Two ways to make change last.

Many people resolve to be healthier at the beginning of a new year. These resolutions often last until the middle of January and then despite our best intentions, we go back to our old ways. The second Friday in January is called “Quitter’s Day”; most people have completely given up on their health-related goals by the third week. This happens whether the goal is to lose weight, get fit, or eat healthier. This is not because we don’t want to change, but how we go about it.

We resolve to quit eating processed food, exercise every day or completely change our routines. This is rarely successful. They are too vague, too big and have no clear destination.

Here are two ways to make change last longer.

1. Start small. Really, small.
2. Have a BIG reason to change.

Start small

This doesn’t sound exciting, but small, EASY steps, make a big difference. Don’t try to change everything at once. This is why diets don’t work. They are temporary.

Ask yourself, “What am I willing to do long-term?”

It is also critical to expect imperfection. You don’t have to do it perfectly every time. Most of the time is what matters.

Regardless of how small, every action adds up. It is easy to lose hope or give up when change seems like a mountain to climb. Manage the expectations so they feel like a walk in the park.

How small?

Very.

For example, you want to lose a few pounds. You know that you will feel better and your clothes will fit better. You decide to stop eating sugary snacks. Sounds good, but this is too vague. Eat less every day? Once a week? How much less? How will you measure less?

The solution is to make the action smaller. “I will eat less.” becomes “I will eat fruit as a snack in the afternoon.”

This change accomplishes two important things.

First, it is concrete, you can measure it. “Did I eat a cookie at 3:00 or did I have an apple?” Second, it is easier to do something, rather than stop doing something. It is not about eliminating snacks, it is exchanging a high-calorie, low-nutritional quality snack for a low-calorie, nutritional snack. One that fills you up and makes it easier to eat less.

The key to successful change is to make it EASY!!!

The problem is that easy sounds like doing nothing when it is simply the start of something. The more successful you are, the more likely you will stick to your goals, which motivates you to do more good things.

The other key component of this is to expect detours. Don’t tell yourself you will never eat another cookie, of course you will. But, if you eat an apple 5 days out of 7 that is a significant improvement. That means you will eat 50% fewer calories on those 5 days, and they are nutritionally dense calories. Apples have fibre, water, Vitamin C, potassium and antioxidants.

In one study overweight women were divided into two groups. One was asked to eat three apples or pears daily. The other group ate three oat cookies a day. The cookies were of similar calories to the apple or pear. The fruit group lost almost three pounds, over 12 weeks, even though their diets were controlled to be of similar calories and nutrition. There was also a significant decrease in blood glucose among the fruit group compared with those who had eaten oat cookies. Even though nothing else had changed, they simply ate more fruit.

This one small change made a difference and it was easy.

Have a BIG reason to change.

To stick with new habits there has to be a destination.

Let’s stick with the weight loss example. You might want to lose weight to feel better. Why is this important? Or look better. How will this affect my life? Don’t settle for the superficial reasons. Ask yourself, why do I want this and when you have an answer – ask why do I want that? Keep asking ” why” until you understand what really matters to you.

The reason to change must be more compelling than the reason to stay the same. It also needs to be personal. The person who has had a heart attack might want to do whatever they can to prevent another one. The person with knee pain may only think about losing weight when their knees hurt. They need to find the reason that reminds them of their choice regularly.

The key to finding the right reason is that it is yours, it is meaningful, and it inspires action. Focus on the outcome that you want, not what you want to avoid. Taking the two examples above this looks like, “I want to eat well and exercise to be able to enjoy all of my life.” Or “I want to be pain-free to be able to hike and enjoy time with friends and family.”

Success is possible

When people have a meaningful reason to change and they make it easy to stick to it, success is possible. I have been lucky enough to be a part of those changes and one thing I know for certain is that you can do it too,

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla