Why is it so hard to make dietary changes? Barriers to change can involve many areas, such as:
- Lack of motivation (“do I really need to make the change?”)
- Limiting lifestyle factors (“my work schedule makes it difficult to eat home cooked meals”)
- Differing preferences or lack of support from family members (“my spouse does the cooking, what if I insult their cooking”)
- Real (or perceived) financial factors (“Kraft dinner is cheap! “)
- Unrealistic goals (“I want to lose 30 pounds in a month!”)
If you are reading this article, you are probably interested in making a change. Most often an event will trigger a person to want to make changes. You may not like the way you look, symptoms are becoming hard to deal with, you’ve been diagnosed with a health condition or maybe you know someone who became sick. These triggers are motivating you to take action. Now what?
- First, identify what your goals are. Make them specific, achievable and positive (i.e. lose five pound in the next month, reduce my blood pressure, increase energy levels). Goals that require major shifts in how you live your life are most successful when they are broken down into smaller goals. Baby steps are just fine…and each step brings an enormous amount of value to you and your health.
- Next, identify obstacles (like the bullets above) that could hold you back from reaching your goal. Take a few minutes to jot these potential barriers down on a piece of paper. Next to each item, write down options you have to combat these barriers (remember that there are always options). For example, if one obstacle involves lack of family support, you could hold a family meeting to explain what you want to accomplish and why. The “why” is important — people are less apt to take something personal if they understand the importance of it and that you have no ulterior motives.
- After, brainstorm a few strategies on how you will accomplish your goal (i.e. eat four more servings of vegetables each day). Review the strategies and decide on the best approach for you and your personal preferences, lifestyle and motivation level. If you start to detour from your desired path, revisit the reasons you wanted to take action in the first place. If you truly believe there is a reason to do the changes (the benefit outweighs the cost) you will be motivated to continue forward. A simple Pro/Con comparison of both scenarios can help you, if you reach this point.
Most importantly, congratulate yourself for arriving to this place. It takes courage and self-awareness to take responsibility for your health. So kudos to you! 🙂
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