Slim down your waistline and fatten up your wallet. Sounds like a crazy combo right? But the ability to lose those excess pounds and manage your purse strings all come from the same inner strength. Anyone can do it but you’ve got to have the stick-to-itiveness to make it work! You have to be mentally prepared with the fact that it takes 28 days to change a habit. You didn’t gain the weight overnight or go into debt at the blink of an eye so nothing is going to right itself in a flash either. If you set your mind to start with baby steps and work your way toward a solid end game you will have a better shot at success.
Change is a conscious process that starts with the awareness that there are benefits in making the effort. This is called “precontemplation.” In other words, if you don’t buy the sassy pair of shoes staring back at you in the Saks window every time you walk by, you could take a snazzy vaca in three months. And while you are at it dropping the 10 pounds you’ve been meaning to manage will allow for a bikini preview on the beach during that above-mentioned holiday away.
Next is “contemplation”. This is the stage when you are taking you seriously. Take a look at the effort, effectiveness, cost/savings and time involved to make your behavioral change. When you can solidly support that there are more pro’s than con’s then your head is in the right place to go for it. In other words, the croissant and cappuccino will fill your belly with buttery satisfaction but the visualization of you sauntering sexily in your new two piece on a sunset laden beach is SOOO much better.
Now comes the “preparation.” What are the steps that you are going to make that will elicit this positive result. You have made up your mind you are going to do what it takes by slipping into your gym shoes to go for a walk or standing down the tempting twofer on summer sandals at Target. Ease yourself into this effort with a three day a week half hour a day workout commitment or limiting yourself to a minimal weekly discretionary fashion fund.
You’ve done it! You are in the “action,” phase. You are going to the gym regularly, watching your pennies, steering clear of the frozen food aisle. Keep it up! This stage is tricky and has the most chance of relapse. Engage friends and family to support your efforts. Have them join you on your fitness jaunts and deter you from the shopping malls.
Finally you have found “maintenance”. This is the stage of behavior change we all strive to achieve. At the end of a healthy 28-day change you come to a place where you can successfully sustain a lifestyle modification. You can easily wrap your head around your new and wondrous ways. The visualizations are second nature and make it simple to maintain your new behavior. Once you have achieved your initial goals like the bikini boasting vacation, set yourself some new goals. By continually reinventing your new imagined you, your chances of tracking back to the old you are nullified.
