Empowering Me!

How can you empower yourself to make better decisions with regard to body image and living healthily? You must begin by DECIDING and then ACTING on that decision. The steps of an effective behavior change are as follows: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. I hope that through reading some of this blog you have been able to move a step or two. Each step is important and the amount of time spent on each step varies with each individual. You need to move at your own pace but you need to KEEP MOVING!

This behavior change process can be applied to body image in the following way (as an example, this is not the only way it could work!): Precontemplation: You aren't even aware that how you see yourself so seriously affects your health and therefore you're not thinking about changing it. Contemplation: You have learned through this blog and other resources that body image has everything to do with how you're feeling and you've decided that making a lifestyle change could be beneficial to you. Preparation: You start noticing more how you see yourself, the kind of things you and others say about your body, and your reactions to these comments. You examine your priorities and decide what is important to you in a body and how to achieve that in a healthy, balanced way. You come up with a plan of action. Action: You begin to put your plan in motion. You may fall off course sometimes but you don't let this deter you. You are determined to make this new behavior (such as complimenting yourself daily) a habit. Therefore, you understand that small setbacks are not the end of the world and should be viewed as part of the process, not as total failure. Maintenance: Don't stop now! You've made this behavior a habit but you still have to work at it everyday. You realize that this change isn't just a temporary fix - it's a lifestyle change.

Try this out and see how it works for you! Let me know how it goes. :)