While it can be tempting to want to go 'all or nothing' and start that extreme diet, or take up going to boot camp at 6am every day (when you normally exercise once a fortnight, and don't like getting up early...), in the long term, extreme approaches are not sustainable.  Here are some tips that may help you make a behaviour change that lasts!

So... what can you do to achieve long term behaviour change, like making healthier food choices, or establishing a regular exercise routine?

My top tips:

Start gradually & set small goals

My first recommendation is to introduce things GRADUALLY.  If you make small changes, and set small goals that you progressively tick off before coming up with a new one, you will have a continual sense of success which can make it easier to make continual progress.

Avoid: for example. If you say, 'I'm going to the gym before work every day this week!' but then miss Tuesday and Wednesday, you're likely to write it off, and start again the week after.  Then you might not feel like it that Monday, and promise yourself you'll start the week after... and then it never happens.

Instead: Pick something that is definitely achievable, and probably much less than your ultimate goal.  So if you currently exercise once every 2 weeks, firstly set the goal to exercise once every week.  When you have successfully implemented that for a number of weeks, and it feels almost second nature, then consider adding a second day.  This way, you may end up achieving a goal of exercising 5 days a week, but you will gradually work your way there, figuring out strategies along the way that help you to keep up consistency. 

This approach also allows you to cope with challenges, for example if you miss a few days, or even miss a week, because you are coming at it from a more balanced mindset, there's no need to 'get back on the wagon' as there is no wagon in the first place, just a continual gradual progression towards your goals.

Choose things you LIKE.

Avoid: deciding to take up running even though you hate it.  Forcing yourself along to gym classes you don't enjoy.  Pack yourself a lunch of chicken and salad that you don't like the taste of.

Instead: Honestly, not many people can stick to doing things they dont like, as i said earlier. Be honest with yourself.  If you hate running, truly, there is no point in attempting to become a runner. It won't stick. FInd something you like, and start with that. I have found that if you get in a habit of doing a type of exercise you enjoy, you may enjoy the benefits of exercise enough that you are then willing to branch out into occasional dabbles into exercise you don't enjoy as much, but want to reap the benefits of.  Same goes for food.  Find healthy and nutritious foods you truly like the taste of, and stick to trying to eat more of those. 

Avoid goals rooted in things you can't easily measure or directly control, for example: "i want to get more fit", or "i want to lose weight".

I want to get fit is not easy to measure. You might exercise every day for a month and not actually know if you are fitter or not.  It can be hard to stay motivated when you cant see any results.  It is better to quantify goals based in an actual behaviour that you control, for example, "i want to be exercising 3x per week by the end of March". Then you can know if you have achieved it or not.

Wanting to lose weight is also actually an outcome, not a behaviour, and seeing as it is VERY challenging to achieve, it can be extremely disheartening if you choose this as a way to measure progress.  Weight loss depends on a whole host of factors. Again, you may successfully take up exercising 2-3x per week and manage this for a year, but not lose weight.  Some may view this as a failure, if they are looking at it from a weight loss lens.  Choosing an outcome as a behaviour change goal, rather than a behaviour you can directly influence, is destined to result in disappointment.

For the record as well, making changes to your health can happen irrespective of your weight. Weight loss is not the holy grail of health.

Schedule in your exercise

This is really important. If you wait for the right time to exercise, something will always come up.  Exercise should be like an appointment in your calendar that is non negotiable.  I know this won't suit everyone, but if you are serious about making a change, this is a big thing.  I am lucky in that I can now schedule it into my work diary.  It is blocked out and nothing is allowed to take it's place (urgent patients sometimes, but not often).  

Once you have scheduled in the same exercise for a few weeks in a row, it is likely to start to feel like a routine, and feel weird if you don't go. This is how habits are formed!

My personal experience

I have exercised 6-7 days a week for longer than I can remember. I am not disciplined, or highly motivated all the time. That is not how i would describe myself.  Even when I dont really feel like it, I will almost never take time away from the gym (though lets be honest it is quite rare for me to not feel like going to the gym). I also would say I eat pretty 'healthy', I don't do 'cheat' meals (no need for these if you arent dieting...) and rarely have fast food (because I honestly don't like the taste).

But this is not because I am on a diet, have lots of will power, or lots of discipline.  Because I would say that I honestly just eat food that I love. I HATE being hungry.  I do not eat food i don't like. I have made a conscious choice to find out what foods that are nutritious that I like the taste of, and eat these most of the time.  I honestly look forward to every meal I eat because I love the foods I have chosen.  I dont deprive myself of less nutritious things that i like purely for the taste, like prosecco or chocolate, but i definitely have them in moderation. I am lucky that I am able to do this, and i know it is not this simple for everyone, but I really object to all the hardcore diets out there that people suggest, indicating that this is the way forward. That is NOT what health is about. 

I also am lucky in that i LOVE exercise. I really love going for a walk, training in the gym, doing Les Mills Classes.  I got into the habit years ago of going to the gym almost every day, and as I said, it's now scheduled in to my diary. I do not even think about going to the gym, I don't 'make a choice' to go, something that would require consistent motivation and willpower, I just have it in my diary and I am going, and that's that. It is as much a part of my life as work is.  I work towards goals which helps me to feel satisfaction time to time when I achieve something new, and sometimes I try something new to explore other options for the future.  I hate the feeling of barely moving, and so I do what I love, which is to move.  I do not think of exercise as a way to punish my body for eating food, or to change how it looks.  I do it because I like how it feels, and I have grown to truly love my body for what it can do for me over the years.  I have found this has been quite a helpful and positive mindset change. 

One more thing. I hate getting up early. When i lived in Melbourne, I took a 6am Body Attack class 3x a week. So I got up at 5am, 3x a week, for 3 years. I gave it a shot. I hate it.  The scheduled exercise I mentioned above? It's in my diary at 8am. Physios usually work til 7pm, so it works. 

Since coming home, I have filled in one 5.30am Attack class for someone who had COVID as a favour, but that's it.  I have successfully achieved 'regular exercise' , starting up and running a business, and doing a Masters mostly full time in that time. 

 All while (almost never) getting up before 7am.

This is not to boast, but to demonstrate a somewhat success story of someone that does work hard, but does not go on about how much willpower I have or that the key to success is to get up before 5am, etc etc etc. I also quite enjoy my job. I was 100% burned out working for someone else, and I worked overall much less than I do now. 

How we feel really dictates a lot of what we can cope with, I think.

Hope some of these tips resonated! Here's a few more , in video format: