In the previous post, we discussed about how difficult it may be to keep the New Year's resolutions that we make each year. We often fail because we may not be honest with ourselves about how difficult change may be. We also may be attempting to make the change for someone else, not ourselves, or because we feel like it is something that we "should" do.
When it comes to making a change, such as losing weight, Prochaska found that many people are in what he called the pre-contemplation stage. They aren't really thinking about the change. It may be something that they give lip service to and they may say it's a good idea, but they really haven't thought very much about it. And they haven't really looked closely at the pros and the cons of making the change. They have not moved to the second stage of the change process, contemplation. In this stage, people are actually giving serious thought to making the change. In the case of weight loss, they may begin to "weigh" the pros of changing, such as the positive health benefits, looking better, fitting into one's clothing, etc. But if they are honest, they also look at the cons, such as not having large helpings of the food that they love, changing their diet significantly, e.g., less salt and sugar, and saying no to some of their favorite desserts.
In this stage, too, people begin to look at their ability to make the change, what Prochaska referred to as "self-efficacy." He found that most people will not move to the third stage of change, the decision stage, until the pros of changing clearly outweigh the cons of changing. And until the person believes that they can indeed be successful at the change, e.g., losing weight. This is a hard process because it requires that people be brutally honest with themselves.
When the person finally reaches the point where they honestly believe the pros outweigh the cons of change and they feel that they can indeed do it, they move into the third stage of change called the decision stage. In this stage the person makes a commitment to making the change and begins to develop a plan of action.
In the fourth stage of change, the action stage, the person begins to take steps to implement the change. They talk seriously with their physician about a diet or receive coaching from a nutritionist. They begin to implement their plan.
One of the things that Prochaska found is that most of the early programs for smoking cessation or weight loss assumed that people participating in the program were in the action stage. They were ready to make the proposed change. This assumption, of course, was not a valid one and resulted in the large number of failures that these programs sustained.
The last stage of change that Prochaska defined was maintenance. This is where people have made the changes that they have planned on making and is a stage where people must find ways to maintain and support these positive changes. This is a critical stage in the change process. How people deal with this stage determines whether overeating during the holidays is just a slip or a relapse.
In the next post, we will talk more about the stages of change and what you can do to help yourself move successfully through them and succeed rather than fail in keeping a resolution for change.
