How to eat healthier by altering your behavior

On August 31, blogs (PSFK, BBH Hive) were abuzz about the power of "behavior change" and Dr. BJ Fogg, the director of Stanford University's Persuasive Technology Lab behavior grid, which is used to alter habits for health, commerce and the environment.

Fogg, a Fortune magazine "2008 new guru you should know," designed the online Behavior Wizard to help you pinpoint a habit you would like to stop, increase or decrease with a series of steps (Dot - one time, Span - specific duration of time, Path - now and forever) to achieve your goal by "removing the trigger, reducing the motivation and the availability."

See the "Eating Behavior Mapped into the Behavior Grid": http://www.behaviorgrid.org/ and check out the Behavior Wizard if you want to address a specific behavior like stop eating sugar or eat more greens, less meat: http://www.behaviorwizard.org/wp/

The US National Institute of Health (NIH) also offers a "guide to behavior change" for maintaining weight loss and notes "successful weight managers are those who select two or three goals at a time that are manageable."

Keep in mind "useful goals should be (1) specific; (2) attainable (doable); and (3) forgiving (less than perfect)."

RealAge.com is another resource to help you evaluate your nutritional health through a detailed survey that summarizes specific habits to modify to get you eating well and in a balanced fashion.

NIH's Aim for a Healthy Weight: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/behavior.htm