Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Winter 2010)
TOPIC: Turning Over a New Leaf
How to make good on your New Year’s resolution
 
by chryss cada
Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed the trim, toned 20-year-old gym employee had trouble making eye contact after reading my number on the scale last winter.

That number was 163. It’s a number that wasn’t too obvious on my 5’9’’ frame —
apparently not even to me. Throughout my adult life I’ve always weighed “about 140.” I knew I had put on a few pounds during the process of having children, but by a few I figured it was five, 10 on the outside.

But 163 is nowhere close to 140. No matter how I squinted my eyes or took off my shoes or factored in how much water I’d drunk, 163 is not “about 140.”

It was time to make some changes.

For many, it takes an “ah-ha moment” like mine at the gym to inspire a change in habits. But we’re coming up on the annual opportunity to resolve to do better for our health. So I’ve enlisted some experts at the Health District of Northern Larimer County to share pointers on how to turn over a new leaf and keep it turned over.

Get started

Don’t underestimate what it takes to change a habit. Alison Tompkins, who oversees the physical activity portion of the Health District’s Healthy Weighs program (a non-dieting approach to weight management), uses a five-stage model to help clients change a habit. Three of those stages — precontemplation, contemplation and preparation — take place before getting to
action. The final stage is maintenance.

“At the first meeting with someone, I want to know why they are interested in making changes,” Tompkins says. “They need to be doing it for the right reasons and be in it for the long run.”

Once you’ve decided to make changes, it’s time to get specific about what those changes will be.

“You have to start with an acceptance of where you are and be conscious and intentional about your situation,” says Cheri Nichols, lead nurse for the Health District’s heart-health program. “Then try and unlock the secret of what one or two things will work for you as a starting point.”

In the case of weight loss, keeping a food journal can be a real eye opener — I know it was for me. Who knew a scone with my coffee, chips with my sandwich and cheese and crackers while I was making dinner could add up to that many calories?

Because a good goal is also a realistic one, it’s better to cut back than cut out.

“Start with an awareness of what you’re doing,” says Nichols. “You know you eat ice cream every day, but how much are you really eating? Put the amount you think you usually eat in a measuring cup and be conscious of how much it is.”

Next, set a small, obtainable goal, say, cutting back by 25 percent, the amount you have and the days you have it, Nichols advises. Once you reach that goal, cut back another 25 percent.
“The important thing is to find a goal you can commit to 100 percent,” Nichols says. “Find something that is doable for you, and then let nothing derail you.”

Stick with it
When a resolution isn’t enough

When dealing with a serious health issue tied to an addiction, deciding you are ready for change is an important first step — but it is only the first step.

It’s important to take an honest look at your motivations for changing a habit, including realizing why you started the habit in the first place. “Smokers know that smoking is bad for us; that’s not the issue,” says Bear Gebhardt, a smoking cessation counselor with the Health District’s “Step Free” program. “Usually they smoke because it makes them feel good. I want to help them find other ways to access their joy.”

While support is helpful with forming a new healthy habit, it is crucial with addiction. Connections, a partnership of the Health District and the Larimer Center for Mental Health that provides information, referral and assistance for people dealing with addiction issues, is a good place to start when you want to stop.

“Get support,” says Dee Colombini, coordinator of the Connections program. “When substance abuse is an issue — hands down, a 12-step group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous is the No. 1 thing that works.” If you’ve tried a 12-step program and still need help, it’s essential that you find a strong, ongoing source of support to help you make healthy changes and then stay on track.
In the nearly two decades I’ve been going to the gym, I’ve questioned, “Who needs someone to cheer them on to do their workout?” What I learned this year is: me.

Jennifer, a trainer from my gym, gave me a plan and, perhaps more important, someone to be accountable to. Although a trainer is valuable in setting up a program, a friend can step in and provide that “someone to answer to” role.

“It’s so important to find a buddy to work out with,” Tompkins says. “We’re so quick to cancel on ourselves. But if we have somebody waiting at the gym or to go for a walk, we won’t cancel on others.”

Remember, forming new habits takes time. In fact there’s a growing body of research that our brains are wired to hold onto old habits.

A 2005 study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sought to simulate the learning and forgetting of a habit in mice. It found that a learned pattern remains in the brain even after the behavior is stopped. Triggers, like walking into a bar where you used to drink, can instantly take your brain back to its old familiar pattern.

And what about the old, “It takes six weeks to break a habit” rule? It could be much longer than that, according to a study published in the October 2010 European Journal of Social Psychology. For the study, 96 volunteers chose a new behavior to carry out at the same time each day. The time it took for the participants to automatically carry out the habit ranged from 18 to 254 days.
Registered dietitian Dianne Moeller, who has taught the nutrition portion of the Healthy Weighs program for the past 12 years, puts an emphasis on long-term change.

“People eat like they live — on the run,” she says. “When you’re in a hurry, you make poor food choices and take bigger portions.”

Through the years, Moeller has seen people enjoy “great success” by slowing down the eating process. Steps to mindful eating include preparing meals at home, having a nice place to sit and eat, and being thankful for your food.

“It’s not just saying, ‘I’m going to buy low-fat food,’” Moeller says. “It’s about forming a whole new relationship with food.”

Try, try again

“Changing a habit is a process that never ends,” Nichols says. “We make choices every day that affect our well-being, and some days are better than others.”

Although I’ve spent more than a few days off the wagon, I stuck with counting calories and the exercise routine the trainer set up for me, and now I weigh in at 140 most days — even without squinting my eyes.

“People have a bad day or a bad week and they think they’re done,” Tompkins says. “I tell them, ‘It’s going to happen. Don’t give up, just start again tomorrow.’”