So What?
You may be reading this and thinking to yourself, "So what?" Yes, this sounds great, but so does every other infomercial, television/magazine ad, and celebrity endorsement promising to change your life.

Virtual Health Coach is based on behavior change science and adult learning. There's no magic to this process, and you may even fail a couple of times, but it's all part of the journey. We are creatures of habit, and it is very hard to make a lifestyle change. When you decide the time is right, trust the science and the process and success will follow.

Behavior Change Science
Researchers have identified six stages of change: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination.

The first stage is pre-contemplative. This is before you are even thinking about making a change. Let's use smoking as an example. If you're a pre-contemplator, you either doesn't know the health risks of smoking or you are aware of the dangers of smoking but find the enjoyment from cigarettes outweighs the risks.

The contemplative stage is when the smoker is thinking about quitting within the next six months. Contemplators know they want to quit, but aren't sure how to do it. This stage can be especially hard to move on from, because it requires action. People can be stuck contemplating for years.

The preparation stage is next. In this stage, you make a plan. You set a quit date, gather your materials and plan for barriers.

In the action stage, you are actively quitting. Short term coping strategies and support are helpful. The action stage is when you're most likely to start smoking again.

Next is the maintenance stage. This is the six-month period after you make the behavior change. Even if you stay quit, you may still feel the urge to smoke. That's why it's important to develop long term coping strategies.

Termination is the final stage. At this stage, you are not likely to go back to the old behavior. This stage requires a five-year period of time to pass. You are in fact, the "Terminator". The old you won't be back.

Adult Learning Principles
Behavior change always requires that you learn something like new knowledge, new attitudes, or new values. When adults set out to learn something naturally (as opposed to being taught), they are very self-directed. Adults are self-paced learners, are motivated to learn by their life situations and want to apply what they learn immediately to either satisfy an interest or solve a problem.

Just knowing what you need to do to be healthier doesn’t always mean you do it. Making a behavior change to improve health is like putting a complicated puzzle together. It’s hard and you can’t finish if a piece is missing. The missing piece of most programs is the “getting ready” part. Virtual Health Coach gets you ready to change through thinking, feeling, problem solving, and decision-making. Then, it helps you create a just-for-you plan and provides matching resources to carry it out.

If you need to make a lifestyle change to improve your health in one or more of the following area— Smoking, Exercise, Weight Management, Stress, Alcohol Use, Substance Use or Personal Safety—this program is for you!