Lifestyle Changes: Getting Started

Naturopathic doctors provide a wide range of services to help patients recover from illness, create and maintain health, and thrive in body and mind.  We focus on doing things as naturally as possible, when it is an option, prescribing herbal therapies, targeted nutritional supplements, homeopathic remedies, mind-body techniques, and lifestyle changes for example.  This last one includes dietary changes, exercise programming, stress management strategies, and sleep hygiene planning.  All of these

are important foundations for health and wellness, requiring you to modify old habits and adopt new behaviors.  This is often the most difficult part of a person’s health journey because, let’s face it, change is hard! 

The good thing is, we have tools and models that help us prepare for change, from the motivation to get started to maintenance of habits after goals are achieved.  One of these models is the Stages of Change Model.  This model identifies six stages to the process, although our discussion relates only to the first four.  The stages are as follows:

1. Precontemplation: At this point, breaking habits and making healthy changes aren’t really on your mind.  Or perhaps a friend or loved one is pushing you a bit, but you aren’t interested.  This happens in our practice quite often, particularly when one spouse is encouraging another.         

2. Contemplation: Now you may be starting to think about wanting or needing to make some changes, but you have mixed feelings about it.  Often at this stage people are interested in changes but have doubts about their ability to succeed.  This again is common, especially with folks who have tried previously to “get healthy” but haven’t been successful.          

3. Preparation: By the time you get here, you are motivated and feel confident that you can make progress and push toward your goals.  This is where planning begins.  It is an essential and often overlooked part of the road to success.    

4. Action: This is where you start implementing your plan to change behaviors to achieve a specific health goal.  Now, in addition to motivation and confidence, readiness is established.             

5. Maintenance: You have reached your goal and need to sustain the change and prevent backsliding.  

6. Termination:  The new behavior has become an established “healthy habit” that is fully integrated into your life.      

I’m putting this out here to help anyone reading get a sense of how ready they are to make lifestyle changes that support their journey to health and wellness.  Success depends on readiness, which develops in stages 2 and 3.  My role during the contemplation stage is to help you identify and strength your motivation, which is functionally a combination of desire to make changes and confidence that you can.  Sometimes this is a gradual process during which we help you start feeling better by starting other naturopathic treatments as you prepare for bigger changes.  When you feel committed and confident implementing healthier lifestyle plans, we work together to prepare you for success.  In my experience, this is the stage patients, and many practitioners, often gloss over.  Imagine this, you feel ready and hopeful about this new, healthy path.  You get excited, you have changes you want to make, a sense of urgency builds, and you throw yourself into it.  Inevitably, it’s not sustainable and you give up.  My role is to make sure you are prepared.  This means working with you to build a plan that has achievable goals and progressive steps, aligns with your resources and support structure, and anticipates obstacles and includes strategies to deal with them.  

Motivation + Preparation = Success!