LifeSteps^® Program

These two sessions are a win for you and win for your participants.  Participants who attend both these sessions are more likely to stick with the program and lose weight.

• Group Orientation Session – Individuals who are interested in LifeSteps^® learn about what’s involved and decide if they are ready to make lifestyle changes that will lead to weight loss.
• One-on-One Initial Interview – This interview helps you determine whether the client is ready to embark on a lifestyle change journey.  Using motivational interviewing, you assess:
  • Health status and weight history
  • Readiness for change
  • Willingness to do required activities, including daily food tracking and regular physical activity

Knowledge is key to successful behavior change. Learning the basics of nutrition and physical activity sets the foundation for creating a personal plan for lifestyle change.

• Step 1: Monitoring – Learn the importance of monitoring in weight management and how to keep a Food and Activity Record.
• Step 2: Physical Activity – Learn the importance of physical activity and make a plan for increasing activity levels.
• Step 3: Guide to Daily Food Choices – Learn the importance of eating a variety of foods from the Five Food Groups and develop a healthy eating plan based on the MyPlate recommendations.
• Step 4: Serving Size – Learn how to weigh and measure food and develop an eye for standard serving sizes.
• Step 5: The Calorie Connection – Learn where calories fit in the weight management picture and identify ways to cut calories. 

Participants’ lifestyles are all different. These three “Steps” help them identify and prioritize nutrition, activity and behavior changes that meet their needs.

• Step 6: Putting It All Together – Develop a personal plan for reducing calories by decreasing food intake, increasing physical activity or both based on the information learned in the first five “Steps” and individual lifestyle goals.
• Step 7: Mid-Program Interview – One-on-one interview based on motivational interviewing to evaluate progress and provide feedback.
• Step 8: Eating Styles – Identify eating styles that lead to overeating and discuss hunger and satiety.

Lapses can be small or large. What’s important for successful behavior change is how they are managed to stay on track for reaching weight loss goals.

• Step 9: Managing Lapses, Dealing with Your Environment – Learn what constitutes a “lapse” and how environmental cues, such as the availability and visibility of food, affect how much we eat and strategies for eliminating or decreasing them.
• Step 10: Managing Lapses, Dealing with Social Events – Identify personal, high-risk social situations and develop strategies for managing them.
• Step 11: Managing Lapses, Dealing with Feelings – Identify how feelings affect eating behavior and develop plans for handling a variety of situations.
• Step 12: Managing Lapses, Dealing with Other People – Develop strategies for dealing with people who overtly or unconsciously encourage eating and identify steps for soliciting support.
• Step 13: Managing Lapses, Eating Out– Plan strategies for staying on track while eating away from home in a variety of settings.

Weekly classes are coming to end; however, weight management is a lifelong process. These final “Steps” help participants take pride in the progress they’ve made and own their process of making healthy lifestyle changes.

• Step 14: Staying Active – Develop a personal physical activity program for maintaining weight loss and cardiovascular fitness.
• Step 15: Final Interview – One-on-one interview to evaluate participant’s LifeSteps^® experience, provide feedback and set goals for the future
• Step 16: Staying in Step – Learn a six-step process for maintaining behavior changes established during the program and how to continue setting and achieving weight loss goals.

LifeSteps^® includes 11 additional Maintenance Sessions that you can use to offer continued support after your LifeSteps^® Program ends. These sessions extend the program’s 16 core steps and provide additional support, skill building and practice.

Maintenance Session Topics

1. Learning to Anticipate High-Risk Situations
2. Handling Cravings
3. Keeping a Thought Journal
4. Creating Positive Affirmations
5. Managing Stress
6. Setting Up Your Own Lapse
7. Enlisting Support
8. Picking Effective Rewards
9. Developing a Reward Contract
10. Developing Menus
11. Modifying Recipes