There comes a point in our lives where we make a valiant effort at change for the better. This is not to say that you are paddling your lifeboat through seas of utter toxicity, but perhaps you’ve simply considered making habitual adjustments to make your life more productive and fulfilling. Some of us might be taking steps to limit our time spent with social media or media in general. Some of us may be actively attempting to avoid the drive thru and actually make it home to cook a nutritious meal with vegetables. Wherever your efforts are directed, we recognize that change is never easy and there are distinct stages that you will go through.

Precontemplation: you have no idea that anything needs to change. Nothing is a problem, and you are living in pure bliss!

Contemplation: you’re starting think that you’re ok BUT you are not fabulous. Perhaps it’s time to tweak a few things.

Determined and Prepared: at this point you are full blown ready to make a change and you have mapped out all of the things you need to do to achieve that change. It is super important to be prepared and take this endeavour step-by-step. Lack of preparation is a definite no go here.

Take Action: you are doing it! You are taking everything that you have learned and prepared and are now actively moving forward! Good on you!

The Strain to Maintain: you’ve made progress and now it is a matter of keeping yourself motivated enough to keep going. This might even take more effort than getting started. There will be many temptations here, but we believe in you! You can do it!

Relapse: Don’t beat yourself up here. Life happens and we are all human. Relapsing is absolutely normal. Some of us, I won’t mention which one of us 😉, have stopped for a Bag Mac or two along our journey to healthier eating habits. As much as we would have liked to stay there, we were determined to do better the next day! So can you! You may have had a little fall but pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep moving!

Lasting change is possible! It is within your reach, and you will get there. Do not overwhelm yourself with looking at the end goal. Just keep doing the next right thing, one step at a time, day by day. We are rooting for you here at TGD and we are stocked full of gifts to reward you with once you’ve hit that goal 😊