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Age Groups: Infant (0 - 11 mo) Childhood (11 mo - 12 yrs) Teen (12 - 18 yrs) Adult (18+) Senior w0107b1620724774113 Researchers say successful change comes only in stages. How long it takes is an individual matter.
When it comes to health recommendations, we mostly know the drill: Exercise most days of the week; eat a varied and nutritious diet; maintain a healthy weight; get enough sleep; keep up with medical screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar; don't smoke; and limit alcohol to seven drinks a week. Reducing stress, improving relationships, and developing new interests or hobbies also contribute to healthy living.
Making healthy lifestyle changes affects not only our risk for disease and the way we feel today but also our health and ability to function independently in later life. What we do for ourselves is often more important than what medicine can offer us. Yet making healthy lifestyle changes is easier said than done. Even when we're strongly motivated, adopting a new, healthy habit — or breaking an old, bad one — can be terribly difficult.
What helps in making a lifestyle change?
Considerable research has been aimed at identifying factors that contribute to successful lifestyle change as well as more effective tools for clinicians — especially in the context of a brief office visit — to counsel their patients on adopting healthier habits. One problem may be that we're motivated too often by a sense of guilt, fear, or regret. Experts who study behavior change agree that long-lasting change is most likely when it's self-motivated and rooted in positive thinking. On the other hand, the least effective strategies were those that aroused fear or regret in the person attempting to make a change.
Studies have also shown that goals are easier to reach if they're specific ("I'll walk 20 minutes a day," rather than "I'll get more exercise") and not too numerous (having too many goals limits the amount of attention and willpower you can devote to reaching any single goal). Another recurring theme is that it's not enough to have a goal: You also need practical ways to reach it. For example, if your goal is to stick to a low-calorie diet, have a plan in place for...