Stages of Change - Contemplation

Transition from denial to contemplation stage of the change happens quietly, but once it happens you find yourself listening to people that offer you their advice for losing weight. You don’t switch the channel if the commercial is about some piece of exercise equipment; you find yourself picking a copy of Fitness magazine in the hair salon and actually reading it with interest!

This is an important stage to educate yourself about your weight loss, and design a strategy.
Things to beware in that stage:

- Avoid wishful thinking: wishing you could achieve your weight and fitness goal without having to change.
We all wish for a diet pill that would allow us sleep in and eat from sunrise to sunset and be in ideal shape. There is not such diet, so stop day dreaming and get to it!

- Don’t jump into action:
The rush to act may turn against you. You need to do a certain amount of prep before you are ready. Starting a diet without really committing to change may lead to a conclusion that "dieting is really not for me". Keep in mind: you cannot successfully diet and still be on your baking recipe circle or your bacon tasting club. Prepare a ground for yourself: insure support of your family, clean up your house of junk food and insure support of people who are successful at getting their diet under control.

- Don’t get into analysis paralysis. This is another extreme: trying to acquire a perfect understanding of you weight problem and perfect solution!
Some people take forever to learn everything there is to learn about the weight loss and can't commit to any program while waiting for a in depth understanding of the issue. While theoretical knowledge about various diets is good, you will not know what work for you until you try! So, get your feet wet, already!

- Don’t wait for magic moment to start the weight loss program: while some circumstances are less then ideal, like starting a new job, moving to another city, starting a new relationship, when you are handling way too much on your plate, there isn't a perfect moment to start a new regiment, so once you got your plan together - go for it!