Focus on slow and steady progress through small and manageable improvements to achieve your 2019 goals
Feeling overwhelmed just looking at my meal prep Sunday photo above? Does it seem impossible to get to that point from where you are if you’re just getting started? You’re not alone. It is super hard to dive head first into a new strict diet and stick with it for the long term. Some studies say up to 80% of resolution diets will fail by February! 😲 And I believe a lot of those failures come with trying to do too much too soon.
Instead, try focusing on one small upgrade to your eating habits at a time. Make it simple enough that it is easy to incorporate and maintain. Once that change has become routine to you, pick a new healthy upgrade to your diet and repeat. That seemingly obvious philosophy can help ensure that you’ll be part of the 20% that stays on target this year.
My personal diet is the result of a continual series of these incremental changes that I’ve made and kept over the past 5+ years using this approach. I didn’t just flip a switch one day and adopt/maintain the four hour meal prep session every Sunday that leads to the photo above. Something like that would require will power that I simply don’t have.
I’m continuing to progress today in the same way I was when I started my journey. The newest healthy upgrade is pictured above: switching from store-bought salad dressing to my own homemade balsamic vinaigrette. It can be hard to find dressing brands without added sugar and/or relatively high sodium, and the more I can break my meals/foods down into simple ingredients I control, the better. Plus, I eat a salad daily for lunch, so small tweaks here can actually have a bigger impact in the long run.
New salad dressing – big effin’ deal right? 🙄 Probably not really worth a blog post about it. But I guess that’s the point. It’s benign. Tastes pretty similar, takes a few extra minutes per week, maybe not gonna have a huge impact on my weekly nutrition. But I’d call it a win. A slight upgrade. A little less added sugar/sodium in my diet. A little more control over what I’m using to fuel my body. And I can already tell it’s gonna stick for the long term.
I recently made a similar post on my personal page about a small diet victory I had switching from a packaged fruit greek yogurt to my own homemade plain yogurt parfaits to cut down on added sugar and gain more control:
Other examples of similarly manageable changes I’ve made over the years:
- White bread to whole wheat
- White rice to brown rice; brown rice to quinoa
- Drinking more water
- Drinking my coffee black
- Switching from PBJ as a morning snack to ants-on-a-log 😎
- Making homemade PB versus store-bought
- Switching from chips as a lunch side to mixed raw veggies
- Switching from sandwich to salad for lunch
- Switching from store-bought marinade to homemade
Simple stuff. Changes I’ve made one at a time until they became so routine I forgot that they had been changes in the first place.
Most of my changes are part of a continual pursuit of a zero added sugar diet, always looking to swap out a processed food for a fresh one in my routine. Do I ever expect to completely eliminate processed foods? No. I’m a fan of things like Whole30 and the Paleo diet, but I never really plan to follow one strictly. I enjoy the occasional carb/sweets binge and I’m addicted to PBJ. I’ll gladly eat a cookie or donut if a coworker brings it in. But the more I make healthier things a part of my usual routine, the better off I am.
Make a small upgrade this week. Hang on to it next week. Repeat. ✅
Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe for the picture above:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Salt/pepper to taste
Combine in a jar, put on the lid, and shake vigorously.
Recipe borrowed from: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/218337/our-favorite-balsamic-vinaigrette/
Jim Warner Fitness & Endurance 
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