• "I don't have enough time!"
• "No matter what I do, I just can't seem to reach my goal!"
• "I'm an emotional eater, I eat when I am happy and I eat when I am sad."
• "I workout all the time, but my body doesn't seem to change."
• "I've gained so much weight, that I don't recognize myself in the mirror."
• "I don't cook."

Do any of these problems sound familiar?  These are just a few of the statements that we hear from new clients on a daily basis.

Our team at IEM has studied human eating behavior for a number of years.  We can often explain your behavior in ways that can enlighten you and show you how change can be a positive experience.  You need to understand that change begins with awareness. 

After all, you cannot change something you are not aware of.  We understand the five stages of change and can pinpoint where you are within the various stages. Once we identify where you are, we can then help you move into the next stage of change. With each successful move up the ladder, you will soon learn that you have a choice to move and that you are not a victim of your circumstances.

After working with so many clients, we at IEM have discovered the various steps that each person goes through as they change their behaviors. See if you can figure out where you are within these various stages:

The first stage is awareness.  One day you become acutely aware that some aspect of your behavior is no longer working for you.  In this stage you recognize the need to change but that's all it is, a recognition that a problem exists.

The second stage is contemplation.  In this stage you know you need to change, but you aren't willing to at this time.  Contemplation is an important stage because this is where you spend some time thinking about how the changes you make will affect your lifestyle.

Perhaps the change will disrupt socializing with friends. 

• In other words, what's going to happen when your friends want to drink beer and eat pizza and you're trying to lose weight?
• Will your life be more fun or less fun after you integrate these new changes?

If you pass through this stage correctly, and consider the obstacles that will stand in your way before you encounter them, then chances are good that you'll be better prepared and know how to cope.

The third stage is knowledge.  This is where the team at IEM does their job.  It is critical to get the right information to help you because if you get the wrong information, all of your attempts to change will result in failure. 

In most cases, people don't fail their program of change, but rather the program's information failed them.

The fourth stage to change is action.  Most people feel that once they take action, they should be on their way with clear sailing until they reach their goal. Yet, you need to know that is rarely the way it goes. 

For most people in the process of self change it's common for them to fall back and forth from action to contemplation 4-6 times before they reach the final stage.  Think about this for a moment. Don't most smokers, drinkers and drug addicts usually give up the problem behavior with the intent of quitting successfully? Yet, don't most of them fall back into their old behavior a few times before they finally succeed?  All too often people that fall back to contemplation don't understand this sequence of events, so when they fall back they think they failed.  That leads them to become a hope seeker and turn to other methods of change that perpetuates a never ending cycle of dieting.

The fifth and final stage is termination, or what we like to call "self accountability." In this stage the person has reached a point where the changes have become a natural part of who they are and what they do.

The change no longer requires any thought or effort because the changes are now ingrained into their normal everyday behavior.