How often do you find yourself saying “I’ll do that tomorrow”. Or, “I’ll start that next week/month/year”? Hopefully less now with the help of your LifeShape clinical team. However you may find these thoughts creeping in from time to time, as you put off important tasks or decisions. We’ve all been there.

Before starting a new healthy eating or exercise plan, many people tell themselves they’ll start on Monday, or in the New Year. It’s very easy to get swept up in starting something new when you’re planning for the future (you buy new gym gear, start making motivation boards etc). However, realistically you don’t need a new anything to start making healthy choices! January 1^st is not a magic date to make your results any more rewarding.

Our advice is to start today, and here are our practical tips on how to do just that.

• Make a plan - The best plan, is the one that works best for you, and that can be maintained long term. Let’s be honest, if something doesn’t fit with your lifestyle, you’re not going to stick to it. Now’s a great time to chat to your clinical team if you’d like to make some changes to your meal or exercise plans.
• Reassess your goals - Hopefully you started the year with some realistic goals. Now is a great time to take a breath and assess how many you have achieved, and how many you’re still working on. If you’ve had difficulty reaching some of the things you thought you would, why do you think that is? How can you avoid these same problems for the next six months?
• Review your roadblocks - Is there anything standing in the way of you implementing your healthy changes? Think about how to remove these to achieve as much as you can for the rest of the year. Some common roadblocks can be getting your family on-board with a healthier lifestyle, eating healthy at work or while out with friends, or finding exercise that works for you.
• Accountability – Get the best possible results from your efforts by being accountable to your actions. If you’ve started to let small things sneak into your plans, it can be very rewarding to see your daily activities documented when you’re trying to implement habitual change. This will help you be accountable to yourself.

The people who are most successful at achieving goals are the ones who get straight back on track. Don’t beat yourself up over a slip; it isn’t failure – give yourself another chance. Keeping goals is all about your long term commitment. Look at the rest of the day, week or month and decide what adjustments are necessary to make continued healthier choices.

Do you know what you could achieve over the next six months? Why would you wait any longer to get started? If you need some help setting yourself some new goals, chat to your dietitian who can help with some achievable milestones for you.