Behavior Modification Techniques for Weight Loss

Behavior modification is a tool in losing weight. Many times, people are overweight are due to habits developed over the years that they do not notice. Instead of going on a crash diet that ultimately fails, you can examine your behavior and change it to remove the obstacles between you and your weight loss goals.

Observe Your Behavior

• For two weeks, keep a journal of everything you eat. Write down nutritional information such as calories consumed, along with your reason for eating, location and what you were feeling at the time. Make sure that you also write down any exercise you get and keep tabs on your activity level. Two or three sentences about your day may also help you to think about any connections between your eating habits, exercise habits and mood.

Obstacles and Patterns

• In reviewing your journal, make note of any patterns or obstacles you observe. For instance, if you sit at the computer in your kitchen for half of the day and consume empty calories just because it is convenient, that is something to note. If you eat out of nervousness, loneliness or depression, that is also something to note. If you avoid exercise because you feel depressed and lethargic, that is something to take note of. At the same time, if you are more likely to exercise and eat properly when around family members who are in a happy mood, that is a positive motivator for you.

Get Organized

• List your obstacles and patterns in two columns, one for obstacles and one for motivators. Location would be an obstacle if you find yourself constantly eating only when you are working in the kitchen. Handling feelings would be an obstacle if you eat to stuff them. Being happy is a motivator if it causes you to be physically active, and spending time with healthy family members is a motivator if it causes you to watch what you eat.

Set Up for Success

• Review your columns and brainstorm ways to minimize your obstacles and maximize your motivators. If you eat too much while working in the kitchen, then start working in another room in the house. If you have trouble handling your feelings, create a support network and attend therapy to learn new tools for working through them. If being happy causes you to take care of your health, then make a list of things that make you happy and make them bigger parts of your life. If spending time with family causes you to watch what you eat, then spend more time with them or plan your meals as if you were with them.
  By coming up with ideas for altering your behavior to minimize obstacles and maximize motivators, you will be setting yourself up for success in changing your behaviors so that you can reach your weight loss goals.

Create a Plan

• Create a plan for modifying your behavior as it relates to your weight based on your best brainstormed ideas. Write down your top obstacles and what behaviors you need to change in order to eliminate those obstacles. Make a concrete goal such as, "I will work on the patio instead of in the kitchen so that I will be less tempted to eat while I work." Create a chart for keeping track of the days in which you successfully practice this new behavior of working in a new environment where you are not tempted to eat constantly. Keep in mind that it takes two weeks to form a new habit, so you should commit to tracking your new behavior for at least two weeks. Write down what your reward will be when you consistently practice a new behavior for two weeks and keep it unrelated to food. Perhaps you could get a massage, go out to a movie or spend a day hiking in a favorite spot. Writing down this reward will give you motivation for sticking with your new behavior over a two week period. Find an accountability partner who can read your plan for losing weight through changing your behaviors. Ask him for feedback, modify your plan if necessary and sign it together. Arrange to check in with your accountability partner regularly to help stay on track.

Follow Through

• Begin slowly, by tackling one obstacle at a time and keep at it until you get it right. Once you have integrated the first change into your life, tackle the next obstacle. Surround yourself with as many motivators as you can and remember that you are human and you will make mistakes sometimes. When you do, keep moving forward and realize that your next right decision will set you right back on track. Through this process, you will realize that your weight is only a symptom of other issues in your life. By tackling the underlying issues, your weight will stabilize automatically.