Weight-Loss Success Quiz: What Makes People Change?

by Maria's Last Diet

In order to lose the weight for good, you need to accomplish personal change. There are important principles involved in personal change. Being aware of how people change empowers you to lose the weight and keep it off.

How much do you really know about the way change works?

Take this quiz and find out!

1. Punishing problem behavior is a good way to get rid of it.
   False. This is actually not a good way to get rid of problem behavior such as overeating. It may stop it for a time, but it will rarely result in permanent change.
2. Diets don’t work to change eating behavior.
   False. Diets do work, but they don’t work alone. It is important to concentrate on changing habits and thought processes along with dieting.
3. It is essential to ask for help from significant others when you are trying to change the way you eat.
   True. When you are trying to change something as basic as your eating habits, helping relationships greatly increase your chance for success.
4. It is a good idea to tell people around you what you are trying to accomplish.
   True. Letting those around you know―at home, at work, friends―gives more power to your decision to lose the weight.
5. In order to change your bad eating habits, you need to deal better with stress.
   True. Stress reduction strategies are a number one tool for weight-loss success.
6. It is good to stay away from media weight-loss information while you are dieting.
   False. The more informed you are the better. Read books, go on the internet and research articles, watch T.V. Gather as much new knowledge as possible about eating and weight problems and how to change them.
7. Losing the weight requires big changes.
   False. On the contrary, losing the weight for good involves small changes, little steps, which really add up.
8. When you are trying to change your weight and your behavior, you must never have a lapse.
   False. When you are attempting to change your behavior, a lapse back into a bad habit is normal. Learning how to pick yourself up after a lapse is an essential part of change.
9. Any change requires firm commitment.
   True. Being ready to change involves a strong decision to make that change and to make it a priority in your life.
10. All you need to make an important change in your eating is willpower.
    False. Willpower comes and goes when you are dieting. There are many other powerful tools involved in being successful, such as commitment, planning, sufficient support, and the ability to accept yourself as not perfect.
    

The more you know about how people make changes in themselves and their lives, the more equipped you are to make these changes.