Changing how you set healthy eating goals is key to achieving those goals!

So many of us set healthy eating goals that involve changing how we eat to achieve weight loss, lower blood pressure, manage blood sugars, or address gut health issues. Yet the sad fact is many of those efforts soon end up being abandoned.  Or they may be achieved and maintained only for a short time.

Why does this happen?  As a registered dietitian nutritionist with years of experience in helping people successfully change how they eat, I can say success in changing eating habits comes down to three things:

• How goals are set
• Developing new skills
• Avoiding a “biology versus willpower” power contest

In this post, I will discuss how including five key elements in your goal increases the chances of you successfully making the changes.

I’ll talk more about the skills that can boost your chances of success later in this post.  For information on how to avoid having your body sabotage your willpower, read “Willpower, eating habits and food” by clicking here.

Use this technique for setting your weight loss goals or healthy eating goals

To boost your chances of success in changing how you eat, it is critically important that you shift the focus of your goal.  Instead of focusing on your ultimate goal, focus on how you are going to achieve that goal.  I teach this “shift focus” technique to people who see me for nutrition counseling.

It’s easiest to explain this with the analogy: Imagine you are trying to explain to someone how to get from city A to city B without using a travel app or GPS device.  You aren’t going to spend the majority of your time telling them how wonderful city B is.  You’re instead going to focus on how they will get there.

To help you shift focus from your ultimate goal to how you are going to achieve it, use SMART goals.  I’m now going to explain how adapting the five elements of this goal setting technique can boost your chances of achieving your healthy eating goals.  I’ll even share examples to help you master this technique.

Key goal element #1: Be specific when setting your goal

The “s” in SMART goals stands for specific.  Any goal you set must be specific. Saying “I’m going to lose 20 pounds” is specific, but go back and read the section above again.  Focusing on how much weight you are going to lose is like telling a person to go to city B but not telling them how to get there.

“I’m going to eat better lunches” is a better choice. It focuses on a specific action you are going to take to make progress toward your weight loss goal or healthy eating goal.   But let’s see if that goal stands up when we consider the second key element in setting goals.

Key goal element #2: Make your goal measurable

The “m” in SMART goals stands for measurable.  Any goal you set needs to be measurable. You need to be able to clearly and easily determine if you achieved it.   “I’m going to eat better lunches” is open to interpretation. How are you defining better?

Changing the goal to “I’m going to have my lunch include at least 2 cups of non-starchy vegetables every day” is both specific and measurable.  It has key element #1 and key element #2.  But will it meet the requirement for key element #3?

Key goal element #3: Make your goal attainable or actionable

I call the “a” element of SMART goals the “are you capable of doing it?” part of the goal.  In other words, are you in a situation that makes it possible to achieve your goal?

Let’s say your goal is “to have my lunch include at least 2 cups of non-starchy vegetables,” but you eat small lunches.  Or you have a gut health issue that makes it impossible to eat two cups of non-starchy vegetables.  Based on this, you are not capable of achieving the goal as it is written.

Changing the goal to “I’m going to have my lunch be at least 50% non-starchy vegetables every day” makes this goal have three of the five key goal elements.

Key goal element #4: Is your goal realistic?

The “r” in SMART goals stands for realistic. This is the element that I find causes people the most trouble with their weight loss goals or healthy eating goals.  Your goal needs to be a SMART goal, not a SMAT goal!  

It is very important to think about what you are doing now, your preferences, and your routines. Let’s say that most days, you don’t have any non-starchy vegetables for your lunch. You also often miss lunch a couple of times a week. Is it realistic that every day you are going to have half of your lunch be non-starchy vegetables?  No!!

Changing the goal to “60% of my lunches will be at least 50% non-starchy vegetables” is far more realistic. It’s also a goal that is less likely to be discouraging to you.

You can also update the goal as you progress on building the skills that will enable you to achieve your healthy eating goals.  (Read “Why changing eating habits can be hard” for more on skills and healthy eating goals.)

Key goal element #5: Include time in your goal

The “t” in SMART goals stands for time.  A time element is important to include in your goal for two reasons. The first reason is that most of us have different circumstances that we deal with during the work week versus days off.

The second reason to have an element of time is it helps you set points at which you can check in and assess how you are doing with your goal.  Have you achieved it and are ready to make it a little more demanding or take on a new goal?  Or, is the goal too challenging and needs to be adapted to meet the “attainable” and “realistic” key elements?

Changing your goal to “three workdays per week, my lunches will be at least 50% non-starchy vegetables” gets in the time element. Your goal now is now truly a SMART goal. Your chances of successfully meeting it have increased.

How to go from setting healthy eating goals to achieving them

Using SMART goals for healthy eating or to achieve weight loss can increase the chances that you will be successful.  If you’re looking for more ways, instantly download your free guide, “5 Secrets to Successfully Changing How You Eat” by clicking here. 

Getting personalized helps people achieve their goals faster. Start achieving your health goals by booking a free discovery call with me. We can talk about what you want to accomplish and see if working with me would be helpful to you.

Click here to book your free discovery call!