Losing weight is part of it The most popular New Year’s resolutions, but it’s one that most of us struggle to achieve. As the second or third week of January rolls around, many of us are finding it harder to stick with the lifestyle changes needed to lose or at least maintain our weight.
But one strategy that might work better when it comes to controlling our weight is the “make small changes” approach. This starts with understanding that starting small is best in the long run.
Big changes can be difficult to sustain
Most people who watch their weight tend to start with it make major changes to their diet or physical activity habits.
But big changes can be difficult to sustain in the long run because they require a high level of motivation. Since motivation of course rises and fallsIt’s no wonder these big lifestyle changes are so hard to stick with.
This is where the small change approach could be helpful.
This weight management strategy recommends that people reduce the calories they eat and/or increase the calories they burn only 100-200 every day. To put that in perspective, that could mean eating just one or two fewer chocolate chip cookies or walking 10 to 20 minutes longer each day.
It’s likely that you only need to make minor changes to your current behavior to eat 100-200 fewer calories or burn 100-200 more calories each day. These small changes may be easier to incorporate into your daily routine and, unlike larger changes, don’t require extra time and effort outside of your normal routine.
A small change approach is also more flexible as there are various ways to reduce the calories you eat and/or increase the calories you burn by 100-200 per day. This flexibility can help keep you engaged with the approach for longer.
And research shows that when it comes to health, make small changes to your usual habits can be more effective. We’re also less likely to fail at small changes, which can motivate us to make larger ones over time.
According to previous research conducted by our team, the small change approach can actually be an effective strategy for Helping people control their weight. Our study combined the results of 21 studies that used the small-change approach to weight management. We found that adults who used the approach gained about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) less over a 14-month period than people who received general weight management advice.
This is important because it suggests that a small modification approach could be used to prevent the 0.5 to 1.0 kg weight gain that is currently seen in the adult population per year and that is increasing over time Development of overweight and obesity can contribute.
More research is needed to understand if a small change approach might be a more effective long-term strategy for preventing weight gain and potentially losing weight.
How it goes
If you want to try the loose change approach, there are two questions to ask yourself to get you started:
- What changes can I make to reduce the calories I eat and/or burn by as little as 100-200kcal per day?
- Can I make these changes even with low motivation?
Small changes designed by you are more likely to fit into your everyday life and may therefore be easier to sustain over time. However, if you’re having trouble designing your own small edits, here are some examples:
- Walk and speak: Whether it’s on the phone with coworkers or meeting friends, adding an extra 20 to 30 minutes of walking to your day can burn up to 100 calories.
- Take a break: Most TV commercial breaks last around 2-3 minutes. Take this time to work out by doing a few crunches, lunges, or squats. During a one-hour program with three commercial breaks, you could burn up to 100 calories.
- Avoid Addons: Although many of us like to add things like cheese, butter, mayonnaise, and ketchup to our meals for added flavor, these tend to contain more calories than many of us realize. For example, just 30 grams of cheese (about the size of a small matchbox) has 100 calories, while 30 grams of mayonnaise (about two spoons) has almost 200 calories. Limiting parts or omitting them altogether can make a big difference in the long run.
- take your Coffee Black: Hot beverages like latte, cappuccino, and hot chocolate can be higher in calories than you think. You could cut your calorie intake by around 100-200 calories by cutting them out. If you can’t face skipping your daytime coffee, consider a smaller size or drink it black.
Watching your weight doesn’t have to be complicated. Small changes to your diet and lifestyle can add up over time and make all the difference, as the small change approach shows.
Henrietta GrahamDoctoral student, sports, exercise and health sciences, Loughborough University
This article is republished by The conversation under a Creative Commons license. read this original article.
