Is what you’re doing working? Is what you’ve been doing helping or hurting your health and your health goals? If not, you may be doing too much.
Yep. Too much – bet you didn’t think I’d say that, right?
So if what you’ve been doing daily, weekly, and monthly not working, then maybe you set up too big of a goal.
And the simplest and best way to evaluate if you should keep on doing what you’ve been doing is to ask yourself, “Is this working?” After a couple of months, you should notice some difference – even a tiny one.
And since I love to help you achieve your goals, setting up the right size of goals and action steps is KEY for you to decrease symptoms and feel better – physically, mentally, and spiritually, right? No matter if you’re over 40 or 50 or 60, or if you have chronic health issues like thyroid, autoimmune, digestive problems, hormonal issues, food sensitivities or, whatever.
But if you’ve been doing x, y, z or maybe just X for the past 2 months, it’s time to evaluate whether it’s been working. And if the answer is No, what should you do now?
I know one of the biggest reasons people stop their New Year’s resolution or their goal or plan is because they actually set up too big of a plan or goal.
Eating better is good, figuring out if you have food triggers or sensitivities is good, getting more sleep is good, BUT….those are too broad. What can you do?
Maybe you wanted to eat healthier. And you knew that you needed to break that down into a small action step. So you said you’ll eat vegetables with every meal for the entire year.
That’s a great goal, really it is, but it’s too large, especially if you’ve been eating a Standard American Diet of processed and refined foods usually. So my recommendation to you is to…
Cut it in half. Any goal or plan or action step you initially set up.
So in this example, instead of eating a veggie with every meal, you’re going to add only one veggie per day. Now should we just eat one veggie a day for the rest of our lives?
Uh, NO! Because we get a lot of nutrients and fiber from vegetables so more is better in the long term.
But we’re not in the long term, yet. We are only 2 months into this, right? (That’s short-term.)
So you can cut that in half. Yes, you can. It’s okay. Really!
So how would eating one vegetable a day look? Would you be able to achieve that?
Your answer would probably be yes, Leah, but that’s just too easy. But do you actually eat one veggie a day right now? If you say yep – I definitely do, then go ahead and make it two.
I think you see the point. We don’t drive our car starting at 0 mph and increase to 100 mph in 1 second, right?
But often that’s what we do with our health goals. We want to feel better, look better, improve so much. But we actually sabotage our success because we set up unrealistic goals and steps.
Here’s another example that some of my more complex clients might do. They have digestive issues, maybe IBS symptoms like bloating, gas, or diarrhea. They have trouble eating a variety of foods. They do research and see that processed foods, gluten, and dairy might be affecting them.
So they think, “Well, I’ll just cut all those foods out starting now.”
Now some people can do that. But I’ll be honest, if you’re used to eating out frequently, not cooking at home, eating processed foods, eating breads, pastries, pastas, sugar, milk, sugar-laden lattes daily, and dessert after every meal, then if you try to cut it all out tomorrow, it’s going to be very hard on you — not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, too.
So one suggestion is to pick just one category of food to begin working on.
Maybe you start with dairy and decide for week 1 you’re going to limit dairy to only once a day. Then in week 2, you decide you’re only going to eat dairy 3 times a week. In week 3, you decide you’ll eat dairy only 1 time a week. Then in week 4 you decide to eliminate dairy completely for 4 weeks and re-evaluate at the end to see how you feel then.
Do you see how we went from a total overwhelming situation to something more manageable and simpler for our bodies and brains to contemplate, and easier for you to get used to as a new normal. In small baby steps.
So you’ve done less not more!
This increases your confidence in yourself. You will then want to persevere to help continue the improvement your health – mentally, physically, and spiritually!
I hope this was helpful in helping you see that you don’t have to set up Ironman-like goals in order to achieve them and help you feel better, decrease symptoms, and increase your happiness in life.
This is actually part of what I do as a health and wellness coach when I work with you. I help you figure out manageable goals and action steps and help you realize Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’ve had clients tell me they’ve tried to work on _______ (their goal) several times and they just couldn’t do it. But then once we begin working together, they’re amazed at what they’ve been able to accomplish in just a few short months.
Part of their success is having a realistic plan and a system to accomplish their goals as well as accountability and support of someone who has worked with many clients who feel the same way as well as someone who has walked and continues to walk the same journey for her better health. You can increase your success by doing less!
So if that’s you, reach out, and we can just talk to see if we’d be a good fit to work together. I’ve got 3 spots available for private coaching right now. So let me know how I can help you. Click here to set up a free 20-minute consult.
Leah Cheshire is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach and a speech-language pathologist. She has experienced fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, weight issues, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, and IBS and worked with clients who have the same symptoms. Using nutrition and lifestyle management, she and her clients decrease symptoms and increase their energy and joy. Contact her here to talk about how she can help you.
