Here is what Alpha Nutrition Manual says about getting started:

The nature and severity of your health problems, your lifestyle, and your support system will determine which how much preparation you need and which track you will follow. Compare the experience of diet revision to going on a trip of discovery. Adopting a new cuisine is similar to traveling to a foreign country or camping in the woods. You study the map (this manual). You buy the supplies you will need. You pack away the food you will not need. You set the departure date. You may practice some of the techniques and test some of the ideas before you finally set out on the journey.

You need the support of other people. You hold meetings with family members to gain their support and understanding. Whenever possible, include spouse and family. Family groups who change together, get well together, and grow together. If a child is the focus of Alpha Nutrition, it is equally necessary to include the whole family in the program. You may have to inform friends and co-workers that you are going on a journey of discovery.

The simplest model of change involves a single person doing beneficial change for themselves, by themselves. The manual addresses the reader as a single person monitoring symptoms, and making food selection decisions as part of a self-regulation task. Seldom, however, does one person act alone. We know that eating is a social act. Even a single person who is seeking their own health goals will interact with and need the help of friends, family, and other people who act as food providers.

Often, couples and entire families do the program together. If the program is a group initiative, usually one person acts as the "leader" and supplies the main energy and direction for change. If you are leading family diet revision, interpret "you" as the whole group and be prepared to translate some of the instructions into group dynamics.

The program works well for children. Mother is often the leader when a child needs help. You cannot isolate one person in a family and change their diet while everyone else continues to eat all the old foods. The whole family has to be involved to help one child. When a family does Alpha Nutrition together, everyone tends to benefit.

Motivation

You may be motivated to achieve desirable goals, but change is difficult, even the most desirable, beneficial change. Therefore, you need sustained motivation to overcome the resistance you will feel and the resistance you will get from others. You begin with the positive idea that you could feel better, do better, lose weight, get better nutrition, solve a major health problem, or prevent a dreaded disease - the energy behind the idea is your motivation. You carry that energy forward to learn more, plan your implementation of the program, and set-up a support system that will help you succeed.

Learning and motivation go together. The better you understand your reasoning behind the program and the issues of change discussed in this manual, the more successful you will be. The timing and pace of change are important variables in human affairs. The early development of Alpha Nutrition was based on the experience of medical management of patients who prepared long in advance of their first visit to make major changes. They were often pushed by a major, chronic illness and had good reason to want relief as soon as possible. Contact with successful patients often provided their initial motivation to consider diet revision. The patients who had suffered from chronic pain or disabling illness would often say "I am ready to do anything to get better!" - this is the most desirable motivation state; these patients expressed willingness to cope with the problems of change.

Learning

If you have identified a need for change you may still have doubts about what you should do. You may first try minor changes or may look for easier solutions than complete diet revision. You probably have discussed your options with family, friends, and professional advisers and have collected different, perhaps contradictory opinions. Take more time to read the manual. You will benefit by discussing the program with someone who has successfully completed it. You may need to read other books in this series to get more information about your specific health problems before you become convinced that Alpha Nutrition is the right approach for you. If program courses are available, you would benefit by learning more.