Behavior Modification & Weight Loss Maintenance

If you are obese, losing just 5 to 10 percent of your body weight will lower your health risks, according to the Mayo Clinic. One of the methods you can use to help you reach this goal is behavior modification. Behavior modification techniques may not only help you lose weight but maintain your weight loss as well. Behavior modification is a type of therapy that helps you identify your barriers to losing weight and then change your approach to weight loss to eliminate them. Behavior modification sometimes involves counseling or support groups.

Function

Certain habits that you have developed related to eating and exercise may be contributing to your weight problem. Habits like eating from a full-size bag of chips while watching television, for example, can cause you to eat more than you realize. By first identifying and then modifying these behaviors, you will have an easier time losing weight and keeping it off. For example, you can increase the likelihood that you will exercise if you get dressed in workout clothes right after you get up in the morning or keep a bag in your car that contains everything you need to work out so that you can avoid the distraction of going home before heading to the gym.

Types

Behavior modification can include changing your eating and exercise habits. One part of behavior modification is education. You will determine what your appropriate weight is and learn about healthy eating habits, perhaps by participating in counseling or support groups, according to the Obesity Action Coalition. Self-monitoring methods, including keeping diet and exercise journals, can help you to determine which behaviors you need to change.

Features

Typical behavior modification programs provide information on a wide variety of topics, according to a 2000 article in "Diabetes Spectrum" by Cheryl F. Smith, Ph.D. Topics on eating might be identifying healthy food choices, modifying recipes, adding fiber and healthier fats to your diet, recognizing eating patterns and eating in social situations and at restaurants. You'll also get physical and lifestyle activity information along with strategies for self-monitoring, understanding the relationship between thought patterns and weight control, stimulus control, problem solving, being assertive, handling high-risk situations, managing stress, enhancing motivation and preventing relapse.

Effects

Participants in behavior modification programs keep off approximately 66 percent of the weight they lose for at least a year, according to a 1993 article in the "Annals of Internal Medicine." The study recommends longer terms of treatment because of the high risk of weight regain that most people face.

Considerations

Some behavior modification recommendations are more effective than others, according Smith. Programs that teach you to use self-monitoring to determine appropriate diet and exercise modifications, recommend meal plans and grocery lists and encourage more lifestyle activity and short bouts of exercise are most successful. Programs that recommend higher levels of exercise to maintain weight loss also have greater effectiveness.