Building Skills and Confidence

autumnridge

Also taken from The LEARN Program for Weight Management by Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D. - "an individual's chance of accomplishing a goal depends on having the skills to make the change....and whether the individual has the confidence that the changes can occur............The skills will deal with what you eat, how you stay physically active, and perhaps most important, the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes you have about these and many other important issues. Thinking helpful thoughts and looking at the world in a constructive way are skills that you can cultivate. Confidence is the second part of the picture. If you are confident that you can handle high-risk situations, bounce back when you falter, and keep your motivation high, you'll have the strength to hang in there when things get tough. You will approach situations with a new sense of control."

Attitude Alert - "One of the most important things you can do is to have your own internal pep talks. What you say to yourself when you succeed can have an important impact on your future. Moveover, what you tell yourself when you slip will be central to
your success."

I found it extremely hard to eat out when I started this program. I was extremely worried about failing. As I grew more confident in my abilities to make better choices, I felt more comfortable. Restaurants that provide approximate calories on the menu are a great help. I'm sure they aren't accurate, but at least I know that something that sounds really good would be really bad because it would put me too far over on calories. As I lost weight, and with each step closer to a goal, my confidence has grown.

As far as attitude, I think it is probably one of the most important issues in behavioral changes. Have you ever eaten WAY too much and beat yourself up over it? I have. I had the talk all ready. You are so fat and stupid. You'll never lose weight. You are going to walk around the rest of your life wearing this layer of fat. When you die, they probably won't be able to find a coffin to fit you in. The behavioral change that I have made is that I am more positive about mistakes. Hey, it was just one meal. You will do better the next meal. Move around a bit more and work off some of that excess intake. Tomorrow is another day of opportunity to do it right. Don't get me wrong. I still have periods like this last week when I felt my motivation was gone and everything was looking bleak and hopeless because my weight just seemed to be on a roller coaster. I wrote about my lack of determination on my home page and one of MFP's responded and gave me a pep talk. It was enough to get my out of my blue funk and back on target. In two days, I dropped .2 of a lb. That's not much, but at least I didn't gain that much! The support we get through this website is fantastic!