Reader Request: Motivating Long-Term Changes
Have you ever struggled with helping your clients make changes for the long term?Longtime subscriber Susanne Luchetti recently let me know that the biggest challenge she faces is motivating people to embrace nutrition and exercise changes for life versus the short term. She explained that she only sees people truly embrace change after they get a health scare or someone close to them dies young.She's not alone. And I want to help.The first thing I did was dive into the information available in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR). This is one of the largest explorations of successful long-term weight management. According to the website "The NWCR is tracking over 10,000 individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for long periods of time."So, what are their strategies? They include...
- Maintaining a low calorie, low fat diet
- Doing high levels of activity in tandem with this eating plan (usually 1 hour per day)
- Checking their weight weekly
- Watching less than 10 hours of TV per week
- Eating breakfast daily
I personally was inspired by all the amazing Success Stories featured on the site.This resource can be great for people who are trying to improve their health and manage their weight because there is so much data and support available on the NWCR.After I explored that resource, I started gathering some of our most useful motivation materials. Here are links to some of the best posts that you can use to help your clients get and stay motivated...
And for fun motivation reminders, don't miss Audience Motivation and Prizes!Now, as a bonus for Susanne and anyone else facing this challenge, I'd like to share a brand-new handout that I made from the information I found in the NWCR...
And for another collection of useful resources for nutrition and health educators, don't miss the members-only post Diabetes Resources!Last but not least, don't miss these great motivation resources from the Nutrition Education Store![shopify embed_type="product" shop="nutrition-education-store.myshopify.com" product_handle="7-simple-steps-save-500-000-calories-poster" show="all"][shopify embed_type="product" shop="nutrition-education-store.myshopify.com" product_handle="how-much-to-work-it-off-exercise-poster" show="all"][shopify embed_type="product" shop="nutrition-education-store.myshopify.com" product_handle="choose-wisely-fruit-and-vegetables-on-forks-poster" show="all"]