Many of the answers in fact lie right at the beginning of the journey. To be able to maintain the change, you need to be properly ready to implement that change in the first place. But what is it to be ready? And how ready do you need to be to not only make the change, but to also make it stick? Since 1995 I have run the psychology practice at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Newlands, Cape Town, and as such have had the privilege of being involved with many people who have sought answers to these questions. They range from private clients to participants on various wellness and weight-loss programmes. Some have pro-actively implemented healthy lifestyle behaviors, and others reactively - for instance post heart attack or onset of diabetes. Much of the information that I have gathered over the years comes from these people– from seeing what does and doesn’t work for them. We certainly don’t have all the answers - but we do know that there are many complex factors involved, spanning the intra-personal, inter-personal, environmental / circumstantial and cultural levels. I would like to find out more, and to this end I will start blogging on this topic, in the hope that it will stir up dust in people’s minds, trigger debate and ultimately greater understanding. Thank you for reading this, and please send me any related thoughts and suggestions. If you would like to be informed whenever there is a new posting, please either follow @... on twitter, or sign up on this site.