Baby Steps Work For Grown-Ups Too!

You are never too old, too out of shape or too overweight to make healthy changes. So why is it so difficult to make the healthy changes that can make us feel better and live longer? Usually people do not set very specific nor realistic goals for themselves resulting in frustration.

The most common lifestyle changes people say they’d like to make are usually losing weight, increasing exercise and making better food choices. Whatever the healthy goal, research suggests that several strategies can increase your chance of making the change a part of your daily lifestyle.

• Reflect on the reasons you want to make a change. Weigh the benefits verses the negatives of the change. Make sure the change is important and meaningful to you rather than only important to your family for lasting lifestyle changes.
• Look ahead and think about how the goals you set will improve your life physically, medically and emotionally.
• Set realistic goals. Small goals should be set. The goals need to be defined very specifically with a plan of action. For example, a goal of losing 50 pounds may seem overwhelming and unattainable. Rather, set smaller goals of losing 1 pound a week or 4 pounds a month. Think Baby Steps!
• Create an Action Plan for your goal. For example, be specific about increasing physical activity. The specific goal could be to start walking 15 minutes to a half an hour daily. Also be very specific regarding dietary changes, such as, eliminate dessert at dinner or add 2 fruits per day or add vegetables to your lunch and dinner menu or replace white bread with whole grain breads etc.

Remember your goals must be believable in order to be achievable. Breaking down goals into smaller less threatening baby steps will result in greater success in achieving lifestyle changes.

Mary Shenoo, RN, BSN, CCM,CWC

Ms. Shenoo joined Managed Care Concepts in 1993 as a Case Manager and Utilization Review Nurse Supervisor. In 1996, she was promoted to Executive Director. Her responsibilities now include: Oversight and Program Development for all departments. She serves as the liaison to the Medical Director, is the Organ Transplant Coordinator, and is a participating member of the MCC, Inc. Quality Management Committee.