Transtheoretical Model For Coffee Consumption

1. The health behaviour that I would like to change is my daily coffee intake. At the moment, I drink about 4-6 cups of coffee on average and I would like to limit it to 2-3 cups per day. Research has found that coffee consumption has both positive and negative effects on health (O’Keefe et al., 2014; Ding, Bhupathiraju, Chen, Von Dam, & Hu, 2014; Nehlig, 2015; Snel & Lorist, 2011). Coffee consumption has been shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases such as obesity, hypertension, the development of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease (O’Keefe et al., 2014; Ding et al., 2014; Nehlig, 2015). Coffee contains caffeine which has been shown to increase glucose metabolism and decrease insulin resistance, therefore
In order to change my unhealthy behaviour of drinking 5 cups of coffee per day, I will use the Transtheoretical model to develop a behavioural change plan to limit my coffee intake to a maximum of 3 cups per day. The transtheoretical model suggests that people pass through 5 stages in attempting to change their behaviour and different interventions can be used at each stage to tackle the specific stage at which an individual is (Brannon, Feist, & Updegraff, 2014). Also, using the ABC components; antecedents of me drinking coffee are feeling hungry, feeling bored, feelings of stress and anxiety and having coffee to accompany food(Brannon et al., 2014). These are some of the triggers and antecedents that lead to me engaging in the behaviour. Then, the consequences of engaging in the behaviour are that I feel temporarily satisfied in terms of hunger, it helps distract me and I feel less bored, it helps me feel calm and able to deal with stress and anxiety and I feel satisfied that I am able to have coffee with my meal (Brannon et al., 2014). In looking at environmental factors that contribute to the engagement of this behaviour, I tend to drink coffee when in a social setting and everyone else is also drinking coffee and when I go out for lunch or dinner, I tend to have coffee with my meal. All these factors need to be taken into account when developing a change strategy. The five stages that comprise the Transtheoretical model are precontemplation, contemplation,
To change this, research was done into the negative effects of too much coffee consumption while completing this assignment. At stage 2: Contemplation, I was more aware of the negative effects of too much coffee consumption and realised that I needed to change this behaviour due to my research results. Furthermore, I was also aware that the amount of coffee that I drink does not fit in with my other health behaviours such as exercising and healthy eating. At stage 3: Preparation, I will outline my change strategy of limiting my coffee intake to 3 cups a day within a month. I will draw up a plan of having 4 cups per day in week 1 and 2 of changing my behaviour and 3 cups in week 3 and 4 of changing my behaviour. This will be more effective as I will be less likely to experience withdrawal symptoms which could lead to relapse at a later stage. At stage 4: Action, changes in my behaviour is made whereby I stick to my plan that I have developed. Furthermore, this plan will be placed in my room so that I see it every day and am reminded of my goals. At stage 5: Maintenance, to ensure that I stick to my goal, I will track my daily coffee intake and once I reach 4 cups for the day, I will not have any more. To further ensure this, I will make sure that I only have enough money for 1 coffee a day on campus and will ask my boyfriend to keep my bank card to ensure that I am unable to draw more