But one strategy that may work better when it comes to managing our weight is the “small change approach”. This starts with the understanding that for the long haul, it might be best to start small.
Large changes can be hard to sustain
Most people who are watching their weight tend to start by making large changes to their diet or physical activity habits. But large changes can be difficult to sustain over time because they require high levels of motivation. Since motivation naturally rises and falls, it’s no wonder these big lifestyle changes can be so hard to sustain.
This is where the small change approach could be useful.
This weight management strategy recommends that people should decrease the calories they eat and/or increase the calories they burn by . To put that into perspective, that could mean eating just one or two fewer chocolate biscuits or walking for an extra 10-20 minutes each day.
It’s likely you will only need to make minor changes to your current behaviour to eat 100-200 calories less or burn 100-200 calories more each day. These small changes might be easier to fit into your everyday life and, unlike larger changes, will not require additional time and effort outside your normal routine.
A small change approach is also more flexible, as there are several different ways you could decrease the calories you eat and/or increase the calories you burn by 100-200 each day. This flexibility might help to keep you engaged with the approach for longer.
And research shows that when it comes to health, to your usual habits may be more effective. We’re also less likely to fail when making small changes, which may help motivate us to make bigger ones over time.
According to previous research our team has conducted, the small change approach can indeed be an effective strategy for . Our study combined the results of 21 trials which used the small change approach for weight management. We found that adults who used the approach gained around one kilogram less over a 14-month period, compared with people who received generic weight management advice.
This is important because it suggests a small change approach could be used to prevent the 0.5kg to 1.0kg of weight gain currently seen in the adult population each year, which can contribute towards the development of overweight and obesity over time.
Further research will be needed to understand whether a small change approach could be a more effective long-term weight gain prevention, and potentially weight loss, strategy.
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To read the full article by Henrietta Graham, a PhD student in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, visit .