There are two significant challenges to implementing sustainable change in your lifestyle…
The first is getting started. If you have listened to a friend describe their “plan” to exercise, eat healthily, or improve their health status, you have probably thought how easy it sounds. How often has it happened? While some follow through, unfortunately, many do not. That is because it is easier to have the vision than it is to execute the plan. Change is never simple, but it does make a difference especially for anyone who has Type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
The second challenge is maintaining the effort required to see the change through. It is not enough to exercise a few times and then abandon the plan entirely. While at least this ensures the first challenge has been overcome, what is the point if healthy habits are not maintained?
It is easy to talk about improving your lifestyle, but it is difficult to stay disciplined when it comes to food choices and exercise. Weight loss is simple in theory but proves to be a ceaseless struggle for many. But how about this. To start, why don’t you make changes – just for one week?
It is easy to get started when you know there is an endpoint to your efforts. And it does not feel threatening to commit to just a few days of healthy eating and exercising. Now obviously, this does not solve the issue of consistency, but that is not the point. The point is to trial the chosen healthy lifestyle choices for a week. Ideally, you will be implementing all the adjustments you need to make to get your health on track…
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- exercising,
- cooking your meals,
- eating more vegetables, and
- no snacking or eating after 6 pm,
are some actionable ideas.
Why is it you need to make these changes, anyway? Are you dealing with hypertension? Obesity? Diabetes? One way to begin changing your lifestyle is to create an inventory of how you live your life. Plan out all the changes you need to make to achieve your goal, and implement them for one week. You should not have any excuse not to follow through.
After the week ask yourself some questions…
- was it as difficult as you expected?
- would you do anything differently?
- did you feel the “plan” was worth your time?
- would you do this again?
All questions are important to ask, but especially the last one. If you feel it is worth continuing, why wouldn’t you? Don’t hesitate to stay with your plan for another week. Make sure you can track your progress in some way, whether it’s weight loss, blood sugar, readings, or something else.
You don’t have to commit to anything long-term. However, don’t be surprised if you find yourself implementing long-term changes as you go. Even small changes will help and will lead to larger ones.