How to Take Baby Steps to Lose Weight

If you struggle with weight problems, you are not alone. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 66 percent of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight and 32 percent suffer from obesity. One of the main reasons people fail at weight loss attempts is that most take on an "all or nothing" mentality. When they fall short of their goals, they simply throw in the towel. New habits take time to take hold. By taking baby steps toward your goal, you will give yourself a chance to truly change from the inside out. The following steps will help you to reach your main objective.

Things You'll Need

• Fruits and veggies
• Water

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Instructions

• 1

  Start by adding something to your diet rather than taking something away. For example, add two or three servings of fruits and vegetables a day to whatever you are already eating. This will help you start to become healthier without feeling as though you are depriving yourself of anything. Keep at this for at least a week before making any other changes.

• 2

  Drink a glass of water before every meal or snack. Again, this baby step will help you adopt a new, healthy habit without giving anything up or feeling like you are denying yourself anything.

• 3

  Leave one bite--or about 5 percent--of anything you are eating. By doing this you will begin cutting calories without starving yourself. If you are eating 2000 calories a day, this could save you 700 calories each week.

• 4

  Find one way every day to move just a little bit more than usual. If you normally seek a parking spot near the front door of the store, park further out in the lot. While waiting in line at the bank, do calf raises by standing up on your tip-toes and then going down again. Squeeze your glutes at every red light. You don't have to run a marathon, at least not right away.

• 5

  Start making substitutes for the foods you normally make, but do so in steps. For example, if you always drink whole milk, sdrop down to 2 percent. When that becomes "normal" to you, step down to 1 percent, and so on. Switch from white bread to higher fiber white bread before switching to wheat. Look for foods that have healthier substitutes and come up with ways you can change in steps.