Whenever you take steps to change your lifestyle behaviors, whether to stop smoking, eat healthier or begin an exercise plan, it pays to take some time and identify the barriers to your plan.  These are the roadblocks to your success.  They are usually easy to list since they are often related to your list of Cons.

So if we consider the healthy eating plan that must be followed to lose weight, barriers might include:

• Not knowing what to eat and what to avoid
• Not knowing what are proper portion sizes
• Not understanding food labels
• Having difficulty finding the time to do some research on proper nutrition
• Being tempted by unhealthy snacks at work
• Being a frequent snacker
• Eating out frequently, possibly due to business travel

Barriers to starting an exercise program to help lose weight and for its other benefits often include:

• Having difficulty finding the time to exercise
• Not having access to a place to exercise
• Being embarrassed to exercise in front of others due to self consciousness about being overweight
• Physical limitations

These are the potential reasons why you may fail in your plan – if you don’t determine how you can overcome them.  So when you make your list of barriers, you need to list next to each barrier what you will do to counteract them.  This way, when you are faced with the barrier, you will know how to respond.  For instance, if you are unsure of what to eat and what to avoid as well as appropriate portion sizes, you need to do some research online or at the library.  To help with portion sizes, you may need to buy a scale and measure all your portions.  When you take the time to identify your barriers you can usually strategize how to eliminate them before you are faced with their challenges.  Including barriers and their solutions in your plan preparation can help assure your success.

Next time I’ll talk about a few more important parts of your healthy lifestyle behavior change plan.

For Your Health – Dr. Bob

Last time I spoke about listing your pros & cons whenever you are considering changing one of your behaviors, whether it’s smoking, losing weight, or starting an exercise program.  I thought an example might be helpful, so here is such a list regarding following a weight loss program that includes healthier eating and exercise components.  It’s very similar to the one I used after my heart attack and cardiac arrest to help me make the changes necessary to live a healthier life.

When I first wrote these I used “It would” instead of “It will” and “I’d” instead of”I’ll.”  It may be subtle, but using “will” gives it a more positive tone, a tone of commitment.  As you can see, there are more reasons to start a weight loss program than not.  In addition, the value of the Pros far outweighs the inconvenience and effort represented by the Cons.  In this list the Pros are greater than the Cons in quality as well as in quantity.

In my next post, I’ll talk about listing the barriers to the successful implementation of your plan along with what you’ll do to overcome them. 

For Your Health – Dr. Bob

When making changes to lose weight, increase exercise or stop smoking many doctors, health coaches and advice books state that developing a plan for change is essential.  I agree with that approach.  You should set attainable goals with a target date and plan how exactly you are going to make the necessary changes to attain your goals.

What do you think?  Have you ever used such a plan?  What other tricks do you have to share?