Contemplation...Don't Get Stuck Here!

This week at the Team Challenge was all about contemplation! We've moved passed the stage of pre-contemplation and now we're really thinking...and thinking...and thinking! We've accepted that we have a problem, and that there are causes and cures for our problem and now we are working out the details! Some people get stuck here, for a very long time. That won't be the case for this group. We're doing the work to move through this stage to go on to the preparation stage of CHANGE!

Contemplators can get stuck when they wait for things to be just right. They can get stuck when they spend their time worrying instead of working. Two things start to shift for contemplators when they move into the next stage of change:

1. They begin to focus on the solutions instead of the problems.

2. They begin to think more about the future than the past.

Decision making is at the heart of moving from the contemplation stage to the preparation stage. To make a decision, contemplators need to use whatever techniques they can to decide. To lose weight and keep it off for life, it's important to remember that your decision is not to lose weight...your decision is to change behavior. Weight loss is not a behavior...it is an outcome of change.

To help our contemplators begin to do that, I taught our self changers how to use the "Ben Franklin Close," an old sales technique to help a salesman close the sale. Contemplators need to close the sale on themselves to move to a new stage of change!  I invited our self changers to make a pros and cons list for their challenge of the week. If it was good enough for Ben Franklin...it's good enough for us!

Your Challenge for the week:

What are the pros of changing your eating habits for good?

What are the cons of changing your eating habits for good?

We celebrated some great weight loss this week and congratulated two new teams for the top weight loss % of the week.

Noon:Team "Losin' It" Beulah and Kyla with a 2.73% of weight loss!   

6 PM:  Team "Double Trouble II" Donna and Kammi with a 2.52% of weight loss for the week! Congratulation to you all! Great job!

Our silver heart winner was from the Noon gathering and walked away with the first individual prize of the challenge.  Congratulations Kristen A. winning with a 6.12 % of weight loss for the week!

We're having some fun and experiencing the side of effects of our added "contest" #25things.  We're all doing different "things" while we celebrate the miracle drug...exercise. Hikes, walks, yoga, even some strenuous yard work got our self-changers a check mark on their #25things chart! 

We're moving through the stages of change and we're learning that there's a big difference between taking action for temporary change, and understanding what it takes to permanently change!

I'm thrilled to be on this journey with my old and new friends at The Healthy Weigh.

Make it a great week...contemplate a bit longer...we've got some preparation coming!

Always encouraging you,

Letha