You know...I was going to write this long ranting post about how sometimes I find it frustrating...especially about fitness and weight loss...how some people talk, talk, talk...all the time...about how they want to be healthier...they want to lose weight, BUT they don't do anything to make those things happen. In fact...they do the opposite and seem to continue to make choices they not only continue their current lifestyle, but reinforce it.

My mom is an example...she used to talk about losing weight and eating right ALL the time. But, it was all talk. She wasn't really doing anything to change her life...at least not consistently. Eating out 3-4 times a week isn't going to bring you to fitness...eating dinner at 9:30pm isn't going to bring you to health. It was only after my mom was hospitalized that things really started to change. And now...she has lost a TON of weight and is looking and feeling healthier with each passing week. Until she got a big scare...it was all talk and no action.

But then I had a smidge of insight...I remember some of those things that I was supposed to learn in social worky school. I started thinking about the process in which people change.

The first stage of change is called Pre-contemplation. In this stage, you are not even considering actually making a change....you often don't even believe you need to make a change. This is the denial stage or in terms of weight loss...what I call the "I'm not fat, I'm big boned" stage.

The second stage is called Contemplation. This stage is not actually making the change, but just thinking about the change. You think about the pros and cons and are often overwhelmed by what the change might mean in your life. It the "I know I am fat, but I don't think I can do this....isn't there a magic pill? I saw one advertised on TV."

The third stage is called Preparation. In this stage...you are no longer ambivalent about the fact that you need to change, but you aren't sure how to go about it. It's a planning stage...which also involves TALKING about the plans a lot. You may begin making small changes, but have not implemented everything at this point. People often make lists of what needs to be done in this stage. This stage is the "Ok, I need to make a change...and this is what I am going to do...I think. I am going to start on Monday...oh that elusive Monday!"


The fourth stage is Action. Yep...it takes until Stage 4 to get to ACTION! In this stage people implementing the plan that they devised in Stage 3. This is when it gets less about talk and more about action. It's the "It's January 1st and I am going to the gym two times a day and only eat wheat germ...and then actually doing it." P.S....never eat wheam germ!

My point in listing all that out...and that I often zoom past the first two, if not three phases..and move right into the Action phase. Yes, that is right...I am an action girl. So...I realize that if people are all talk and no action...that might be right where they need to be right now. They are actually even advanced to stage 3...if they even realize they might need to make a change and are no longer trying to talk themselves out of it. So, when I see this...in my family...in my friends. I think I need to stop rolling my eyes inside my head. One, because it is their process...and two, because they are probably right where they need to be.

Anyways...that is my blathering, psychoanalytical post for the day.