
Continuous improvement was the key principle behind my old job, and it is an important feature of my role now. What does it mean? Simply, it is how we can improve more and more each day. In terms of nutrition, it could be a new scientific finding that we can incorporate into our lives; it could be that we read about something about nutrition that is new to us that we can incorporate; or it could be reflecting on what we do and taking steps to improve it.
As scary as sounds, we are already in the last few months of 2021. All around us nature is changing and preparing for winter so that it can thrive again in spring. It can also be a good time for us to reflect and prepare so that we can continue to thrive. Let’s make the most of the darker, cooler evenings when we want to cosy-up indoors.
I have an exercise for you to try
Go on, grab yourself a notebook and try out these steps….. You’re too busy? That’s even more reason to try this! Stopping and thinking about where we are can be a great tool. It can give you that chance to reset, gather your thoughts, think more clearly. Sometimes we may just have 10 minutes to stop and think, other times we may be able to find an hour – it doesn’t matter, starting to develop the habit is the important thing. May be you can make time for this by changing the way you spend your time:
- Swap an evening of mundane television programmes and mindless social media scrolling for some reflection time
- Turn your time waiting for others into time for you. For example, waiting at school for the children to be let out, waiting for an out-of-school activity to finish, waiting for your partner to finish shopping. (It may help to set an alarm to make sure you don’t lose track of time!)
You’ve completed the planning stage! Next: doing.
Now, in your chosen time, start to think about what has happened over the past year, or since you last did the exercise. While the opportunity can be used for any aspect of your life, I’m sticking with the nutrition theme.
Be honest – this is for you: How has your diet been?
- Have you been eating three main meals a day?
- Have you been eating really healthfully or has there been lots of junk food?
- How much fruit and veg are you including?
- Have you been eating well for your health or to follow a prescribed programme?
- Have you been drinking plenty? What have you been drinking plenty of?!
More generally, how are you been feeling?
- Have you had plenty of energy?
- Do you have problems with indigestion, constipation, etc?
Your mind may wonder while you think about these things – you might come up with your own judgements, arguments, reasons, or there may be emotions attached. That’s fine. Write it all down. It doesn’t have be good English, it doesn’t have to be your best hand-writing. It just needs to be your thoughts and experiences, noted in a way that makes sense to you. Arrows, asterisks, diagrams are all good if they work for you.
Now, the third stage: review.
If you haven’t already, think about why these things happened, why your diet was the way it was. Are you proud of yourself for any achievements (it can be something tiny like starting to have a glass of water when you get home from work)? Are there things you want to improve?
Now, consider how you can make any improvements, and how you will keep up the positive things. This is probably the hardest part, especially if there are barriers that you need to find a way of breaking down. But don’t make the events too big. Think about the big goal, then give yourself a small task to do towards it. For example, if you would like more variety in your diet, you could have a step to find a good source of appealing recipes. Maybe you can set yourself a second step too (deciding on a day each week or month that is convenient for you to try out the new recipes), or maybe that will come next time you do this exercise. This review step, is now becoming your next planning stage….
Continuing the cycle
Before you planned how you would take stock of your current situation to improve it. Now, you have decided what you need to do, you just need to plan how are you going to do it. Did any of your ideas point you towards actions you can take? Look back at what you have written down and decide how you can go about improving your diet.
Then put your plans into action (you’re “doing” again), and then think about how those actions have gone (“review” again). In this and following reviews however, you may not need to think about your whole diet but simply about how well you are doing with the steps you decided to take last time, and how well you are doing towards those goals you set yourself. You may well find that the review and planning stages become much quicker the more you do them, and you may not need to write things down or even dedicate as much time to them.
Are there still things you want improve? Plan the next stage.
How Alible Nutrition can help you
Of course, the plan and review stages are parts of the cycle that I can support you in through your health journey (I’m afraid the ongoing doing will be up to you). In fact, these stages form a part of each Alible Nutrition Nutritional Therapy and Nutritional Review consultation. Let’s work together to better understand your health goals, and what steps can can take to achieve them – request a call to find out how!