Making Choices That Support Your Health Goals: A Practical Decision Tool

Weight Loss Maintenance Weight Loss

When What You Want Now and What You Want Most Don’t Match!

Every day, we make small decisions about food, movement, routines, and self-care. We may not realize how much these decisions shape our long-term health.

When you’re trying to change habits, it’s completely normal to feel pulled in two directions. Part of you wants to move toward your goals, while another part wants comfort, convenience, or connection in the moment.

One helpful strategy from Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is called a decisional balance. This tool helps you gain perspective on the advantages and disadvantages of a given behaviour.

Rather than judging a behaviour as “good” or “bad,” this exercise helps you decide what is truly worth it to you.

How It Works

A decisional balance looks at:

The advantages of continuing your current behaviour
The disadvantages of continuing your current behaviour
The advantages of a new behaviour
The disadvantages of a new behaviour

Seeing both sides written out often makes decisions feel clearer and more intentional.

Let’s look at an example:

Scenario 1:

Marina has a goal to save money for a dream vacation. She wants to purchase her plane tickets by the end of this year but realizes this isn’t possible with her current budget. After analysing her spending patterns, she realises that each year she spends a large sum on a weekend shopping getaway with her friends. She is entertaining the idea of skipping out on it this year, but is struggling with committing to it. Here’s what her decisional balance looks like:

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Going on a weekend shopping trip with friends	I will get to spend time having fun with friends and have an exciting new wardrobe for the coming season	I won't be able to save enough money to go on my dream vacation this year
Not going on the weekend shopping trip with friends	I’ll save enough money for my vacation and I can use the extra weekend at home to complete my garden project or catch up on some of my favourite TV shows	I'll miss out on quality time with my friends and they might be disappointed that I have backed out of the trip

After completing the decisional balance, Marina decides that this vacation is far more important to her personally than it is to go on the weekend shopping getaway this year. Sure, she may miss out on that usual time with her friends, but she has many other opportunities to connect with them. She figures that she can’t control how her friends will respond, but that short-lived discomfort is not outweighed by the bigger discomfort of not going on the vacation she’d been dreaming of.

Scenario 2: Nutrition & Social Situations

Todd is on the fence about altering his approach to eating at family get-togethers. He usually arrives with a plan but finds it difficult to stick with it when family members encourage him to eat more than he intended. Here’s what his decisional balance looks like:

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Eating unplanned food when offered	No one will draw attention to my weight or what I am eating I don't need to deal with the discomfort of saying "no" and having to provide an explanation I can feel included in the gathering I will eat food I love	Eating in this way will prevent me from losing weight My family will continue to offer food even when I don't want it I regret my food choices for the rest of the night Eating more than I planned leaves me feeling overly full and uncomfortable
Turning down unplanned food when offered	This will help me manage my weight I will feel strong and in control of my food choice Choosing to stick with my food plan will strengthen my ability to do this again next time	I may offend the person offering me food I might feel left out if everyone else is eating something delicious

After completing a decisional balance, Todd recognizes that maintaining control over his choices supports how he wants to feel physically and mentally. While declining certain foods may feel awkward in the moment, that discomfort is temporary and the behaviour is aligned with what matters most to him.

Importantly, Todd also realizes that different situations may lead to different decisions. Eating differently at a holiday celebration may feel worthwhile, while making intentional choices at weekly gatherings better supports his goals.

Behaviour change isn’t about perfection, it’s about making conscious choices based on what matters most to you in each situation.

Your Turn

Think about a situation where your usual behaviour isn’t moving you toward your health or lifestyle goals.

Ask yourself:

What do I gain from continuing this behaviour?
What does it cost me over time?
What might I gain from trying something different?
What challenges might come with change?

Write out your answers honestly, there are no wrong responses!

	Advantages	Disadvantages
Current behaviour	-	-
Alternative behaviour	-	-

Why This Matters

When you complete a decisional balance, you begin to see the real trade-offs behind your choices. This clarity helps shift decisions from automatic reactions to intentional actions.

By understanding how a behaviour aligns, or doesn’t align with your values and goals, you put yourself in a stronger position to decide what changes feel truly worth making.

Small, thoughtful decisions repeated over time are what create lasting health change!

If you would like to work through this exercise with your Constant Health Dietitian please let them know.

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