Flushed with the thrill of success at losing twenty pounds, cutting back on smoking and alcohol, or standing up for herself in a relationship, one might feel she's "made it" and can relax her efforts and focus on new challenges.
Research studies provide a cautionary note. According to psychologist James Prochaska, PH.D., (Changing for Good, Quill Publications, 2002), sixty-percent of lifestyle behavior changes fail within six months. Only one in five — twenty-percent — will maintain their hard-won gains for two years.
Losing weight is relatively easy, maintaining weight loss for good is much more difficult. Repeatedly losing weight and putting it back on is so common there's even a term for it—yo-yo dieting. There is some evidence that yo-yo dieting is not only frustrating to the dieter, but can be harmful to the dieter's health ("Now That You've Reached Your Goal," Canada.com, 2009). Experts at WebMD ("Weight Cycling and Yo-Yo Dieting," 2009), however, indicate that the evidence is not conclusive and more studies are needed.
Goal to Stop Smoking for Good
Can effective goal setting techniques help one to quit smoking for good? Along with weight loss, quitting smoking is one of the difficult behavioral changes to achieve and sustain. Effective goal setting tools such as the SMART goal setting tool can help a person achieve behavior changes, but they may not be sufficient to sustain the changes.
SMART establishes good practices for setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-based. But achieving a behavioral change is not enough. To reap the benefits of lifestyle change will require maintaining new behaviors once the thrill of the goal-setting process has been completed.
Why Lifestyle Changes Fail to Change Your Life
What can a person do to maintain a new lifestyle? Understanding why people fail may help. Every personal habit, whether over-eating, smoking, alcohol abuse, or continuing a dysfunctional relationship provides benefits. Even the most self-destructive habits provide benefits. During the exciting initial period of working toward new goals, the inherent benefits of old, destructive habits can be overcome by conscious focus and intention on new ways.
When a person decides to change an habitual lifestyle behavior she develops a high energy level and a conscious focus on the change process. Initial successes further fuel her energy and reinforce the new behaviors. Supportive friends and family often further reinforce the progress.
After reaching one's goals though, the reinforcements decline or cease entirely. The energy and focus present in conscious efforts to change dissipate as the new behaviors lose their novelty. The praise and support of friends and family may decline as their focus shifts to other life events.
New life challenges take over one's conscious focus of attention. This is when hard-won lifestyle changes are in jeopardy. Without conscious attention to new behaviors, old habits can return if they provide life benefits that haven't been replaced by the new ways.
For example, some find that food is comforting. So-called comfort foods are generally high in fat and calories. They taste good and are satisfying. Flushed with energy at losing weight, a person can relatively easily satisfy hunger with a healthy snack. But once the novelty and energy of success wear off and a situation arrives which causes stress and personal discomfort, one may seek the comfort of food that satisfies with high fat and caloric content.
Regardless of the personal habit one is attempting to change, long-term success requires that the benefits provided by the old habit must be replaced by a new action or activity. Prochaska defines the final cycle of successful lifestyle change as the maintenance cycle and suggests that maintenance takes planning, attention, and effort. Lacking an active maintenance effort, most lifestyle changes fail.
Ingredients of Successful Lifestyle Change
Elements of a successful and permanent change in lifestyle include:
- Understanding the importance of maintenance.
- Reminders of the harm inherent in the old behaviors.
- Awareness and periodic reflection on the reasons for abandoning old behaviors.
- Awareness of the benefits provided by the discarded activities.
- New activities replacing lost benefits.
- Recognition of success—celebration.
- Resilience and perseverance during relapses.
Breaking Bad Habits and Changing for Good
Recognizing the importance of the maintenance stage of successful lifestyle change will help the successful dieter to lose weight for good and the long-term smoker to stop smoking for good. Successful lifestyle changes — such as breaking bad habits — require as much work to sustain as to initiate and as much attention to the maintenance process as was devoted to initiating the process of changing. Most successful lifestyle changes involve a few relapses; the successful dieter will stay committed to her goals.
Jerry Lopper - IPPA member, business and engineering degrees. Jerry's passion for personal development shows in 5 books, hundreds of articles & ...
Join the Conversation