3/7/2021 Building Motivation for Healthy Habits When You Have Lupus

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How People with Lupus Can Build and

Maintain Motivation for Healthy Habits

Adapted from a presentation at the SLE

Workshop at Hospital for Special Surgery
Mavis Seehaus MS, LCSW
Related Content: Lupus SLE

Developing and maintaining healthy habits is challenging for everyone.

When you have lupus, it can be even more so, because of the complexities
and unpredictability of the condition. In her presentation, Ms. Seehaus
shared how motivation is developed, cultivated and maintained, and she
offered strategies for building healthy habits and staying motivated to
maintain them.

Her objectives for the program were for workshop members to:

understand the components of their own motivations

ponder the use of behavior change theory to increase their motivation

learn cutting edge, research-based tools to quickly boost motivation for

healthy habits

Defining and understanding motivation

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“Motivation” is a word we often hear in relation to discussions on healthy
habits such as:
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3/7/2021 Building Motivation for Healthy Habits When You Have Lupus

eating healthier

exercising

working to improve particular areas of one’s personal life

Motivation has been described as the directive of one's behaviors, or that

which drives someone to repeat certain behaviors. Cultivating the
motivation to improve health is an idea that can be difficult put into action.
Change is hard! But people change every day.

Motivational factors may be:

internal (from within ourselves)

external (life experiences, events or encouragement from others)

Internal and external motivational factors

What motivates someone to create and maintain healthy habits? For
patients with lupus, the most sustainable motivational factors to maintain
healthy habits are internal. These include the desire to:

reduce stress levels

increase energy and strength

improve self-care and overall health

Common external factors, however, may include managing relationships

with family and loved ones, since illness can put stress on those
relationships.

Components of motivation
The various components of motivation were summarized in terms of:

beliefs people have about their own capabilities

intentions, priorities and incentives that initiate the goals of and later
maintain accomplishments of change
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Beliefs about your own capabilities

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3/7/2021 Building Motivation for Healthy Habits When You Have Lupus

These include:

self confidence

self esteem

self-efficacy – how you feel about your own abilities to perform or

complete a task

control over environment – how much you adjust or control the setting
you’re (work or living situations, etc.) in to accomplish your goals

Intentions, priorities and incentives

In order to accomplish and maintain your goals, consider your:

Intentions – What are your intentions when setting, working towards and
accomplishing your goal?

Priorities – How important is this goal? How willing are you to prioritize
this goal to achieve it?

Incentives – What will serve as your “reward” for change?

Finding Your “Why”

An element that is critical to building and maintaining motivation that
translates into change is to identify your “why” – that is, a conscious
reasoning, rationale or purpose that underlies your motivation. As described
by a group member, “your 'why' helps push you when you want to give up,
because you understand why you are doing what you do and why not to
quit."

Goal setting: “SMART”

Ms. Seehaus stated that, when considering new goals or revisiting
goals that may not have been accomplished, you should aim to be clear and
intentional about what you want to achieve. To describe this intentionality,
she used the acronym SMART:
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S – specific
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M – measurable

A – achievable

R – realistic

T – time-measured

Defining healthy habits

In collaboration with Ms. Seehaus, support group members identified the
following healthy habits for people living with lupus:

eating nutritious foods

exercising regularly

refraining from smoking

drinking moderately or not at all

getting adequate sleep

reducing stress

support from others

following medical treatment plans agreed upon between you and your
healthcare team

setting boundaries – understanding what may or may not be doable and

refraining from overexerting or overextending yourself

The stages of change

Ms. Seehaus explained the stages of change as a cyclical process that
begins with “precontemplation.” She displayed the cycle of stages through
the use of the diagram shown here.

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Group members shared personal experiences of being at different stages

within the change model in regard to their own health habits and how that
affected their journey living with lupus. The complete stages of changes are
listed below, along with the steps you can take at each stage to move along
to the next:

Precontemplation:

Learn the facts.

Identify pros and cons of changing your behavior.

Contemplation:

Find your why.

Develop realistic expectations.

Determination:

Identify options for moving forward.

Make a plan.
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Strategize for roadblocks: "If 'X' happens, then what?"

Get social
Seesupport.
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Action:

Start changes with small steps.

Identify ways to cope with barriers.

Chart progress.

Relapse:

Accept that sometimes you may diverge from your planned habits, but
don’t let it discourage you.

Maintenance:

Return to your why or find a new why.

Set new short- and long-term goals.

Recurrence (back to precontemplation).

Members noted that maintaining a healthy diet was the most challenging.
One member shared that “eating healthy used to be a struggle, and I stayed
in the stage of contemplation regarding healthy eating but, finally, when I
put my thoughts to action, I can say now I am in the stage of maintenance.”
Ms. Seehaus reemphasized the fact that the stages of change are not
always followed in sequential order and that people may – and often do –
enter or exit at different stages of change.

The four tendencies

When attempting to build and maintain healthy habits, it is helpful to be in
tune with yourself and understand the tendencies you may fall into. Ms.
Seehaus discussed the work of Gretchen Rubin on the four categories of
“tendencies” people may have in their relationship to change. She shared
strategies for each persona – methods each type of person can use to help
accomplish their goals:

The Obliger meets outer expectations and questions inner expectations.

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Strategy: Ask someone to hold you accountable.

The Questioner questions all expectations.

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Strategy: Find a mentor or trusted authority.

The Upholder meets outer and inner expectations.

Strategy: Expect stumbling blocks, but stay flexible and forgive

yourself.

The Rebel resists both inner and outer expectations.

Strategy: Find a why you truly and passionately believe in.

Radical acceptance
Ms. Seehaus introduced the concept of “radical acceptance” – accepting
life on life’s terms and not fighting against that which you cannot or choose
not to change. She described radical acceptance as “saying yes to life, just
as it is.” For patients with lupus, this can be understood as:

learning to accept your physical abilities and limitations

focusing on your personal strengths

using those strengths to have to cultivate gratefulness and progress in a

manner that is unique to your personal journey

Lastly, it is important to understand that change is not easy, but it is

achievable.

Additional resources
For more information on how to build and maintain motivation for healthy
habits, please visit:

CDC Healthy Weight Tools

Four Tendencies Quiz

Lacking Motivation? Try This Healthy Eating (And Exercise) Plan (article,
Huffington Post)
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Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results (book)

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3/7/2021 Building Motivation for Healthy Habits When You Have Lupus

Posted: 1/16/2020

Authors

Mavis Seehaus MS, LCSW

Director of Ambulatory Care Social Work Services
Department of Social Work Programs at Hospital for Special Surgery

Summary by

Asia Taylor, MSW

Masters of Social Work Intern
SLE Workshop Coordinator, 2018-2019

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