Losing weight can be a hard and challenging process. It’s not just the rigours of possibly denying ourselves the nice foods we crave, or possibly the gruelling training sessions in the gym or outdoors with a PT, but there are huge emotional and psychological factors involved. These are called the emotional stages of change. This is the journey we take in our minds to help us overcome eating and training habits.

We will start by grading you on a scale of 1-10. 1 being completely demotivated and 10 feeing absolutely delighted with yourself!

So where do we start?

The beginning

When we decide to embark on a journey to achieve our goals there will always be a defining moment which triggers us to begin. This could be anything from looking in the mirror and disliking what we see, being inspired by someone we know, read about or see on tv, or it could be a friend or loved one commenting on you. We all get a bit down when this happens, it won’t last for long, but just about long enough to kick us into action. The initial buzz of making that effort and deciding to change means we start in the lower part of our chart.
4/10

The first step

When we make that decision we take positive action! This is usually going on a diet and changing what we eat. It might be Weight Watchers, Atkins Diet, GI Diet, Lighter Life, Sure Slim, the list is endless! This helps push us higher up that chart. We are happy and feel like we’ve made progress. Result!
6/10

The first hurdle

Diets are short term solutions to long term goals, the whole point is to change your habits and get you eating healthier. The problems begin when the diet finishes. Back we go to what we did before, much happier as we have made some good, steady progress. Now the weight comes back on and the old habits kick in. It’s at this point we are at our lowest ebb. We did so well to get somewhere and all that effort has gone and so have our results. Motivation, self-esteem and happiness plunge really low now. We all know there are two paths to take now. Back to self loathing, unhappy and rubbish lifestyle, or...
2/10

Witness the fitness!

The time has now come and we have joined the gym, maybe with a sense of fear, maybe excitement! Well we’re here now so we make the effort and get involved. Could a structured gym programme, might be classes, may even be PT! Whatever the choice it inevitably brings results. This is a huge boost. The sweat, pain and tears have been worth it as we start to see the first pounds fall. We feel better, fitter, happier and motivated! This is how we want to feel. Most of all we feel in control! Control of what we eat, wear and how we behave. Our emotions are not dictating our actions. We are not comfort eating because we feel low, down or angry. We look and feel better so we have control over our emotions and our lives. This is the ultimate high and our first real positive stage of change.
8/10

Slipping back?

Something will always happen in our lives to challenge us, physically and emotionally. It’s how we deal with it that defines where we end up on the scale. It’s human nature to slip back into old ways, to feel comfort in things we once were so familiar with. Maybe there have been relationship or family problems? Possibly unhappy with work? Maybe the gym is getting mundane and you need something new?
We will all get to this point and feel like we have stepped back somewhat, possibly near to where we begun. Now is the time to make decisions again. What shall I do? How will I deal with it? What do I really want?
6/10

I can’t tell you what decision you’ll make next, I do know you will make one though! Whatever decision you make will define where you are on the scale. A positive decision means up we go near the top again, a negative decision means we plummet near the bottom once more! W here would you like to be?

The purpose of this article is to help show you where our decisions take us and what the inevitable outcome will have on us emotionally. No doubt whilst you are reading this you will recognise yourself somewhere on this journey. Could be near the start, possibly the end. The point I’m making is there is no end, it’s a cycle! You may feel low right now but your decisions will impact your emotions. You may feel top of the world but you will be challenged. Are you strong enough?

I hope you get something out of this because if you understand where you on your journey, you’ll know what's round the corner and emotionally you’ll be ready!