Changing behavior to reach your goals doesn’t just happen.  You have to plan.  And, planning around meals isn’t my forte!  So, here I am, trying to lose a few lbs.  No, committed to losing them, finally.  Everytime I go into the kitchen to grab a mid afternoon snack, I’m bombarded with unhealthy options.  At first, it’s not so hard for me to resist them.  But then, as I keep looking around, I notice there are NO HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES.  (Remember, success is more likely when you are moving toward something (healthy food choices) than away from something (high cal, high sugar, low nutritional value but yummy, tempting foods).  So, what’s a hungry muncher to do?  Grab what’s there, of course, excusing my derailment with the, ‘there weren’t any options, I’ll do better tomorrow’ story.   Ok, so let’s imagine that I get past the snack hurdle and go back to my desk to work.  The next thing I know, it’s dinner time and I peel myself off my chair and search the refrigerator for something that can be turned in to dinner for me and my family fairly quickly; the natives are restless and hungry after all.   Let’s see: we’ve got the pasta option, the quick pizza option, the frozen, fried, prepared food option, or any variety of take out options (a double whammy because it’s bad for the budget as well as the waistline).  What we don’t have is the healthy option!  So, successful behavior change around food requires planning.  Planning ensures that the house is stocked with healthy foods for snacking and that meals are planned, shopped for, and maybe even prepared in advance.   The weeks when I successfully do this, are healthier, more productive (I’m not going to the grocery store every day) and a lot less stressful! 

And planning isn’t important just around food and weight loss.  If you’ve resolved to get in shape, that requires forethought too.  Where will you exercise?  Do you already belong to a gym or do you need to find one and join?  If you’re going to exercise at home, do you have the equipment you need?  What will you do for exercise?  How often?  What days?  What time?  And, by the way, there’s never a perfect time.  Decide when you’ll exercise each week, don’t wait to do it when you have a free minute, ’cause you won’t.  Put it in your calendar and then honor the appointment as you would honor a meeting with your boss or your best customer.  It is an appointment with an important person…YOU!

And one more example of the the need to plan.  Lots of my clients set goals to improve their relationships with their kids or their colleagues.  That too, takes planning.  What will it look like?  What will you do when your buttons get pushed and you start feeling triggered?  How do you plan to disengage and respond differently?  Can’t do any of that without some thought. 

A necessary step in any change is planning.  Think of it not as something to do before you change, but instead as a critical part of the process.

Change-ho!