We all have things we’d like to change about ourselves. Many of these things are just small habits that slowly grew, little by little over time to a point of dissatisfaction. Changing, or reversing these habits like they formed won’t simply happen overnight or come in the form of a magic bullet. Dr. Chad Larson gives you the tips necessary to help you along your health journey. One step before the other…Little by little!
Making small changes do add up to big changes. Starting with simple tasks like making your bed daily will set you up for other healthy habits throughout your day. Each time you make a small positive dietary change, it not only improves your health incrementally, but it also helps you to feel successful and pushes you to try again and again, and before you know it, you are a much healthier new you! DR. CHAD LARSON
In Episode 33, Dr. Larson discusses:
- Summertime tip number three is to change something healthy about your diet by either adding something healthy to it or eliminating something that isn’t very healthy
- Research shows that it is the small improvements that work to change diet instead of looking for the major switches that typically don’t last
- When you look for the “right” diet, it is easy to get lost in confusion and to become overwhelmed, which will likely end in making no change at all
- It isn’t that most people don’t know what is healthy, it is just that you get stuck in habitual behaviors that are hard to correct
- Do one small thing at a time by making incremental changes to your diet, and soon you will see the benefits of making healthier choices
- Make simple changes like decreasing the amount of sugar you put in your coffee, ordering a smaller frappuccino in the afternoon, or incorporating a salad into your lunch time meal
- Instead of looking for the major lifestyle changes that can get you stuck, make a promise to change one small thing a day
- Check out a the commencement speech by Naval Admiral William H. McGraven given at the University of Texas in 2014, McGraven was the Commander of the US Special Operations in charge of taking down Osama Bin Laden
- McGraven talks about how he learned ten invaluable lessons in his navy seal training that can be extrapolated to real life and how they can alter your life
- The number one lesson that McGraven learned was about making your bed in the morning
- A seemingly mundane task, McGraven explained that if you make your bed in first thing in the morning, you have already accomplished something
- It is that small accomplishment that pushes you to think about making another, and then another
- If you do nothing else throughout the day, you carry the feat of making your bed and have something to look forward to
- It is that one small thing that you do, like making your bed, which sets you on the course for making meaningful and incremental changes that add up to major ones over time
- Kaizen is a Japanese word that translates into continuous improvement, as mentioned in an early episode, the Kaizen process was how the Japanese used small improvements on a continual basis to build companies like Toyota after World War II
- One percent changes on a regular basis are the key to improving your diet
- Each time you make a small positive dietary change, it not only improves your health incrementally, but it also helps you to feel successful and pushes you to try again and again, and before you know it, you are a much healthier new you
- Instead of looking for the perfect diet to follow, make incremental and continual changes to your daily eating that will soon create major health benefits
