During the month of March, the Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics encourage individuals all around the country to celebrate National Nutrition Month. The March 2017 theme “Put Your Best Fork Forward” is an excellent reminder to try your best and to expect progress, not perfection with diet and lifestyle change.
It is estimated that when people focus on changing a single behavior at a time, the likelihood that they’ll retain their new habit for a year or more is around 80 percent. But what about those who try to change two or more behaviors at once? When people go this route, rates drop as low as 20 percent.
Of course, there’s nothing new in the idea that focusing on less helps you achieve more.
“Habits are highly ingrained behaviors. They are almost automatic. Changing one habit is hard enough. Trying to change more than one at a time is often a recipe for disaster. So, despite the occasional example to the contrary, my advice is to focus on one habit at a time.” – Ian Newby-Clark, Guelph University Psychology Professor.
To schedule a nutrition consultation or for more nutrition tips, visit us on Facebook and Twitter, or online at www.cghealth.com.
Katelyn Nicholson, RDN, LD
Mason City, Iowa
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