Want to make lifestyle changes to improve your health this year? But if you’re not interested in New Year’s resolutions you’ll probably break on Super Bowl weekend, here are 5 steps to create healthy habits you’ll stick with.
As a nutrition counselor and coach in the online Midlife Feast Community, I talk with women a lot about creating, implementing, and achieving healthy lifestyle goals. If you’ve set goals in the past, you know you can’t set them and forget them. Otherwise, you don’t make behavior changes and you don’t achieve the results you want. Here’s how to avoid feeling like a goal failure.
It’s important to understand the difference between outcome-based goals and behavior-based goals and how they work together. For example.
Based on definitions created by Girls Gone Strong, an outcome-based goal focuses on your desired result – like losing weight by summer.
Outcome-based goals are like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.
You don’t always have control over all the variables that affect whether or not you achieve the goal. If you only set outcome-based goals, you’re likely to get frustrated and stop moving forward if you don’t get the results you hope for. Instead, put your energy into setting behavior-based goals, which you do have control over.
“A behavior-based goal outlines a specific behavior you’re ready, willing, and able to implement repeatedly within a given timeframe that will make your desired outcome more likely”
– Girls Gone Strong
Here are some examples:
Outcome-based goals: To lose X pounds before Summer. Do a hike of X miles with friends this year. You want to eat more vegetables.
Each of these goals has numerous variables beyond your control. These goals don’t include specific how-to behaviors you can practice for a specific amount of time.
Behavior-based goals: Practice attunement with your hunger and fullness at 2 meals each day. Walk for 30 minutes, 3 times a week. Add a salad or cooked vegetable to your dinner 3 times a week.
These goals include specific behaviors to practice consistently and help you achieve the results (outcome) you want. Outcome-based goals and behavior-based goals work together. They create the foundation for the 5 steps to create healthy habits.
The 5 steps to create healthy habits are (based on goal setting by Girls Gone Strong)
- Define your desired outcome-based goal
- Create 1-2 behavior-based goals that promote your desired outcome
- Practice your behavior-based goals consistently
- Reflect on your practice. Are you willing and able to do your behavior-based goals consistently? Why or why not? Stay compassionately curious here! Don’t get judgy or you’ll sabotage your efforts.
- Decide what’s next. If you haven’t achieved your outcome-based goal yet, what additional behavior-based goals do you need to set to move forward toward your outcome-based goal?
Rinse and repeat.
You can use these steps to create, implement, and achieve goals in a variety of health-promoting areas of your life.
Examples include your relationship with food, movement or exercise, stress management, sleep, personal relationships, and work-life balance.
To get started, pick 1-2 outcome-based goals you want to achieve in the next 6 months. You may find it helpful to write these down in a notebook or journal and plot them out on a calendar. Then set 1-2 behavior-based goals for each outcome you want to achieve.
Get specific with the behaviors. Write down what you’ll do, how often, and what tools (i.e. walking shoes, knife to cut vegetables, and cutting board) you may need. It can be helpful to write down what support you need from others so you can be consistent with your behavior-based goals. For example.
Do you need to have a conversation with your boss to adjust your work hours? Is your spouse or partner able to manage the kids while you take a walk three times per week?
Set outcome-based goals that feel realistic. Use behavior-based goals to create a roadmap to help you achieve the outcome you want.
Remember many small steps lead to big achievements. Always reflect on your progress with compassionate curiosity. Make adjustments as needed and keep moving forward. Follow the 5 steps to create healthy habits and 2024 will be your healthiest year yet. You’ve got this!
