HER2 Support Group Forums - Seven Steps to Behavior Change

Research is showing us how to make lasting positive changes. Not everyone needs to make drastic changes, but here are some tips for helping ditch old habits that seem to dog us year after year.
Tanya, or anyone, please feel free to comment or chime in.

1. Develop strategy before setting your goals.
How can obstacles that hinder you be overcome? Start small and get those working.

2. Goals should be set as both short and long term.
They say that long-term goals are motivating, yet it is the short-term goals that will get you where you want to go. Changes in small steps are easier to accomplish than something sweeping that is difficult to stick with.

3. Best to set specific and measurable goals.
Research says that this is best course for better liklihood of staying on your program. Timewise, this is a better way to get started and change old habits.

4. Goal works better if it is process oriented rather than outcome oriented.
For instance, doing something to help lose pounds usually works better than an end goal of losing 5 pounds a month. (If you do not cut portions or walk every day, the end goal will not be achieved.)

5. Make your goal realistic for you.
Again research. Goals that are moderately difficult, yet within your capabilities, will have a better outcome.

6. There needs to be some FUN in this process.
Try new recipes, get new cookware, exercise as an activity enjoyable to you. Find a good environment for your exercise - there are many from which to choose.

7. Don't be afraid to adjust your program.
If you find that even the short-term goals are not working, ask why. What is blocking the change or the learning? Could you use counseling or some other additional support? Backtrack and try new goals.

I am sharing the above, as I have found these ideas useful in rehabilitating my leg/knee/back during my herniated disk and surgery recovery. This is the longest, hardest recovery I have ever had, and requires more mental and physical effort.

So, it is not an entrenched behavior, such as smoking, that I am working on, but movement through pain and discomfort, which is also very limiting. It is much more comfortable to sit in bed and read as the nerve down my leg heals. However, atrophy and loss of muscle elasticity have me quite motivated to stop and reverse that process.

Hope the above will also help anyone who is trying to come back after treatment and regain forward motion in their lives.