Making a change

Sam wants to try to eat more fruit.

Sam eats vegetables with dinner, but almost never eats fruit. They quite like fruit and think it would be a good idea to eat more, but just aren't in the habit of buying it.

Following the 3 tips above, Sam could take action to:

• set a goal to eat more fruit and make a plan to buy at least one type of fruit every time they do their shopping
• think about how bags of fruit felt like too much for one person in the past, and plan to buy small amounts of loose fruit instead
• tick off each day they manage to eat fruit in a notebook so they can see their progress

To maintain the healthy change, Sam could use the following prompts:

• place fruit somewhere visible, like on the worktop or on an open shelf in the fridge, so they are prompted to eat them. Put other less healthy foods out of sight or buy less of them to make choosing the healthier option easier.
• leave reminders about eating more fruit (e.g. put a note on the fridge as a reminder to take fruit as a snack, or a sticker on their wallet to buy fruit when shopping etc). Noticing these prompts in the moment will help remind them to take action.
• try to eat fruit regularly to build new habits. This might have to be done every day for a month before it starts to feel ‘normal’.

Alex wants to eat more wholegrain foods:

Alex would like to eat more wholegrain foods but sticks mainly to white bread, pasta, rice and potatoes without skin, because that’s what others in their family prefer.

Following the 3 tips above, Alex could take action to:

• set a goal to eat more wholegrain foods and make a plan that they will add a wholegrain ingredient to at least one meal every week.
• consider that others in their family don’t like wholemeal bread or pasta, so they could try to pick wholegrain foods that the others may enjoy, like 50:50 bread or a mix of white and wholemeal pasta
• keep track of all the wholegrains that everyone enjoyed

To maintain the healthy change, Alex could use the following prompts:

• place wholegrain options at the front of the cupboard where they are easy to see, so they are prompted to eat them. Put other non-wholegrain foods out of sight or buy less of them to make choosing the healthier option easier.
• leave reminders about eating more wholegrain foods (e.g. put a note on the cooker as a reminder to add wholegrain food to each meal, or a sticker on their wallet to buy these items when shopping etc). Noticing these prompts in the moment will help remind them to take action.
• try to eat wholegrain foods regularly to build new habits, like having wholemeal pasta one day a week and wholegrain rice another, to build a routine. This might have to be done every day for a month before it starts to feel ‘normal’.

Robin wants to eat fewer unhealthy snacks.

Robin eats a fairly healthy diet but snacks a lot, particularly in the evening, while watching TV. They’d like to reduce their intake of less healthy snacks and decide to try eating fewer of them.

Following the 3 tips above, Robin could take action to:

• set a goal to cut down on unhealthy snacks by planning to have carrot or cucumber with dip instead of crisps and dip, or plain lower-sugar biscuits instead of chocolate ones, one or two days a week while watching TV
• consider they often want a packet of crisps or chocolate biscuit in the evening after work, so plan not to buy any until the weekend
• keep a note of whether they’ve had a healthy or unhealthy snack each evening, and keep these for the weekend if they’ve stuck to their plan Monday to Friday

To maintain the healthy change, Robin could use the following prompts:

• keep healthy snacks at the front of the cupboard or by the TV where they are easy to see, so they are prompted to eat them. Put less healthy snacks out of sight or choose not to keep them in the house, to make sticking to the healthier choice easier
• leave reminders (e.g. a sticky note on the cupboard as a reminder to reach for a healthier option, or a sticker on their wallet to buy fewer of these items when shopping etc). Noticing these prompts in the moment will help remind them to take action
• try to eat healthy snacks regularly to build new habits. This might have to be done every day for a month before it starts to feel ‘normal’

Ash wants to drink less sugary drinks.

Ash drinks 2 or 3 cans of sugary drinks every day at work. After seeing a post online about how much sugar is in these drinks, they’ve decided to try and cut back.

Following the 3 tips above, Ash could take action to;

• set a goal to cut down on sugary drinks by planning to have no more than one can of sugary soft drink while at work, and consider using a non-sugar sweetened alternative or low sugar alternative as a short term stepping stone
• consider that it might feel more difficult to avoid sugary drinks on days when they’re tired, so plan to get some fresh air and drink plenty of water to keep hydrated, as this can help reduce fatigue
• keep a tracker of every day they chose water, or an unsweetened drink, over a sugary drink.

To maintain the healthy change, Ash could use the following prompts:

• keep water or low sugar drinks in the fridge to make grabbing one easy. Put sugary drinks out of sight (e.g. in a high cupboard) or choose not to keep them in the house, to make sticking to the healthier choice easier. To limit adding sugar to tea and coffee, putting sugar away in a cupboard and sweeteners next to the kettle could be a helpful stepping stone
• leave reminders (e.g. a magnet on the fridge as a reminder to add fresh fruit to water for a low sugar alternative). Noticing these prompts in the moment will remind them to take action
• try buying sugar free versions of their favourite drink or drinking tea or coffee with half sugar half sweetener regularly for a week or two to build new habits. This might have to done every day for a month before it tastes ‘normal’

Charlie wants to cook more from scratch.

Charlie is always short for time and relies a lot on ready-made frozen foods that are quick and easy to prepare after a long day. They would like to start cooking more meals from scratch.

Following the 3 tips above, Charlie could take action to:

• set a goal to eat more home cooked food and plan to cook a meal from scratch on the day of the week when they have most time
• consider it might be more difficult when they’re busy, so buy ingredients beforehand and make bigger portions to keep healthy options on hand in the freezer for when they’re needed
• collect all the recipes they cook in a folder with notes about how easy and enjoyable they were to eat, and remove any takeaway menus or apps

To maintain the healthy change, Charlie could use the following prompts:

• keep ideas for meals they want to make somewhere visible. When shopping for ingredients, buy fewer ready made options so that there’s less room to change their mind
• leave reminders (e.g. set an alarm on their phone as a reminder to buy ingredients on the way home)
• aim to cook regularly (every day, every Friday, whatever works best) and try to do it consistently for a while to build new habits. They might have to do it lots of times before it becomes automatic