Health Fusion: Try small changes for big gains in fitness and weight loss – Duluth News Tribune

ROCHESTER — If you want to drop some weight and improve strength and flexibility, you have to make healthy lifestyle choices. That may sound simple, but if you’ve ever been on a diet, you know how hard sticking to lifestyle changes can be.

Katie Johnson, a board certified health and wellness coach and registered dietitian with

Level2

(a UnitedHealthCare partner) helps people with type 2 diabetes get healthier. She says some of the biggest long-term success stories come from people who make small changes that fit into their lives.

“When it comes to making changes, some people think it’s all or nothing,” says Johnson. But the reality is that, no, you don’t have to give up your favorite things in life.”

For example, Johnson says that one person she coaches liked ice cream. But instead of eating a whole bowl, he invites his grandson to share it with him. That way, he eats a few bites of what he wants while cutting calories and boosting happiness at the same time.

Johnson says another client felt like she should work out three days a week, but could only fit in two. Instead of getting down on herself about it, she embraced what worked and over time lost 100 pounds.

“They didn’t do something drastic,” says Johnson. “They found ways to incorporate basic little things into their lives.”

And these small changes can produce long-term results.