Alright folks, been a while since I had enough time to add another post…but here it is!
People downplay the ability of others to break free from old habits and change. Let’s admit it, lifestyle changes are easily spoken of, but quite often, hard to initiate.
In this series of posts I will tackle the dilemma of change and the steps in the process that can lead one to successful lifestyle interventions.
“I know I should” is the motto of people willing to change, but not yet quite ready to take that first step. People in this stage need accurate information and they need KNOWLEDGE! Of course, this is where we, as physicians, come in.
Unfortunately, it seems as if our training doesn’t equip us with all the right tools to impart such knowledge to our patients. This is when we have to put our minds to the test and continue to go “outside of the box”. There is so much more out there to learn than what we think we already know.
Lifestyle modifications are important in the overall success of true health. In order to combat chronic disease, we must show our patients that living healthily is worth it. I believe that it starts with, in part, basic nutrition principles.
Nobody wants to go buy a brand-new $75,000 Mercedes-Benz and immediately start filling the gas tank with sugar, do they? Unless you don’t care about the investment you’ve just made, anyone who would do such a thing would be considered foolish.
So, then, why would anyone in their right mind go out and destroy themselves by putting junk into their bodies? Especially, if they were given the knowledge about healthy alternatives. I know why! Because it tastes good! Unfortunately, we have to help our patients overcome this mindset. They must be taught to start valuing themselves over the tasty (but unhealthy) foodstuffs they are putting into their bodies.
We can help our patients see that they need to change by promoting the benefits of healthy living. To be free from diseases before they happen is the ultimate goal of healthy living. Sure, not everyone will fit into this model. However, we can at least encourage positive change by instilling the belief that people should alter their attitudes towards healthy living because they are worth it.
If we are ever to help modify this country’s great health care debate, cut soaring health care costs, and climb to the top of the list in effective health care, world-wide, then we need to place a priority on how we define what it means to have health and be healthy.
Remember…the first step in lifestyle change is…”I know I should” and we’ll hear it a lot, especially when it’s too late, unless we refocus people on valuing their health over poor habits from the start.
