A contract with yourself.

Embarking on a life style change is a big commitment. You need to rewire your thinking. Change your behaviours and step out of your comfort zone. To ditch an unhealthy lifestyle and move towards a healthy one is going to take time and commitment; it's a baby steps kind of process. Gyms, fitness magazines, diet pills, weight loss centres, and so on try to sell you the quick fix, the "instant skinny", which is why more often than not those who start on these ventures fail.

So instead of looking for the quick fix again this time, give it to yourself to engage in real, sustainable changes. Start by grabbing a pen and paper and creating a psychological contract with your self - a commitment to work towards a brand new lifestyle. Now just a note: I am not a psychologist in any way shape or form. I have been to psychologists, have psychologist friends, studied some psychology at uni, however I have done a lot of researched in this area and have personal experience in the following approach.

Background Work.

Like all contracts we need to look at the background. How did we arrive at this point and time? Start thinking about when you allowed yourself to start slipping in to unhealthy habits. Was it when you moved out of home, started uni, got a full time job? Once you've roughly identified these, move towards exploring the psychological reasons behind the changes. Was it because you felt peer pressure to go out and drink every weekend? Was it because you felt comfortable in your marriage and a cheat meal became a cheat week (every week)? Was it because you felt overwhelmed by life and you turned to food for comfort? There might be a chain of events that lead you to this point in time. Write them all down.

Now you have a bit of an understanding of the mental challenges that you'll face along this journey, you'll be better equipped to identify them and work through them.

The Finer Details.

Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty - the ins and outs of this contract. What is it you'd really like to achieve? Not just fitting in to that satin dress for Mary's 30th birthday party. I mean things like having enough energy to play with my kids after work; Being fit and strong enough to perform your job well. Simply living well and be able to extend life by as much as possible. List several achievements you'd like to realise.

Once you’ve listed these achievements you need to decide how you’re going to fulfil them. Perhaps it’ll be setting aside time for yourself to engage in physical activity most days of the week; Maybe it’ll be clearing out the house of any ‘junk foods’; perhaps it’ll be setting aside time on Sundays for a health food preparation session. Don’t be afraid to engage some professional to help you along your journey. Write down everything you think you will personally need to do in order to achieve your end goal.

Finalising the Contract.

So now you’ve identified the psychological and physical aspects of how you are going to achieve real sustainable lift style change. Read over the contract once more, you should never sign something you don’t understand! When you’re content you have everything down … sign away. Feel the empowerment!

Now this contract is unique in that it doesn’t expire, it doesn’t have negative implications for breaches and it doesn’t force you to complete everything on this list immediately. It is designed to make you think about all the small steps you’re going to need to make to reach your ultimate goal. If you slip up along the way reflect back to the research you did earlier and ask yourself “why am I really slipping up here? What is going on in my life right now that is causing me to lose motivation?” When you’ve addressed it you can start to move towards getting back on track. 

This contract is an agreement with yourself: that you will begin to change your life habits from this moment on wards to create a healthier you. It’s not society’s unrealistic pressures, it’s not about looking like someone in a magazine - it’s about a realistic, achievable commitment to yourself!

So what are you waiting for? Grab a pen and paper and start making the move towards a better you!

References:

 Edwin A. Locke and Gary P. Latham. 2006. New Directions in Goal-Setting, Theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science . Vol. 15; pg no. 5265-268

Edwin A. Locke. 1996. Motivation through conscious goal setting. Applied and Preventive Psychology Vol 5. Issue 2; Pages 117–124

Harold F. O'Neil, Michael Drillings, 1994. Motivation: theory and research 

K. Weber. T. Baranoski. S. Smith. 2001. Using goal setting as a strategy for dietary behavior change. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Vol 101, Issue 5. May 2001; Pages 562–566

Mayo Clinic. Weight Loss Goals: Ten Tips for Success. 2010. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/WT00018

Mayo Clinic. 2010. Weight Loss; Assess your readiness to change. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/NU00266

Richard P. Bagozzi & Elizabeth A. Edwards 1998. Goal setting and goal pursuit in the regulation of body weight. Psychology & Health. Vol 13. Issue 4; pages 593-621