By Lisa Metzgar, PhD, Nutrition Tidbits
Small steps done consistently over time will result in big results. This is true for both our good habits and unfortunately our bad habits. If you eat a fast food burger today you will probably not feel immediate results of eating the junk food but if you eat one of these every day in a short period of time you will see and feel the harmful effects. I am sure you have heard of the movie Super Size Me. In less than a month of eating junk food on a daily basis, Morgan Spurlock had life threatening effects. His liver was showing signs of damage, he gained weight quickly, and he just looked unhealthy.
Good news though it works the other way as well. If you start to slowly change little things in your life on a daily basis, you will start to see the results. You will start to notice a difference in a relatively short period of time and soon the small steps will become habit. I have a client who came to me in January, 2011 wanting to focus on shifting her health. All her life she has been heavy (at times to the point where she was in a wheel chair). She never took care of herself because she was convinced that she was going to die of cancer by the age of 50 like all the other women on her mothers side of the family. Well, when she reached 59 she realized that she might actually stick around for a while and made the commitment (for the first time in her life) to take care of herself.
She had a daunting 200 lbs to lose but was determined to take the first step. With just small steps she has lost 70 lbs. and is at a weight she hasn't seen since her 20s. It isn't just about the weight loss either. She has gone through a complete transformation. She is more confident, has more energy, is doing things that she hasn't done in decades! All this from small steps.
Here is a sample of the things she had changed in her life just to show you what small changes can accomplish:
Eating breakfast
Including a protein smoothie into her day (usually breakfast)
Cutting out potatoes
She started with 5 minutes of exercise a day
Putting her fork down between bites
Replacing white bread with whole wheat pita or wrap
Drinking more water
As you can see I didn't ask her to completely change her whole lifestyle. She took the advise I gave her, we came up with action steps she could start that day, and has been building on it. It gets easier for her the add more steps as she starts to feel better.
Try changing one small thing today something that seems ridiculously easy and stick with it.
For more suggestions on adding small steps to your daily routine to help you start your
shift go to http://www.conceptsinwellness.com/free-stuff/7-day-simple-step to sign up for your Free 7 days of Simple Steps.
