SMALL CHANGES REALLY DO ADD UP

It simply isn’t true that radical changes are the key to improving health and wellbeing.  

 

Navigating the endless noise and advice being shared by well-meaning but often unqualified individuals in the press and on social media is tough and very confusing.  

 

In clinic, we frequently see people who have done their absolute best to manage their own symptoms and conditions prior to seeing us and with all the very best intentions and belief, they have created and tried to follow a regime that excludes many foods, includes increasingly ‘stricter rules’ about what and when to eat and without exception, increases already high levels of stress.  In almost every case, our role has been to simplify things by recommending strategic evidence-based changes that can be stuck to.

 

If this sounds familiar, I want you to know that you are most definitely not alone.

 

The key, although not a magic one, to improving health and wellbeing is consistency.

 

Real life isn’t black and white, and we exist in shades of grey. No food is good or bad, we can’t label ourselves or our days as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ either.

 

Some whole days are more balanced, with more movement, more vegetables, and more sleep. Others are a rollercoaster of stress, eating-on-the-go and late nights. That is real life, and I would suggest that no restrictive or rules-based lifestyle will ever really be able to flex enough to meet all these inevitable challenges.

 

We don’t need to do it all, and especially not in one go – evidence shows that making ‘small habit’ changes, does add up to achievable and sustainable lifestyle improvements.

 

On a personal level, it’s taken me years to really trust and advocate the benefit of taking ‘mini steps’.  On a professional level, without exception and even with the most highly motivated clients and patients, doing anything more and taking bigger steps never gets us where we want to be.

 

Mini steps can be frustrating but remember, we are aiming for a consistent, long-term change, not a fast fix followed by relapse.

 

Sometimes even a mini step can be too big a change when it’s placed in the context of an already busy life, and in that situation, we choose micro steps.

 

The most successful changes are the ones that initially appear too simplistic or small to do any good but don’t allow yourself to think these little shifts are not important or beneficial.  Even with support in clinic (which is pretty full on), I would never ask a client to make more than 3 small changes at a time. If you’re doing it on your own, my experience tells me that just 1-2 changes are more than enough. We are all busy, with numerous other things taking up our time and headspace.

 

Micro changes do add up!

 

One extra serving of vegetables per day adds up to 3650 more portions over a decade (and that’s a lot of fibre, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals). Just 30 minutes extra activity per week is 520 hours more heart-healthy movement over 20 years.

 

Here is what matters: Consistency, not perfection.

 

Remember, you don’t have to do it all to be healthy. You just need to do enough, on a relatively consistent basis, to feel well.