Seeking the approaches that enable faster change in the complex world of health and social care
Despite my denial, I’ve been classed as Obese for the last 15 years. After two months of focus, I am no longer Obese. This blog post outlines how I achieved this and how my success resonates with change management thinking.
When I began I didn’t even think that weight loss was complex, all that’s needed is more exercise and fewer calories, right! Wrong, after two weeks of going to the gym every day and counting every calorie, nothing changed. Time for a rethink, so I did something I never imagined doing, booked a session with a personal trainer. This was a key turning point as it turns out my gym sessions focused on Cardio and what I really needed to do was to build muscle, which would help burn fat. I’d know this was successful when initially my weight began to rise, as muscle is heavier than fat. So, I followed the new regime and initially, my weight increased. Great news, even better, it decreased and then it got stuck after about 3 weeks.
Then I turned to information online and bought a book on weight loss, neither helped much, lots of confusing information, too broad and too complex. But then I downloaded a recommended podcast to my playlist and it turned out to be full of practical and simple things but highlighted that there is no single thing that will lead to weight loss, rather it’s the combination of a number of changes. Then it dawned, if this is the case then weight loss is complex change. Knowing this changed my approach, try lots of different things and measure the impact being my first thought. So, I started wearing a Fitbit all the time, bought a scale that reports my weight to the Fitbit, and tried a range of the advice on the podcast (drinking more water, adding protein to my diet, not eating after 8 pm, etc). My weight then started to fall again, furthermore, I began to understand which of the podcast tips work for me as information from the Fitbit and scales measured impact. Finally, a few days ago my BMI dropped below 30, the definition of Obesity, and so I can celebrate the first of a number of small wins on the route to a healthier and lighter me.
So how does this relate to change management practice? On reflection it was surprising just how much this focus on weight loss resonates:
Of course the other learning point is that totally spurious measures, such as BMI (a&e 95%, waiting list times) which are meaningless in themselves, but easy to record and produce pretty trend graphs, can lead to significant pressure to change!
Look forward to seeing your new svelte self in October!
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