Ep 2: SMART Goals, Real Change - How to Set Goals You Can Actually Stick To

Struggling to stay consistent with your health or nutrition goals?
In this episode of Bite of Mind, we break down how to use SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) to create realistic, sustainable behavior change... without guilt, perfectionism, or burnout.

We explore how SMART goal setting supports mental health, motivation, and long-term habit formation, especially when traditional “all-or-nothing” approaches haven’t worked. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by health goals or stuck restarting every Monday, this episode is for you.

You’ll learn:

1. What SMART goals actually are
2. Why breaking nutrition goals into small, doable steps improves consistency
3. How to handle setbacks without giving up
4. What research says about SMART goals and behavior change
5. A real-life example of building a SMART nutrition goal that fits everyday life

Whether your goal is to eat healthier, reduce stress, feel more confident in the kitchen, or improve your relationship with food, this episode will help you build habits that actually last.


━━━━━━ Time Stamps ━━━━━━

Time Stamps:
00:00 Intro
02:06 Our New Year's Goals
04:03 Defining S.M.A.R.T. Goals
23:51 What happens if I fail?
34:40 What the Research Says about the effectiveness of S.M.A.R.T. Goals
38:04 Example of Setting up a S.M.A.R.T. Goal
46:35 Final Thoughts

━━━━━━ Research ━━━━━━
If you want to dive deeper into the science behind SMART goals and health behavior change:

1. Impact of SMART Goals on Diabetes Management
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36052...

2. Goal Setting for Anxiety and Depression in Young People
https://link.springer.com/article/10....

3. Goal Setting and Action Planning for Health Behavior Change
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31662...

4. Integrating SMART Goals in Health Professional Development
https://academic.oup.com/ajhp/article...

━━━━━━━ Connect ━━━━━━━

A huge thank you to our listeners for supporting us on this new adventure! We’re still figuring things out, so if you hear strange audio or a few awkward pauses… just know it’s part of the real, unfiltered journey :)

Want to stick with us as we grow?
Hit the like and subscribe buttons ‪@Bite.of.Mind.Podcast‬ to catch every new episode and get more tips and real talk on nutrition and mental health!

You can also follow us on instagram or TikTok!
Episode 1 can be found on Spotify or Apple Podcast :)