Module 14: Get Back on Track Participant Guide

Session Focus

Getting back on track with your eating and activity goals after a slip-up is an important part of creating habits you can stick with.

In this session, we will talk about:

How to get back on track with your eating and activity goals and prevent similar slip-ups in the future by:

  • Staying positive

  • Following the five steps of problem solving

You will also make a new action plan!

Tips:

  • There may be times when you fall short of your goals for a week or two. This is called a lapse, and it’s very normal.

  • Remember: A lapse is a big deal only if you let it become one. Whatever you do, don’t give up!

Everyone Gets Off Track

Kera’s Story—Part 1

Kera is at risk for type 2 diabetes, so she’s trying to live a healthy lifestyle. For 2 months, Kera does great with her eating and activity goals. As a result, she loses 9 pounds.

But on Friday, some of Kera’s coworkers are laid off. She’s worried that she will be next. She decides to prove herself to her boss by working extra hard.

On Monday, Kera comes into work early. That means she doesn’t have time to pack her lunch in the morning, so she gets a candy bar from the vending machine instead of having a healthy lunch.

To impress her boss, Kera skips her usual lunchtime walk and instead sits at her desk and works through lunch. As a result, she doesn’t get enough activity that day. Kera does the same thing each day that week.

By the weekend, Kera is mad at herself for getting off track with her eating and activity goals. She’s gained 2 pounds. She feels like she is so off track she doesn’t know how to restart. She feels like giving up.

Stay Positive and Solve Problems

Kera’s Story—Part 2

Kera decides to take action to get back on track and prevent similar lapses in the future. She knows that it is natural to get off track sometimes, but that it is also important to stay positive. She tells herself that she has made so much progress, and that even though she has had some lapses the past week, she can recover from them and get back on track.

Kera also uses the five steps of problem solving to help herself get back on track.

Five Steps of Problem Solving

Step 1: Describe Your Problem

First, Kera clearly describes her problems. She realizes she is doing two things that have taken her off track:

  • Problem 1: ___________________

  • Problem 2: ___________________

She also thinks about what caused these lapses and realizes that both of these problems have the same root cause: _______________

Stay Positive and Solve Problems

Step 2: Come Up With Options

What are some ways that Kera can deal with her worry of losing her job?

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

Next, Kera brainstorms some ways to change what she has been doing and to make sure she eats a healthy lunch each day:

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

She does the same to figure out how she can be sure she gets enough activity each day:

____________________________

____________________________

____________________________

Step 3: Choose the Best Options

After Kera comes up with these options, she decides she wants to try these two in the next week:

____________________________

____________________________

Step 4: Make an Action Plan

Kera uses her Action Plan Journal to record what she is going to do before her next PreventT2 session.

Step 5: Try it

Kera’s Story—Part 3

Kera tries out her action plan, and it works! She now manages to eat a healthy lunch and get enough activity each day. By using the five steps of problem solving, she was able to identify what went wrong and how she could fix it. She also was able to see the root cause of her problems and to remind herself that even when circumstances are not good, she still can make healthy choices. She is proud of herself for getting back on track with her eating and activity goals.

Get Back on Track

Think about issues that have caused—or may cause—you to get off track with your eating and activity goals. Choose one of these problems. Then stay positive and use the five steps of problem solving.

Five Steps of Problem Solving

  1. Clearly describe your problem. What do you think caused it?

  2. Come up with options. What are some ways to solve your problem?

  3. Pick the best options. Which of those options would work best to solve your problem?

  4. Make an action plan. (Use a blank action plan from your Action Plan Journal.) How will you put those choices into practice?

  5. Try it. See how it goes!