Answer: Whether it’s getting someone to stop smoking, take their medications, or drop some weight, helping people to make a change is not easy. To begin, let me address how physicians typically look at the process of making a change. We study the process of change during medical school because encouraging change is crucial to being a successful physician.

The stages of change are:

• Pre-contemplation: In this stage, a person has no intention to make a change. Typically, a person in this stage doesn’t recognize a need for change and doesn’t think they have a problem.


• Contemplation: When someone begins to think about making a change, they are in the contemplation phase. Typically people begin to weigh the pros and cons of a change in this stage.


• Decision to change: This is an important step because it marks the point at which a person has become committed to change. Action: An individual will start to do things that lead to the change.


• Relapse: Since we are human, any change is not a simple process. There will be ups and downs to any process of change. The relapse stage is important for managing frustration and even depression about successfully incorporating a change into our lifestyles.


• Maintenance: This is not a simple stage. Often individuals alternate between relapse and maintenance throughout the rest of their lives.

One of the most important points for loved ones to realize about this process is that patience, persistence, and support are crucial during all the stages. Maintaining a non-judgmental attitude that does not focus on negativity is also very important to help someone make a change.

From what you have told me, it seems your husband is in the pre-contemplative stage. This is often a difficult stage because people in this stage are often defensive and unwilling to even consider change. "Should-statements" often aggravate and even discourage change. Nagging, suggesting, or pushing tend to actually have opposite effect and can cause people to "dig in their heels" and cause further resistance. Sometimes, asking a person in the pre-contemplative stage what they think about their current habits can be helpful. Information can sometimes be helpful to someone in this phase. I always recommend calmly telling someone how you feel about their habits and offering to help them should they have a desire to change.

As a physician, I have found it is always important to tell a patient that a change would be worthwhile and healthy. Unfortunately, there is little anyone can do to help until someone has reached the contemplative stage. Once a person is contemplating a change there are many things that can be done to encourage and facilitate a healthy lifestyle.

For now, see if your husband would be willing to read one of the SuperFoodsRx books with no pressure to start changing anything.

Hope this helps,

Geoffrey R. Harris, MD