Have you ever heard the term “Harm Reduction?” It is a concept that encourages better health habits without total abstinence. For example, if you are a mental health worker and one of your clients drinks a six-pack every night, encouraging her to drink one or two beers would be harm reduction. We’re not looking for perfection in harm reduction, just for some improvement.
Can we apply the harm reduction concept to health habits? Certainly! Every extra step, every vegetable consumed, and every cookie avoided has positive health consequences. Moreover, harm reduction is in line with the Stop Losing and Win principle of just doing your best each day and not beating yourself up when you stray from your plan.
We are making the assumption that you have a plan for eating and physical activity, and if you don’t, we encourage you to set some flexible goals. Set easy ones to start such as “I will take 2000 steps today” or “I’ll eat fruits and vegetables three times today.” And as we’ve said before, be gentle to yourself, using harm reduction rather than strict rules as your guide. The human mind resists rules, so roll with harm reduction!
Stop Losing and Win 