The secret to eating healthier for the long term is doing four things most people don’t think about.

For more than a decade, people have come to me for help with changing their eating habits and “eating healthier.”  People come to me for many different reasons:

• They want to lose weight (with or without weight loss medications)
• They are worried about diabetes or cholesterol
• They want to have more energy and feel better
• Because of gut health issues such as IBS of SIBO
• Their body reacting negatively to what they’re eating

In that time, I’ve realized there are four key steps that help people successfully change to a healthier diet for the long term. I’m going to share those with you in this post.

Step 1: Figuring out what’s REALLY getting in the way

So many people have tried on their own to change how they eat before coming to see me.  Like most people, they might make changes for a week or even a few weeks, but find it hard to stick with their new food choices, portions, or way of eating.  When I asked them what got in the way of these changes, here’s what I’d often hear:

“I can’t keep up the motivation.”

“Life got in the way.”

“I’m too lazy.”

Do these sound familiar?

First, let me be abundantly clear: You’re NOT lazy unless you’re spending all your days lounging on the couch and eating bonbons while someone else does everything in your home, even though you’re healthy and capable of doing it all yourself.  Truthfully, I have yet to meet with a lazy person in my practice!  You’ve probably got a lot going on in your schedule and life, and that can get in the way.

So here’s the big secret: Being successful in eating better is figuring out what REALLY is getting in the way.

What is really getting in the way usually is not what people initially say to me when we talk about this in nutrition counseling sessions:

“I’m too busy.”

“I was getting into better dinners, but the kids and my husband want….”

So the solution is looking for the small things that, if you changed them, could help you.  Usually, there are lots of them.

For example, I was working with a person last month who knew what to eat and had every intention of doing it. But she often didn’t.  During our session, we found several things that were getting in her way, but we started with the simplest thing to fix.  Because her schedule was so inconsistent, it’d sometimes be two weeks before she grocery shopped, or she had her spouse go, and they weren’t so good about picking up things on the grocery list.  So, one of the solutions for her was to use the “pick up service” at the grocery store.  This month, when we met, she reported she was much more on track with her healthier eating because she had what she needed to make appropriate meals.

Step 2: Recognize that eating healthier is a journey

As I mentioned above, there can be many things we need to change to stay on track with changes to our eating habits.  So the second secret to being consistent with eating better is not trying make all the changes at the same time!

Changing how you eat is a journey. You’re going from where you are to where you want to be. Imagine you’re in one town on one side of a lake and you want to get to a town that’s on the other side of the lake. You’ve got to drive around that lake. You don’t have a magic “Beam me up, Scotty” transporter. Instead, you’ve got to take that journey to drive around the lake. That kind of makes sense, right?

Yet when we go to change how we eat, we expect that we’re going to do the equivalent of that magic transporter where you change eating style and eating habits overnight.  (By the way, that’s called a “diet” and that’s why diets fail!) No, eating better for the long term is a journey!

Focus on making progress on that journey instead of unrealistically expecting to go from where you are to where you want to be with a magic transporter. Or, as I like to say, focus on progress, not perfection.

Step 3: Keep a narrow focus

When you’ve figured out the things that you want to change, or that need to change, start by picking ONLY one or two actions that will help you address the “what’s getting in the way” that we talked about in the first section.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep focusing on only one or two actions at a time. I know you’re eager to get started, but trust me. If you try to focus on more than one or two things, you will spread your focus too thin, and your brain and life will get in the way! Remember, you’re on a journey, and you don’t have a magic transporter!

Now, when you pick the one or two things you’re going to focus on, it shouldn’t be something like “I’m going to eat better.” It needs to be specific. For instance, “I’m going to eat breakfast. I’m doing that because that’ll make me less likely to snack later on in the day because I’m hungry.”

If you’re slightly confused about all of this, that’s okay. Keep on reading. I’m going to help you with that in the next key step.

Step 4: Get expert help to guide you

So often, it’s hard to see what’s getting in our way.  Or, even if we can identify what’s getting in our way, it’s hard to figure out the key steps that can keep us going. Or maybe we thought we had identified the key thing, but the steps we chose aren’t working.

That’s where the value in working with a person like me comes in. Not only do I have the training of a registered dietitian nutritionist and a master’s degree in nutrition, but I also have years of experience helping people like you bridge the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it.

Working with me is a completely individual approach. I could be working with your identical twin, and my recommendations might be different for them because their life is different than yours. This is the advantage of working with a one on one individualized approach. (Leave the “cookie cutters” for baking, not for making lasting changes in how you eat!)

Perhaps most importantly, the plan you and I develop is not preset or set in stone.  It’s for where you are right now. We’re addressing the items that are getting in your way at this particular time.  The plan and approach will change and evolve depending on where you are in your journey to change your eating habits.

So here’s the third key step in eating healthier: Set up your free discovery call with me. During the telephone call, which lasts about 15 minutes, we’ll talk about what you’re trying to accomplish and how I can help you on your journey to change how you eat from where you are now to where you want to be.

Two really great things about getting started on the journey of eating healthier

Two other things you should know about working with me: Many insurance plans cover working with me. In fact, some cover the entire cost of working with me in my office in Laconia in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire.  Many plans also cover working with me via telehealth if it’s easier for you to work with me via the internet because of your schedule or living outside the region.

So get started in your journey to better eating today:  Book your discovery call or contact me.

If you’re not ready to work with me yet, instantly download my free guide “5 Secrets to Successfully Changing How You Eat”  for some tips that can help until you’re ready for personalized help that fits your life and food preferences.