7 Key Principles for Sustainable Diet Change
How to Create a Habit
Most articles on this topic will tell you to change your food, focusing on enough protein and a small calorie deficit to create fat loss. If that approach is working for you, you’re likely already doing it.
When I asked 100 people whether they A) struggle knowing what to do or B) struggle to do it consistently, over 90% said consistency was the problem. There’s plenty of information on what to do; the real challenge is putting it into practice.
This article isn’t just about diet advice but about addressing the real challenge—creating habits that stick.
The Pleasure Principle
"What fires together, wires together" (Hebb, 1949). This means that the emotions tied to experiences categorise them as either pleasurable or painful.
Think of a song that played during the best summer of your life. It likely brings happy memories. Now think of a song associated with a painful event, like a funeral. The sensory experience and emotion are wired together to help us move towards pleasure and away from pain.
This is an ancient part of our brain, designed to protect us in more dangerous times. If your experience with something is negative, the brain won’t adopt it as a habit. But if the experience is positive, it can become a habit quickly.
To make diet changes permanent, minimise pain and maximize pleasure. Pain can be hunger, confusion, or boredom. Pleasure can be taste, energy, or progress.
Build your day-to-day life around maximum pleasure to make the habit stick faster. This doesn’t mean avoiding discomfort altogether, but it means asking yourself, "What would make this more enjoyable?"
The Principle of Progress
Progress is key to forming habits. Pleasure releases brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins—what we call the "happy chemicals."
Dopamine, in particular, is the "chasing" hormone. We get flooded with it when we make progress. While big goals are great, it’s the little wins that keep us motivated. Progress is all about perception. If you don’t notice that you’re improving, there’s no dopamine reward, and without that, you might quit.
So, set small goals you can achieve consistently. Enjoying a meal, eating what you planned, feeling good afterward - each of these is a win. Celebrate them!
Every small win sparks a dopamine release that strengthens the habit. Don't rely solely on big results, like weight loss, to keep you going - small perceived progress is often more effective.
The Principle of Experimentation
When trying something new, treat it as an experiment. YOU are the variable. Regardless of what the science says, the test you’re conducting is unique to you. Your lifestyle, nervous system, hormones, and personal history make your experience different from anyone else’s.
Have a method. Set measurable goals, manage expectations, and run the test for a reasonable amount of time. Review your results, and decide whether to continue based on whether the experiment aligns with your goals.
If you didn’t enjoy it, move on - don’t take it personally. Learn from the experience and apply the lessons to your next experiment.
The Principle of Digestion
Digestion works best when your nervous system is in "rest and digest" mode, which happens when you're relaxed. If you're in "fight or flight" mode, digestion suffers, and poor digestion means poor health.
While you know the foods that are nutritionally superior, it’s equally important to optimise your digestion. Without that, you’re wasting the potential benefits of your food, much like buying 12 eggs and throwing 6 away immediately.
Digestion begins even before food touches your mouth - just thinking about food can trigger saliva production and prepare your body to digest. This is where pleasure and digestion intersect. Enjoying your food makes your body more efficient at absorbing nutrients.
Take time to eat mindfully and enjoy every bite, as if you're savoring a masterpiece. The act of appreciating your food supports your digestion and overall health.
The Principle of Emotion
Emotions drive our actions, often without us realising it. You’ve probably bought something at the supermarket impulsively - like chocolate or wine - because of emotions triggered by your environment.
Retailers know how to trigger emotional responses, encouraging us to make unplanned purchases. Emotional triggers often outweigh rational decisions, which is why planning ahead can help manage these impulses.
To succeed in making lasting changes, limit access to foods or behaviours that don’t align with your goals. Remove tempting items from your environment, create a shopping list, or even publicly declare what you won’t consume.
Being aware of emotional triggers allows you to design strategies for handling them. Willpower is finite, so having a plan for emotional moments is more effective than relying on willpower alone.
The Principle of Expectations
Quitting a method because it’s not working makes sense, but quitting a goal while still wanting the result usually stems from incorrect expectations.
Expecting perfection or quick results will lead to frustration and disappointment. Instead, expect progress to be slow, with occasional setbacks. This way, you’ll be more resilient when challenges arise. Accept that forming effective habits takes time and conscious effort. Planning, reflection, and adaptation are key to making lasting changes.
The Principle of Desire, Attention, and Discipline (DAD)
You want this goal, but life pulls your attention in many directions. These other priorities might sometimes seem more important, but you need to make room for your diet goals. The key is to ensure this goal gets the daily attention it needs.
Our habits reflect what we truly prioritise, not what we say is important. When life gets stressful, your new diet habit might slip if you don’t have a strategy to keep it on track.
Create a simple plan - something you can stick to even during stressful times. It might be as basic as fasting until lunch and drinking two liters of water. Once you have your plan, make it visible. Put it on the fridge, your desk, or somewhere you'll see it often.
When life gets stormy, keep your "tent" up with the expectation of challenges, not perfection.
If you made it this far, you likely have a desire to change something that’s previously eluded you. Hopefully, you now see that lasting change isn’t about the actions themselves but how you approach them. Success lies in the strategy, the mindset, and the daily commitment to your goals.
