The Time Is Going to Pass Anyway: How to Stick to Your Health Goals
Updated: Sep 9
When you’re trying to lower your cholesterol, lose weight or improve your health, it’s completely natural to want results quickly.
You’re putting in effort.
You’re changing what you eat.
You might be exercising more, planning meals, reading labels or paying closer attention to habits you barely thought about before.
So of course you want to know that it’s working.
The problem is that impatience can make the whole process feel much harder than it needs to be.
Learning how to stick to health goals often means accepting that meaningful results take time, and finding a way to make the process itself sustainable.
How to stick to health goals when results take time
The best way to stick to health goals is to make the behaviours required to reach them realistic enough to continue. Focus on small, repeatable actions, allow flexibility for real life and notice progress beyond the final number on the scales or your next blood test.
Health goals often come with a destination attached to them.
A lower cholesterol result.
A particular weight.
A smaller clothing size.
A certain fitness level.
There’s nothing wrong with having a goal.
But problems can arise when you start treating everything between now and that goal as something you simply need to get through.
You might catch yourself thinking:
“I’ll feel better when I lose the weight.”
“I’ll relax once my cholesterol comes down.”
“I’ll enjoy myself properly when I reach my goal.”
“I’ll buy new clothes when my body changes.”
Without realising it, you can start putting parts of your life on hold.
Your current life becomes a waiting room for the version you hope is coming next.
The time is going to pass anyway
Unfortunately, being impatient doesn’t make results happen faster.
If your cholesterol is being retested in three months, those three months are going to pass regardless.
If sustainable weight loss takes six months rather than six weeks, those six months are going to pass too.
You can spend that time constantly checking whether you are there yet, or you can spend it building habits that fit into your life and moving steadily towards the outcome you want.
In many cases, the second option feels much easier.
It is also more likely to lead to changes that last.
Impatience can push you towards extreme solutions
One of the biggest problems with impatience is that sensible health advice can start to feel underwhelming.
Eating more fibre.
Reducing saturated fat.
Choosing more beans, lentils, nuts and wholegrains.
Moving more.
Exercising regularly.
Prioritising sleep.
None of these sound particularly dramatic.
So when you desperately want a quick result, it can be tempting to look for something more extreme.
A restrictive diet.
A long list of foods to avoid.
A supplement promising rapid results.
A plan that requires you to overhaul everything overnight.
The promise of speed can be very appealing.
But quick and sustainable are not always the same thing.
Meaningful health improvement is often built from small changes
Most long-term health improvement comes from relatively simple actions repeated consistently.
If lowering LDL cholesterol is your goal, that might involve several changes working together, such as:
eating more soluble fibre
increasing overall fibre intake
replacing some saturated fats with unsaturated fats
regularly including beans, lentils, nuts and soya foods
eating foods containing beta-glucan
increasing physical activity
losing some excess weight, if appropriate
stopping smoking
moderating alcohol intake
None of these needs to be done perfectly.
And none of them needs to transform your health overnight to be worthwhile.
The aim is to gradually build a way of eating and living that supports your cardiovascular health over the long term.
Your life does not begin when you reach your goal
This is particularly important when weight loss is part of your health goals.
You are allowed to want to lose weight.
But you do not need to postpone your life until you do.
You can buy clothes that fit and make you feel good now.
You can go out for dinner.
You can go on holiday.
You can celebrate birthdays.
You can enjoy food.
You can take photographs.
You can make plans.
Your health goals should fit into your life, not require you to suspend it.
In fact, learning how to look after your health while still living a normal life is one of the most important parts of making change sustainable.
If your plan only works when nothing else is happening, it is unlikely to work for very long.
Stop measuring progress only by the end result
Impatience can also make you overlook progress that is already happening.
If the only result you care about is your final cholesterol number or goal weight, the weeks in between can feel like nothing is happening.
But progress can show up in many ways if you are actively looking for it.
You might notice that you:
feel more confident choosing meals
eat more fibre without having to think about it
have more energy
are getting fitter or stronger
sleep better
feel less breathless
cook more often
eat a wider variety of foods
feel less guilty around food
recover more quickly when things don’t go to plan
feel more consistent rather than swinging between being “good” and giving up
These changes matter.
They are often signs that your new habits are becoming part of your normal life.
And that is exactly what you want.
Ask a different question
Instead of repeatedly asking: “How long until I get there?”
Try asking: “How can I make the process easier to live with?”
That might mean:
finding heart-healthy meals you genuinely enjoy.
choosing exercise you actually like.
making smaller changes rather than trying to overhaul everything at once.
allowing flexibility around meals out and social occasions.
focusing on consistency rather than perfection.
recognising that you do not have to be unhappy with your current life in order to want to improve your future health.
You can want change without wishing the time away.
You can work towards a lower cholesterol result without obsessing over your next blood test.
You can work towards a different weight without treating your current body as something to tolerate.
You can care about the destination while still making the journey worth living.
Because ultimately, the time is going to pass anyway.
If you’re tired of knowing what you should be doing but struggling to turn it into something you can actually sustain, my Heart-Healthy Living Course can help.
I’ll show you how to lower your cholesterol with practical, evidence-based changes that fit around real life, without chasing quick fixes or trying to be perfect.
You can choose the self-guided course and work through it at your own pace, or work with me one-to-one for personalised support, accountability and coaching.
Find out more here.
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