Ready, Set ... Let Me Eat This Cookie First

A lot of people have commented either here or to me in person that they enjoy how real this blog is. So I would like to get real again; I have been seeing a therapist for food addiction. It has been a wonderful and a humbling experience and I have learned a lot and I hope that the tips I have been given can help some of you too. But let me be clear - THIS BLOG WILL NEVER BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL HELP!  

One helpful tool is the Stages of Change Cylce (Prochaska JO, DiClemente CC, Norcross JC. In search of how people change. Am Psychol. 1992;47:1102–4.). You may have heard of this:

Precontemplation: You are in denial, feel helpless, or just not interested in changing. I was there while I was pregnant and for the past three months before restarting this blog. 

Contemplation: You realize that you need to do something but are not ready to make the changes. This is where I hear potential clients say, "Yes, I'd like to work with you but let me get on a program for a few weeks first." If you are in this phase and have those thoughts. Go ahead and commit to seeing the trainer or counselor you hope to see in the Preparation and Action phases. They can help get you excited about the next phase and make effective plans so you don't spend the first few weeks of your program frustrated.

Preparation: You make your plans and begin to implement them. I was in this stage for pretty much all of July. This is where we get the title of this post. I start the plan, get to the weekend, eat something that I'm 'not supposed to eat', then I decide that I should just start on Monday. You'll ALWAYS be ready on Monday... Actually maybe the first of next month... Oh wait, that's not a Monday. I'll start the Monday after that.

Action: Here we are! Making changes.

Maintenance: If you stay in the action stage long enough, here is where you end up. This is not the same as the stage right after you reach your goal. It is the maintenance of your BEHAVIORS. You begin to see steady progress during this phase.

Relapse: All of these are very important to know and talk about but this is the one I would like to highlight right now. Relapse is a part of the Cylce and is not a failure. It serves a very important purpose. Each time you relapse, you learn something. The trick is to recognize the relapse for what it is:  just a part of the process. Then try to take whatever lesson you need from that relapse. 

This is so important for you All-Or-Nothingers; you will probably let your guard down and eat something you werent't "supposed" to eat You might get sick and not be able to work out for a week. Something is likely going to throw you off of your game. The sooner you come to terms with that fact, the sooner you can be okay with it. When you do stumble into old habits (and it's likely you will), the sooner you recognize what is going on the sooner you can get over it and move on. 

So next time you find yourself struggling with your goal, try to determine which Stage you are in and how you can progress to the next. The more mindful of where you are in these Stages, the quicker you can progress.

For more information on the Stages of Change and how to move from stage to stage, try visiting http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0301/p1409.html (A ‘Stages of Change’ Approach to Helping Patients Change Behavior GRETCHEN L. ZIMMERMAN, PSY.D., CYNTHIA G. OLSEN, M.D., and MICHAEL F. BOSWORTH, D.O., Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio Am Fam Physician. 2000 Mar 1;61(5):1409-1416.)