Most people decide to change their eating habits to lose weight or improve a recently diagnosed health condition. These diet changes only last a good three to six months on average. What started out as the best of intentions slowly starts to give way to old habits. There’s a good reason why the majority of fad diets fail overtime.

Small and simple changes over time lead to habitual changes. Unfortunately, small changes don’t come along with quick results. This is the key to their long-term success and the main reason why so many choose the drastic changes that do not last over time. 

Set yourself up for success

Before you begin any diet change you have to ask yourself why you are changing it. Ideally write this down on a piece of paper. It may be to lose weight, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, gain weight/muscle, improve blood sugar levels, or even just to be healthier as you age.

Now that your reason is on a piece of paper, you have to ask yourself when you expect to see improvement. It’s important to be realistic with this goal date but it’s okay to guess. 

If you are wanting to lose 20-30 pounds, it’s important to realize that on average most people lose 2-5 pounds per month. 

If you want to improve your cholesterol levels or decrease your blood pressure, you may not know if your changes are working until your next blood draw or physician visit.

If you are making changes to age well and feel better when you’re older, you may not see any results from your changes for several decades. 

Regardless of your goal, a realistic timeframe is important to set. Remember that you can always revisit this timeframe and change it over time.

Writing down both your goal and time frame on a piece of paper helps to solidify your intentions. You can type these into your phone or computer to save long term, but the act of writing them down is a key step. 

Small changes lead to long term results

In today’s culture we like to get everything now and ideally with little effort. Fad diets and drastic health changes can lead to rapid results but require great effort to continue year after year. Small changes take time to see results but require less effort to continue long term. 

This brings us back to the first thing you wrote down on your paper. Why are you planning to make these changes? If the reason is a lifelong health change, then short-term rapid changes will do no good. 

On a separate piece of paper start to brainstorm what changes you can start today to achieve your goal. Write down all the ideas you think of. Don’t worry if they will work or not because you will choose the best ones later. Right now, you are simply brainstorming not analyzing.

Once you have a good amount of ideas written down, it’s time to pick the best ones. Review all of your ideas and only keep the ones that you feel confident you can follow for over a year. Avoid drastic changes or one’s you know will be hard for you to continue long term. 

For instance, not eating any carbs or fat is not sustainable long term. Instead choose the idea to decrease your carb portion or replace simple carbs/sugars with vegetables or fruit.

Try to consolidate your list of ideas to the top 2-3 changes you can start today. Having too many changes to make can leave you feeling overwhelmed and return to old habits. Write down these changes on your original paper. 

Now that you have your top 2-3 changes picked out, let's make them more specific. If one of your changes is to reduce calories make it specific by stating how you will reduce those calories. It may be to use a smaller plate or skip dessert after dinner. Write these ideas next to each one of your changes. 

Once you're finished making your changes more specific, review everything you wrote down. Ask yourself if this is still something you are willing to follow. If it’s not, then change it to something you will follow. When you feel good about your changes that you chose for yourself it’s time to implement them. 

You can start with just one change and add the other changes in a few weeks to months or choose to start all your changes right away. Remember that if you get overwhelmed you can always focus on one change and restart the other changes later. 

Once you feel that your changes have become part of your lifestyle and no longer require much effort it’s time to revisit your main goal. Pull out that piece of paper or computer file, review if you want to change it or keep it the same. Repeat the whole process and make it a lifetime goal to never stop improving your health.  

The key takeaway

Drastic changes give fast but short-term results, ultimately with you returning to your old habits. Choosing simple and small changes may take longer but will result in long term and sustainable improvements to your health. Follow these key steps to improve your long-term success.

1. Write down your main goal

2. Set a realistic timeframe by when you expect to achieve your goal

3. Brainstorm changes that will help you achieve your goal

4. Choose the top 2-3 changes and make them specific to you

5. Once these changes become a part of your lifestyle revisit your original goal

6. Repeat the whole process and never stop improving 

A dietitian can help you determine what would be best for you to change and what changes will have the greatest impact on your health. If you would like help figuring out what changes would be a good place to start, schedule your free consultation to get started!