As i was looking through the 7 boxes i had to do my CA1 project, i came across the box “can i change?”. I thought this shouldn’t be hard but boy was i wrong. Researching on it, there were 6 stages of change. So in this blog post, i will share with you my 6 stages of change and the struggles i had dealing with them.
For the subject of my change, i chose FAST FOOD / PROCESSED FOOD.
Fast food is a part of everyday life. In this day and age, everyone is always rushing to go somewhere or having to be on time for something and many times, we barely get the time to eat. And fast food is what’s most convenient but that is what is making lots of unhealthy. So to challenge myself, i am putting myself through the 6 stage change.
Stage 1 —> Precontemplation
This is the stage whereby the person who is going through the change doesn’t think the problem was even an issue in the first place. Looking through the different types on precontemplation, i believe i am a resigned contemplator. By definition, Resigned precontemplators have given up hope about the possibility of change and seem overwhelmed by the problem. Many have made many attempts to quit or control their drinking.
i felt that i was a resigned contemplator as previously, i have made efforts to try and give up fast food but tend to fall back eventually. At this stage, i felt that this process of change was going to be easy but yet i felt that i would most likely give up half way.
Stage 2 —> Contemplation
This is the stage whereby individuals are willing to consider that they may have a problem and gives a slight hope for a change. however, in this stage, individuals are still very resistant and tend to not have full commitment to the change.
At this stage i was actually starting to believe i could give it a try. I began googling the negative effects of fast food and what i found actually surprised me. I knew fast food was unhealthy because of its high fat content but i was surprised that there were other negative effects.
1. It can cause memory and learning problems
2. Increases the risk of dementia
3. Lessens its ability to control appetite
4. It can cause chemical changes that can lead to depression
5. It makes you impatient and can cause uncontrollable cravings
Stage 3 —> Determination.
This is the stage whereby the individual is prepared to go through the changing process and agrees to the fact that they need to change. i knew that this change was necessary for my heath and for this project thus i was willing and determined to change and go through the stages.
Stage 4 —> Action
it is during this stage is when plans are implemented to to carry out this change. for my plan, i made meal plans on what i was going to eat the next day. i would work with my grandma to plan meals as my grandma is a health fanatic and only allows home cooked food. For the first week it was easy but the upcoming weeks tested my ability to control my cravings and my consistency to keep up with the plannings. there were afew times where i would be tempted to buy a burger but with the help of my family, i was able to overcome it.
Stage 5 —> Maintenance.
After 3 weeks of stage 4, i finally arrived at stage 5. this stage is when the individual has made progress in their change and has moved on to the maintenance stage. This is when the habit of the change has been set and the continuation of the change is necessary. normally it will take 3 – months for stage 4 to be completely implemented but due to time constraint, i chose 3 weeks. During this period is when the individual needs to surround themselves with temptation but be able to reject it. At this stage, eating healthy and avoiding fast food became a habit for me and even the thought of fast food made me gag.
Stage 6 —> Termination
This is the last stage of the whole process. This is when there is not any worry of giving into temptation and falling back into bad habits.
Personal thoughts
Throughout this process i have made a lot of improvement in my health and lifestyle. so much so that my cousin actually decided to go on this journey with me to improve her lifestyle choices as well. I feel that anyone that wants to change something in their life should go through these 6 stages as it will help them gain the change they want to achieve.
All the love, M
michelleloveko.wordpress.com 