Lifestyle Buddy" about practical solutions that
makes everyone happier...ESPECIALLY YOU AND YOUR BUDDY!
Studies show that writing down
problems
will
make lifestyle changes much more likely. If there are not problems in some of the lifestyle areas,
you don’t have to make them up. This exercise is basically making a contract to
truly change the "obese-agenic" aspects of your life.
By writing these changes
down, you will help VISUALIZE the problem (weight gain issues) , even before it happens!
Most overweight patients do not admit (denial) the problems
around them which are often comforted by food.
Also, many overweight people have lost the confidence to make changes.
Change takes effort and organization.
Our contract exercise helps you with a little organization and addresses all
that stress and denial that eventually
ends up as 20 or 30 extra pounds..
Self-control can be difficult. This includes eating habits,
personal habits, and the abilities to set boundaries. Happy
people are generally healthier and usually slimmer (certainly not obese).
In 1967,
psychiatrists Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe
examined the medical records of over 5,000 medical
patients as a way to determine whether stressful
events might cause illnesses. Patients were asked to
tally a list of 43 life events based on a relative
score.
To measure stress according to the Holmes and Rahe Stress
Scale, the number of "Life Change Units" that apply to
events in the past year of an individual's life are added
and the final score will give a rough estimate of how stress
affects health.
A modified scale has also been developed for non-adults.
Similar to the adult scale, stress points for life events in the
past year are added and compared to the rough estimate of how
stress affects health.
Score of 300+: At risk of illness.
150-299+: Risk of illness is moderate (reduced by 30%
from the above risk). Under 150-: Only have a
slight risk of illness.
