I see it all the time: Health problems that require change. Change in diet, behavior or the way we live. And people are always willing to change themselves or their children, especially when their health is at risk. The problem is, we can’t keep it up. Cutting calories, increasing exercise, minimizing sugar intake, and other lofty goals can be reached over the short term. Long-term change is hard to maintain.
But small changes are doable and they can have a real impact. The consumption, for example, of just 10 extra calories per day – that’s one stick of gum – over a one year period will make you one pound heavier. And small, almost unnoticeable decreases in daily caloric intake can have similarly dramatic effects. When sustained, these almost invisible changes in behavior are more realistic than turning your life upside down.
My greatest success as a father and a pediatrician has been seen with small, reachable goals. While we all dream of big change, it's more likely to happen slowly than overnight.