Friday, April 15, 2011

Making that Change...

For my second Fitness Friday post, I was inspired by a friend who recently decided to partake in weekly challenges. Her challenge this week was to go to the gym everyday. Her dedication was clearly evident, so much so on one occasion she went to the gym at 6:00am in the morning before work . Working out at that time is definitely a bit toooo early for me, but I am really proud to see her motivatation towards being active and healthy.
Along the lines of motivation and steps towards making change in one’s life, I think often we may feel we are on a sliding scale. Sometimes we may feel like “Yes, I can do this, I’m ready... I got this!” While at other times it’s “Oh gosh not today... maybe later.... yeehhh maybe next time” So in considering my friend’s success and drive this past week, I thought it maybe useful to present information on a model pertaining to stages of change.  
The Transtheoretical Model (TTM) considers stages of change. Briefly the constructs of the model include:  Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance  


PRECONTEMPLATION:
No intention to take action within the next 6 months

CONTEMPLATION:
Intends to take action within the next 6 months

PREPARATION:
Intends to take action within the next 30 days and has taken some behavioral
steps in this direction

ACTION:
Changed behavior for less than 6 months

MAINTENANCE:
Changed behavior for more than 6 months

The way how I view the stages is simply Precontemplation = Not quite ready, Contemplation = Getting ready, Preparation = Ready/ Good to go, Action = Made the change, Maintenance = Keeping it up
In thinking about some of the goals or things which you set out to do this year, it may be beneficial to assess which stage you are in and what steps or motivation is needed to progress forward from one stage to the next. From wanting to be more active and maintain a healthy lifestyle to actually taking the steps to achieve it. Or maybe the change could be the transition from thinking about playing mas to actually playing mas this year ; )  What has been propelling you forward lately????



  

4 comments:

  1. Look at you getting all scientific on me! Thanks for the shoutout/support love!

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  2. Girl the fact that you went to the gym at that time, you definitely needed a shout out lol. I think lately what has been driving me to write more, is the fact that I am applying what I'm learning. Might as well make use of it at some point. :p

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  3. Great post! Love the usage of the TTM to explain change! The Health Belief Model is another good one that I apply to a lot of things within and outside of positive health changes as well.

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  4. Thanks B! I agree, the Health Belief model is definitely also a good one.

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