Confucius said, “The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.”

This statement is true in anything!  The only way to accomplish a large goal is one small step at a time.

When you think about releasing weight, it can seem like an insurmountable effort. Let’s look at how to simplify and make it feel attainable.

Whether you have 10 pounds to release or 100 pounds, it all starts with establishing a goal. Take how many pounds you would like to release and break it down per month.  Remember, healthy weight release is between 4 and 12 pounds per month. My clients typically see on average 8-10 pounds per month. It greatly depends on how committed you are to your efforts and your consistency. The more consistent your positive efforts, the better results you will achieve. 

The best and easiest place to start is with baby steps! Lots of small significant choices will provide you with dramatically better results than if you try to overhaul everything in one day!

When you attempt to change everything in your entire lifestyle at once, you are typically going to extremes that you will not be able to maintain long term.

I would much rather see someone lose weight a few pounds at a time, knowing they can maintain it for a lifetime instead of going to the extremes of surgery, medications, or starving themselves. My philosophy is that Weight Loss is a Great Side Effect, but Should Not Be the Ultimate Goal. The Ultimate Goal should be to wake up feeling fantastic and never have to say “I cannot do that because, I don’t have the energy, It’s too painful or I cannot fit”.  Focus on how you feel, not just the number on the scale.

So step number one: Set a S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound.

What it isn’t: “I want to lose a lot of weight.”

Now for what is: I am losing 35 pounds in the next 9 months. This goal is absolutely attainable!! Most of my clients will reach this in just 3 or 4 months, so I am giving you more than double that time. Seems doable, doesn’t it?

This means that if you just release 4 pounds a month, you could reach your goal and dramatically increase your energy levels, greatly decreasing your risks of heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer. Think about how grateful your family will be to have you add years to your life so that they can create memories with you, not to mention how much better you will feel while you are creating those memories!

Step number 2, then is to start taking baby steps. This can be a variety of different things.  I will give you a few to get you started. Start taking these today! Don’t wait until tomorrow or next Monday. What can you do right now to start improving your health TODAY?!

1. Drink water instead of soda, juice or alcohol. Almost ½ of Americans drink soda on a daily basis, and at an average of almost 3 glasses per day, adding on an additional 350 calories. Not to mention that high fructose corn syrup has been proven to be a huge contributor to the obesity epidemic due to its effect on our blood sugar and our brain’s hunger responses.

Try instead to flavor water with pieces of fresh fruit, or you can opt for flavored seltzer water (unsweetened of course) if you have to have something carbonated.

As for beer and alcohol, drinkers beware! Understand that it is not only high in calories that turn into sugar, but you are creating a ton of silent inflammation in your body which dramatically increases your risk of Metabolic Syndrome, Heart Disease and Diabetes. A glass of red wine indeed has health benefits from the Resveratrol in it, but the same is not as true for beer and hard alcohol, or white wine.

2. Include 1 vegetable with every meal and snack. This will help with fiber intake, aid digestion, stabilize blood sugar and keep you feeling full, and increase your nutrient intake, just to name a few benefits. Try celery and almond butter, veggies in your eggs in the morning, and roasting vegetables for dinner.

3. Eliminate fast food from your life. There is absolutely zero nutritional value in a burger that has been precooked and sitting in a steam bath for a few hours. If you must grab and go, try a salad with oil & vinegar or salsa for dressing.

4. Eat at home more often. This does not mean take out or delivery! When you cook what you eat, YOU control the ingredient quality, the calories, and the fat quantity.  Did you know that there are restaurant salads out there with over 1000 calories and 65 grams of fat? I think it is safe to say what you would make would not be the same.

5. Always have a healthy snack handy! Many people overeat because they wait until they are starving to eat anything, and then overeat as a result. Carry natural almonds or a Dang protein bar with you to avoid making a poor decision based out of starvation.

6. Start taking a high-quality multivitamin. Many people do not realize that if you are deficient in just 1 nutrient, your body can store up to 40 pounds. 

Many other things will have a big impact on your health long term, but these are the most significant baby steps you can take for great results fast. If you just did one of them, you will see changes in your body and results, but begin to combine them one by one as lifestyle changes and you will be blown away where you can be in just a short time.

Where will you start today?