7 Ways To Make Your Healthy Habits More Sustainable

Have you ever said to yourself, “I need to eat healthier next week”? Were you able to stick with it for more than just a week? Our Lose It! community has proven that healthy choices can be sustainable for way longer than one week. These seven tips for strong goal setting can help support your health goals in a sustainable way that can last long term. 

1. Keep it Realistic

Goals can provide a clear picture of what you hope to accomplish. The key is to make sure they are realistic based on what you are willing or able to change. For example, if you travel for work each week, it may not be realistic to say you’ll completely eliminate eating out. Instead, a realistic goal might be to change how you eat, what you order, or the place you choose. Focusing on making healthy habits that fit into your current lifestyle allows them to be more realistic.

2. Work on Small Changes

Try breaking large goals into smaller action items. For example, suppose you’d like to lower your blood pressure. In that case, you might focus on taking medication daily, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to a certain number of servings per day, or making time for reading labels. These small action items, usually behavior changes, help achieve the larger health objective, such as reducing blood pressure.

3. Don’t Overwhelm Yourself

Cumulatively, over time, you may accomplish many of your health goals; to build toward our goals sustainably, it’s a smart strategy to focus on only one to three goals at a time. This number is helpful to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Once those goals seem easier or second nature (there’s no timeline in mind), then you know it’s time to create one to three new goals. By making changes gradually, you’ll accomplish more in the long term.

4. Get Specific

Write out a plan and be as specific as needed. It’s a great goal to “exercise more this week,” but it might be more helpful to specify the number of days or even times you plan to workout. Scheduling your health goals, such as working out, into your weekly calendar may help prioritize their importance. Another great place you may find helpful to be specific is meal planning!

5. Stay Proud of Your Progress

Don’t only celebrate when you reach big goals – make sure to acknowledge the changes you’ve made at each step. And they don’t have to all be scale-related. Non-scale victories like having more energy or sleeping better, or feeling more confident – these all count! After all, this health journey is for you and you only. Don’t rely on others to give you compliments; instead, frequently provide yourself with positive reinforcement. It may help you stay on track and boost confidence.

6. Be Patient

Lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight. Read this out loud. It’s something we know but usually need to hear again. We all have different metabolisms, genetics, and lifestyles that play a role in seeing progress. While it’s important to notice tweaks to speed up results, it’s more important to make changes at a sustainable pace.

7. Track to Learn and Grow

Tracking what you eat and drink, as well as exercise can provide a snapshot of your food choices, patterns, and habits. Instead of worrying about what to take out of your diet, focus on what to add. Try incorporating more variety, including all food groups, or increasing certain micronutrients like fiber. This shift in focus allows for you to achieve long-term balance.

Written by: Kelli McGrane, RD

Updated by: Anna Smith, RDN 02/2022