What Does it Take to Commit to Permanent Change?

Article first published as Wake Up Calls: What Does it Take to Commit To Permanent Change on Technorati.

A friend confided to me years ago he was pretty lax about his dental care. Until the day his dentist told him he had advanced gum disease, and he would begin to lose his teeth if he didn’t make a change.  From that moment forward he began brushing, flossing and rinsing.  He would do whatever it took to save his teeth.

Last Week Former President Bill Clinton explained to Wolf Blitzer about the reasons behind his new, nearly vegan diet:

“But I did it for a different reason. I mean, I wanted to lose a little weight but I didn’t ever dream this would happen. I did it because after I had this stent put in, I realized that even though it happens quite often that after you have bypasses, you lose the veins, because they’re thinner and weaker than arteries. The truth is that it clogged up, which means that the cholesterol was still causing build up in my vein that was part of my bypass. Thank God I could take the stents.

I didn’t want it to happen again. So I did all this research and I saw that 82 percent of the people, since 1986, who have gone on a plant-based, no dairy, no meat of any kind. No chicken, turkey. I eat very little fish. Once in a while I’ll have a little fish. Not often. If you can do it, 82 percent of people who have done that have begun to heal themselves. Their arterial blockage cleans up. The calcium deposit around their heart breaks up.”

Later in the interview, Clinton expressed his hope that with his new healthier regime, he would be around for his family and someday, for his grandkids.

Short term goals like losing weight to fit into a wedding dress can result in the five or ten pounds of weight loss you need, but what happens on the all inclusive honeymoon? 

Being on TV vying for a quarter million dollars and then follow-up TV exposure seems to work for those on the Biggest Loser and other weight loss shows, but how many people in the public eye fall back into bad habits and gain all the weight back, like Kirstie Alley? 

Does it take the fear of death or threat of severe illness to generate permanent change? 

If you are getting ready to go on your next diet, try to pick powerful reasons for losing the weight. Reasons that are going to mean more to you than momentary life stresses that drive snacking or reaching for processed convenience food when you are in a hurry. 

Put the list on the refrigerator, on the pantry door, on your desk at work, in your car, on your bathroom mirror.  Make certain you can see that list of reasons every time you are getting ready to make a food decision, and then remember why you are on a diet.