SMART GOALS for Dietary Changes

SMART Goals for Dietary Changes

What is your main health goal when it comes to your diet?

Grab a pen and paper to use the SMART tool guide to help you clearly define this goal.

S - Specific

Make sure your goal is clear.

What exactly is your goal?
How are you going to achieve it?
Where will you work on it?
When will you work on it?

Example:

I want to have a healthier diet overall.

I will eat 1 serving of veggies in the morning, 2 at lunch, and 1 at dinner.

I know that I don’t have time during the day to prepare meals with veggies. So, I’ll try and meal prep ahead of time (on the weekends or the night before).

M - Meaningful

Make sure this goal is important to you. If someone else chooses a goal for you, you’re not going to have the motivation to follow through.

Why are you pursuing this goal?

What personal values of yours does this goal align with?
How will your life be better if you achieve this goal?

Example:

I want to eat healthier food because I want to have more energy and keep my cancer in remission.

I know that veggies contain nutrients that help fight off cancer cells.

Eating veggies aligns with my personal value of good physical and mental health.

A - Adjustable and Achievable

You must be able to adjust your goal if needed.

What barriers do you foresee in achieving this goal?
How can you adjust your goal in response to these barriers?

Example:

A barrier for me is that I love sugar and junk food. I’m going to have to focus on replacing desserts with fruit and healthy snacks more often and only indulge occasionally.

R - Relevant, Realistic, or Results

The goal must be relevant to you, realistic within your circumstances, and produce results which you can review, to determine if your plans are working.

Given my performance in achieving similar goals in the past, how realistic is my goal?
Should I consider changing my goal to be more realistic?
Is there a way I can start off easier and slowly build my way up to finishing my goal?
What results will I be able to see/measure when achieving my goal?

Example:

This goal is realistic since I currently only eat 1-2 veggies a day (1-2 at lunch and 1 at dinner). So, 2-3 more veggies a day shouldn’t be difficult.

Results I hope to see: a decrease in digestive issues (indigestion, heartburn), a decrease in weight, and, in the long-term, more energy.

T - Timely

Your goal must be time oriented.

What day will you start?
When will you review your progress?
How will you track your progress?

Example:

I will start next Sunday and review my progress once a week every Saturday. I’ll track my progress by keeping count of how many veggies I’ve eaten every day in a notebook or on my phone.