SUCCESS MAKING

Want to know how to change your behaviours for success on your Gastric Band journey?

The amount you are willing to change your behaviour correlates directly with the achievement that you will have on your Lap Band journey. We all know that obesity is not as straightforward as eating too much and not exercising enough ‘ if it was, the multitude of diets that are common throughout the Western world would have solved the obesity problem years ago. It is about the behaviours and the lifestyle we lead that are behind the choice to eat, what we eat and how much we do or don’t exercise. It is altering those behaviours that decide our accomplishment on the Lap Band journey.

Change can sometimes be a challenge for many people fear change and would rather put up with some pretty debilitating consequences rather than change (ie. giving up smoking). On the Lap Band journey, a fear of change can hinder success significantly. For the most part, people who choose to have Gastric Band surgery are overweight because the decisions of the past have led them to make unhealthy food choices and eat far too much. If they do not address these behaviours, they will likely only experience limited success with the Lap Band because unless they keep going to the doctor to ensure the optimal fill, they can eat more food and regardless of fill – the choice of food (healthy or unhealthy) is up to the patient.

So how can we move past this fear of change and make significant changes and gain success on our journey? Essentially there are three stages:

1. Aware: Become aware of the negative behaviour that is occurring. Some habits and behaviours are so ingrained that they become automatic so that they seemingly are uncontrollable. This is far from the truth, there is always a trigger that will set off a particular behaviour so you have to be aware of what is happening so that you can identify it. Make sure you are noticing what you see/hear/feel and tell yourself to recognise what sparks off the unwanted behaviour that you want to change.

2. Change: Now comes the time where some decisions need to be made. Do you want to modify your current behaviour? If so, what are you going to replace it with that will support and nurture you? It is important to replace a negative behaviour with a positive one otherwise you may rubber band your way back to the original behaviour.

3. Practise: It is most likely you have been doing the old behaviour for a number of years so it is important to practise, practise, practise the new behaviour.

A few tips with making behavioural changes:

1. Focus on only one behaviour at a time, bed down that change for at least 3-4 weeks before moving on to the next behaviour that you want to change.

2. Identify as closely as possible the trigger that causes you to begin doing the behaviour that you want to change as it makes it a lot easier to: see/hear/feel the trigger, stop, then make a choice to do the new behaviour.

3. Have fun with it: Change doesn’t have to be stressful, you can certainly have fun with it if you try. If you recognise your trigger and then stop, put in an action that will make you laugh (ie. Why not try skipping in a circle clockwise 3 times singing your favourite nursery rhyme and see if you can’t laugh!!).

4. Be kind to yourself: The Lap Band journey is all about change so keep the other changes to small chunks so that you don’t overwhelm yourself.

About the Author

Jen Kaminski and Jodie Flynn are Directors of Lap Band for the Mind. If you have had weight loss surgery or are considering it, they can help you maximise your chance of success.
If you enjoyed the tips in this article and want to learn more about how to maximise your weight loss surgery success, claim Lap Band for the Mind’s popular free ecourse, “Top 10 ways to fail with a Lap Band”, available at: =>
http://www.lapbandforthemind.com