Ready, Set, Go! The Action Stage of Change
This is the fourth column in a series of seven dedicated to the Stages of Change, highlighting weight loss.
In 1983, Prochaska and DiClemente developed the Stages of Change model, which describes the distinct stages a person goes through as they attempt to make significant changes. The model includes six well-defined stages that people move through as they work to change a target behavior.
Before entering the action stage, you have moved past denial (pre-contemplation), recognized a need for change (contemplation), gathered information and resources (preparation), and developed a plan of action. You may ask for professional help, or coaching, or follow a prescribed program to make your plan more successful.
In the Action stage, you start to enact your plan and change your behavior. The action stage is when people actively try to change their behavior, but their new behaviors are not yet stable. This stage may occur in fits and starts. One step forward, one step back.
For example, it is said that only about 20% of Americans who lose weight can keep it off long-term. Roughly 80 percent of people who lose a lot of weight eventually regain just about all of it. This creates a yo-yo effect of action, back-slide, action, back-slide, until you move into the maintenance stage of change. As a rule of thumb, we like to see six months in the action stage before considering it maintenance.
Why is this stage so hard? We give in to the cravings. We stop being careful, stop planning, or stop tracking. Or our environment is not conducive to our goal.
When it comes to weight loss, aspects of our body and brain may keep us stuck in the action/inaction stage. The body does its best to keep its usual weight. Set point theory states that body weight is maintained in a particular range (set point) for prolonged periods, regardless of the number of calories consumed and expended. Sherry Grogan, APRN, PMHNP-BC, and Jonathan Stevens, MD, MPH, point to scientific evidence that the body will try to return to its highest lifetime weight. Others think the set point is simply the weight your body has gotten used to.
Why? Your body is trying to prevent starvation. It thinks it’s doing you a favor. It will work to defend itself and keep you from losing weight. And our psyche wants to turn to food as comfort, stress management, and joy, as it had functioned in the past. Our bodies barrage us with hormonal signals that create cravings and chant “Eat, eat, eat.” Motivation is fickle, and the environment trumps willpower.
If you are stuck in the action/inaction stage, be sure to include social support in your plan. Attend the meetings, follow the Facebook group, and find an accountability partner. You need a backup for your plan.
Ready, set, go!