Nutrition Goals in the New Year

With New Years around the corner, many of us strive for goals to better our health with a fresh start to the year. However, oftentimes these goals seem to not last. Why is that? There are many reasons why these goals don’t stick with reasons ranging from drastic lifestyle changes, unrealistic expectations and thinking things are set in stone. As physical therapists, our magic happens when we help individuals establish a routine that targets their goals. Here are some tips that can improve motivation and attainability to these nutrition related goals. 

Avoid drastic changes:

• Lifestyle modifications can be some of the hardest things to do. Not only to initiate but to maintain over time as well. Try small simple swaps initially rather than replacing your entire meal routine.
• Small wins build confidence and help establish routine early on. This will build the stepping stones for bigger swaps later in your health journey as these habits are established.

Flexibility with goals:

• Similar to avoiding making drastic initial changes, set short term as well as long term goals.
• Work backwards from your bigger goal and create smaller goals that build up to the ultimate end goal. It will give you a sense of progress being made as well as actual objective markers of improvement along the way.

Give your goals purpose:

• If you can tie your specific nutrition goals to things you find value in or want to improve upon, it will increase your desire to make it a habit.
• An example could be improving water intake with the purpose being to avoid dehydration during cardio heavy workouts.
• Another example would be hitting protein goals to fuel your workouts and recovery.
• Both tie your nutrition goals to your “Why” and give your goals significant meaning to you.

Track your progress:

• It may be helpful to create either a check list or keeping a personal log to track progress towards goals.
• This gives you something to look at to visually see progress to improve personal satisfaction or the ability to make changes to your routine if you notice something isn’t working.
• This physical task also forces intention and awareness behind your goals to continue to build your goals into your daily routine.

As always, consult a nutritionist for personalized nutrition advice and keep these tips we use as physical therapists to build habituation in your own routines. 

Dealing with a current or past injury? Don’t wait until it sidelines you. Schedule a 1-on-1 evaluation or movement assessment with our physical therapy team to address pain, instability/balance, or mobility issues