It’s the small steps that count
As February arrives our New Year resolutions have often faded. It is extremely hard to change habits or introduce new behaviours. So enormous congratulations if you have completed the now popular dry January, joined a gym and or stopped smoking. I tell patients who stop smoking that it is probably one of the hardest challenges they will ever face. Research shows that the two most important factors optimizing success is to have someone alongside you and to break the challenge down into stages. You need someone to nudge, support, and egg you on. This is why all stop smoking services are like the one we run from the surgery: a plan is made with regular markers, pit stops and pep talk sessions.
We bought our 17 year old daughter a Fitbit for Christmas. This is a watch that will record your activity during the day. It measures the number of steps you take and can convert these into calories burned. It is itself a coach and an incentivisor. It has shown her the enormous difference regular small amounts of activity can make. Taking every opportunity during the day to walk slightly further or slightly quicker than you have previously done soon adds up. She has set herself a daily target and is now asking me to park at the other end of the car park, is volunteering to walk to the shop to get the milk and is setting a slightly quicker pace when walking the dog. All small and barely noticeable but recorded by the Fibit and incentivizing her to continue to do that little bit more.
Last year some patients with insulin dependent diabetes benefited from a massive technological step in their care. A small electronic disc sits on the skin and is changed every fortnight. It continually measures glucose in the blood and so rather than having to prick their fingers several times per day patients can now see whether their glucose levels are going up or down as many times as they need to. Diabetes patients need to balance the sugar in the food they eat with the energy they expend. The constant feedback enables small adjustments to improve the control of the condition. These electronic meters will be available to many more patients in the coming months.
So small changes with constant positive feedback and encouragement are the keys to keeping health related resolutions on track. So look for those opportunities to take small steps towards the big goals of improved fitness and weight loss. They will add up and are certainly a lot easier and a lot more effective than that commitment you might have made on New Year’s day to run a marathon this year….maybe.
Anthony O’Brien
Published in Parish magazines Feb 2019