WAKEFIELD, RI, January 13, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- There are lots of reasons why tens of millions of Americans are unhealthy. Lack of information isn't one of them. By now, most people know what they should do to avoid heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer--the leading causes of preventable death. Still, they don't make the changes. Why the disconnect when it comes to our most precious asset? And more importantly, what can be done about it?
Noted behavioral health consultant Anne Marie Ludovici answers both in Change Your Mind, Change Your Health (Career Press, paper, $15.99) an important new roadmap for people interested in making real and permanent change in regard to their health.
"People are more educated about health and fitness than ever before," says Ludovici, a leading authority on well-being responsible for creating highly effective wellness initiatives for national organizations and major corporations. "But according to the CDC, nearly 80 million of us are obese. And twice as many as that are overweight. Why does it take smokers seven tries at quitting before they actually stop? Why is the same New Year's resolution made, on average, three years in a row before people achieve their goals? It was time, I felt, for a blueprint that clearly lays out how meaningful health behavior change happens--so people could put that knowledge to work in their everyday lives."
Fresh on the heels of her bestselling book, Winning Health Promotions Strategies, Ludovici's new exploration brings to the public, for the first time, proven, evidence-based behavioral tools for "achieving a self-assured and sustainable sense of health and well-being in the face of all obstacles or challenges." A daring promise, to be sure, considering that right now only 6% of U.S. adults follow public health recommendations about physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, fruit and vegetable consumption, and dietary fat intake.
Here are some of the secrets Ludovici reveals:
- How monitoring and changing your thoughts can change your health
- The relationship between self-confidence and mastery--and how to gain both
- How to leverage the powerful strategies from sports psychology to you charged and ready for action
Change Your Mind, Change Your Health builds on the work of Dr. James O. Prochaska, whose Transtheoretical Model of effecting behavior change breaks the business of adopting new behaviors into five concrete steps: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. "There's probably not a single one of us who hasn't spent time in all of those stages for any number of life issues," says cardiothoracic surgeon, author, and television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz, noting the effectiveness of Prochaska's model, which is also known as TTM. "Making real changes means knowing how to make that critical jump from preparation to action, and then, despite all temptation, not leap back."
TTM, according to Oz, "has been around since the late 1970s but is no less powerful now and even has special utility when two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese and 600,000 of us are killed by cardiovascular disease per year." In Change Your Mind, Change Your Health, Ludovici amplifies on Dr. Prochaska's work offering "seven ways to harness the power of your brain to achieve true well-being."
Prochaska himself is on board. "Only Anne could have written this book, presenting the principles of TTM's high impact programs from so many intriguing perspectives. . . . [Change Your Mind, Change Your Health] presents a striking line-up of best practice principles," says Prochaska, the director of the Cancer Prevention Center at the University of Rhode Island and the author of Changing for Good. "There are major differences in the impacts of self-help books and the authors who produce such books. With Change Your Mind, Change Your Health you are in the hands of one of my favorite friends and colleagues in the wellness field."
"Anne Marie Ludovici has written a book whose time has come! Change Your Mind, Change Your Health is easy to relate to and fun to read, with sensible advice from Annie that doesn't require anything but a true desire to be healthy. You need to make a mindful commitment to a positive health behavior change and that commitment must be permanent. As an ex-health-and-fitness-phobe who recently cleaned up his act for good, I saw myself in so many pages of this great book. Read it and make a conscious change toward a better, healthier life--if I can do it, you can, too!"
--Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and Fit at Last
Anne Marie Ludovici (Annie) is a noted author, speaker, well-being activist, and leading authority in affective personal lifestyle enrichment. Annie helps people change--from the inside out. Her bestselling book, Winning Health Promotions Strategies, is considered the blueprint for fostering healthy communities everywhere. With a master's in kinesiology and a major in psychology and social aspects of behavior change, Annie blends academic theory with over thirty years of health and wellness experience to empower meaningful, personal, life-enriching changes that last. Her unique expertise and proven methodology have helped a wide range of clients--from Fortune 100 clients to small businesses, healthcare providers, and state and local governments--make a change for the healthier. Annie lives in Wakefield, RI.
For more information, visit http://www.annemarieludovici.com/.
Media contact: Victor Gulotta
Gulotta Communications, Inc.
617-630-9286
http://www.booktours.com
victor(at)booktours(dot)com
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