Sequence for Change

Creating a New Way of Eating
and a New Way of Life
Sequence for Change

Creating a New Way of Eating
and a New Way of Life
Let’s be upfront, change is hard. It requires thought…it
means not automatically doing the things you’ve always
done, and at times it can genuinely be uncomfortable and
challenging. However, we found that by actually analysing
the process of change, it put us more in control of the
situation and able to actually change.
There are five distinct aspects to implementing change,
and we’ve called them ‘The Sequence for Change’
Awareness - becoming aware of a certain habit or
situation that you want to change
Decision - deciding that you're going to make a change
Intention – what are you going to be or do
Action - how are you going to make it happen
Reflection – reviewing the first four stages & starting again

Sequence for Change
Let’s look at each stage in a bit more detail.
Awareness
Awareness is becoming aware of something or a situation.
Such as ‘I am overweight’ or ‘I have a habit of doing XYZ’ or
‘my health is deteriorating’. Only once you become aware of
something can you actually change it.
Decision
Making a decision to change something. ‘I want something
different’, ‘I want to release weight’, ‘I want to be thinner’, ‘I
want to stop drinking too much’, ‘I want to stop eating
chocolate’. Whatever decision you make, it’s only once
you’ve made the decision that the sequence of change
begins to kick in.
Intention
Intention is about what you're going to be, what you want to
happen. Setting an intention to be or do something
different…’I am going to be thinner’, ‘I am going to drink less’,
‘I am going to be more active’.
Whatever the intention is, it moves the sequence of change on
a step further, from making the decision to do something, to
actually specifying what you are going to do or be. Another
word that’s often used to describe an intention is a goal.

Creating a New Way of Eating
and a New Way of Life
Action
So, how are you going to make this intention happen?
What actions are you going to take to make it your reality?
Action is actually where it all really happens.
Reflection
Reflection is often overlooked. People keep on trying, keep
doing things but never actually stop to see whether the
actions they are taking are actually achieving the goals
that they set, the decisions they made and the intentions
that they planned. Without reflecting on what’s really
happening, the actions can be meaningless and even
worse, take you further from your desired goal.
In Summary
Awareness = I am…
Decision = I want…
Intention = I am going to…
Action = By doing…
Reflection = I did…

Sequence for Change
Now as you’ve probably already realised, the Sequence For
Change could be for something that may take quite a long
period of time, but it can also be used for much shorter time
frames too.
For example, to help with achieving an overall
intention/goal/aim… call it what you will, the sequence for
change may look like this:
LONGER TIME FRAME
Awareness = I am overweight
Decision = I want to have a healthy bmi
Intention = I am going to release weight
Action = By following the Mediterranean way of eating
Reflection = I did it. Over the past 6 months, I followed the
plan and am now at my ideal weight
As I said above, the real beauty of this
system is that it can be used for much
shorter timeframes, and the reason
that’s so important is that it’s what we
do every day that actually impacts
whether we achieve our goals or not.
Let’s have a look at how it may work for
a weekly and a daily timeframe.

Creating a New Way of Eating
and a New Way of Life
Weekly Time Frame
Awareness
I am overweight
Decision
Intention
Action
Reflection
I want to release 3lb this week
I am going to stick to my meal plan
By doing an online shop; preparing lunches the evening
before to take to work; getting my partner to do dinner on
Thursday as I will be in late. Going for a walk each day and
doing some other exercise 3 times this week
I did my online order; I made 4 out of 5 lunches they were
delicious; walked every day and did 2 hitt trainings.
However, I did also have a Chinese and quite a few snacks
of nuts and dried fruit, so my weight release was only 2lb,
but that’s still great.
Daily Time Frame
Awareness
Decision
Intention
Action
Reflection
I am snacking mid morning (about 11ish)
I want to stop snacking to help me release weight more
quickly
I am going to not snack
By having a good breakfast, and having it a bit later when
possible and drinking 2 pints of water before 11
I did it. No snacking, couldn’t have breakfast any later, but
drinking water really helped.

Sequence for Change
However, to ensure success, you do need to sanity check
the process and make sure the intention and action are
really going to help you achieve the change you want to
happen.
The ‘WARRS’ Framework
To double check the goals and actions you’ve set are
going to have the best chance of success, use the ‘WARRS’
framework below to sanity check them.
WARRS might seem a strange acronym, and rather
confrontational, but many people often see losing weight
as a battle, so actually it seemed to us to be quite
appropriate! This time though, fighting the good fight to
end the battle forever.
WARRS stands for :
Works for you
Accountable
Realistic
Resilience
Self-compassion

Creating a New Way of Eating
and a New Way of Life
WORKS FOR YOU – There’s no point putting any plans in
place if they are not going to be workable for you, and you
must take account of constraints on your time and lifestyle.
Often people put grand plans in place and then feel a
failure when they don’t stick to them, but they were never
going to be able to stick to them. Small changes gradually
incorporated into your life over time is a much sustainable
plan.
ACCOUNTABLE – You must accept that you must hold
yourself accountable for your actions, no excuses, no ‘yeah,
but’s’. It’s simple, I AM ACCOUNTABLE. We use tools to help
measure progress, such as scales & tape measures, but it’s
holding yourself accountable for the decisions and choices
that you make that will produce the results we measure.
REALISTIC – Ensure your decisions and intentions are realistic,
both in terms of timeframe and your ability to achieve them.
That doesn’t mean they can’t be stretching, but to say you
are going to release a stone a week is unrealistic, but a
stone in a month IS realistic and achievable, but still
challenging. However, to release a stone in a month, when
you know that two weeks of the month you have big
celebrations, is possibly not as realistic.

Sequence for Change
Resilience - These lyrics are taken from a famous song
released back in 1997…“I get knocked down, but I get up
again. You are never gonna keep me down”? And that’s
my definition of resilience. It doesn’t matter what happens,
what’s happened has happened, but resilience is about
developing the ability to pick yourself up, brush yourself
down, and carry on. Recognising events for what they are,
not giving things, people or happenings more importance
than they deserve. Keeping focused on where you are
going.
Self-compassion – Basically, be kind to yourself…setting
realistic targets, taking time to look after yourself, not
beating yourself up, engaging in actions that are going to
have a positive rather than negative effect on you. Making
sure you’re as good on the inside as you’re going to be on
the outside.
Using the Sequence for Change and ‘sanity’ checking it
using the WARRS framework, you'll be able to implement
any change you want.
On the next page you’ll
find a visual
representation for The
Sequence For Change
- hope this helps.

Sequence for Change
AWARENESS
Stages for
Change
DECISION
INTENTION
ACTION
WARRS Framework
Works for you
REFLECTION
Accountable
Realistic
Resilience
Self compassion

Contact Us
Jacquie Tarry
The Mediterranean Way Ltd
www.TMWLife.co.uk
info@TMWLife.co.uk
07711 279 367
© 2021 The Mediterranean Way Ltd