We, as humans, generally do not like change. Change brings us out of our comfort zone and into the unknown.
And when it comes to making a change to our diet, not only can that change be scary, but we often think that in order to be successful with this, we have to massively overhaul our lifestyle. But unfortunately, when we try to make too many changes at once, they just don’t seem to stick. Why? Too many changes at once can be exhausting and overwhelming, leading us to throw in the towel altogether.
In fact, research shows that when people try to change three behaviors or more, their success rate is less than 5 percent!
When they try to tackle two behaviors at once, their chances of success are less than 35 percent – a little better!
But when people focus on one single behavior at a time, the likelihood that they’ll retain that habit for a year or more is better than 80 percent!
So, if we do in fact want to make some positive changes to our diets, how do we know which behavior to start with?
Find your “lowest hanging fruit.” This is something that you can easily achieve consistently. Choosing something that is easy to accomplish is crucial, as we know success breeds motivation!
Let’s say my goal is to lose weight. While I know there are so many things I can change to start making progress, I decide that drinking 8 oz of water first thing in the morning before anything else is where I will start. Once I get super confident and consistent with this every single morning, I will feel more apt to adding more water in my day.
I take this success with my water, and start thinking about adding in a serving of vegetables at dinner. Now a few weeks later, I start eating more veggies at lunch and dinner, and so on.
When we can start small, and start finding the little wins, we will have more motivation to start tackling those bigger actions like hitting the gym, preparing most of our meals at home, or whatever else comes to mind for your journey . . . and it all started with a quick glass of water first thing in the day!
I challenge you to find your lowest hanging fruit, and start acting on it to embrace that one positive change today!
Kristen Van Hull
Nutrition Coach
Prowess Fitness & Nutrition