When it comes to diet & exercise, most of us are absolute geniuses at finding reasons why it’s too hard or “not right for us.” If you’re overweight but the picture of health, you may be able to get away with this.

If you’re not, there are no excuses for ruining your health. You need to stop making excuses and start making progress. Here are 7 steps to do so.

1. Start Small. The best way to do this is to start small. Don’t try to scale a mountain on your first day. By taking the time to gradually change your diet and add in short exercises, you’re setting yourself up for victory instead of failure.

While it may not seem like you’re doing a lot, you’re taking the first steps on the road to health. Those first steps are the hardest, but it will get a lot easier.

2. Remove Soda. Instead of going on a crazy starvation diet, start small by cutting out 1 useless food a week. For example, start with soda. You can easily lose 10lbs in 2 weeks by removing soda from your diet.

Look at all of the foods you eat or drink that have a lot of calories. Target these first and start removing them one by one. As you successfully get one out of your life, move on to the next one.

3. Exercise No Matter How Little. For exercise, starting small can really pay off, especially if you’re not in the best of shape. Start by taking one small lap around the block, walking at a slow pace. The next day, make it two laps, etc:

You may not be doing much at first, but again, you’re building that foundation. The key is to keep moving forward and keep adding more until you’re doing more than you ever thought possible.

4. Add More Exercise To Strengthen Exercise Foundation. Let’s look at your health like a building. It’s already been leveled and now you’re going to need to start from the ground up.

If you rush the foundation and sloppily put it together, the whole structure is going to come tumbling down effectively. By taking the time to lay those bricks one by one, you’re building a foundation that is going to last the test of time.

5. Remove Problem Foods To Strengthen Diet Foundation. The same applies to your diet. By slowly removing your problem foods, you’re putting down bricks that will help you change your entire lifestyle.

Instead of trying to quit everything at once and put your foundation together in a rush, take the time to do things one at a time. You’ll be much more likely to succeed.

6. Strive for 90% Success With Diet and Exercise. Why 90%? It is difficult enough to achieve to avoid avoid cheating AND it is lenient enough so that you can forgive yourself for mistakes.

7. Fix Your Foundation Before Building Your Skyscraper. One of the best reasons to start small is that if you do have a setback, it’s a lot easier to get back on track.

Returning to our building analogy, if you have a brick that crumbles, but you haven’t added on a new row on top of it, it’s a lot easier to fix that brick and then continue.

Lay your foundation the right way and look at every brick as your own personal victory on the way to building an impressive structure.

These easy tips will make it much easier to lose weight. They are all very simple lifestyle changes that are easy to implement. These should be used to supplement a healthy eating plan, not replace it. Be sure to exercise regularly to maximize your weight loss results.

1. Open your curtains or blinds first thing when you wake up. Bright light jumpstarts your metabolism.
2. Get some exercise within the first hour of being awake.
3. Have a healthy breakfast with high quality protein.
4. Go for a 10-minute walk within 30 minutes of eating a meal. It will make your body burn the calories twice as fast.
5. Chew sugar-free gum. Even small movements such as chewing will keep your body constantly burning more calories.
6. Park as far as possible from the store when you go shopping.
7. Sit in a rocking chair if you watch television.
8. Breath long and deep instead of short and shallow.
9. Drink lots of ice water throughout the day. The water decreases your appetite. The ice causes your body to work harder to keep your body temperature normal.
10. Drink green tea.
11. Sit up straight. It will strengthen your back and abdominal muscles.
12. Keep the temperature cooler and don’t use sweaters or an extra blanket. Your metabolism uses more energy to heat up your body temperature.
13. Eat starchy carbohydrates as early in the day as possible and don’t eat any with dinner.
14. Have fresh fruit for dessert after dinner to stabilize your blood sugar.
15. Don’t skip meals. When you skip meals, it triggers production of a hormone called ghrelin, which causes overeating.
16. Stretch and take regular breaks at work. Even a 30-second stretch will help.
17. Eat healthy snacks such as fruit, low-fat cheese, vegetable sticks or protein shakes. Click Here for a List of Healthy Snacks. 
18. Eat dinner as early in the evening as possible.
19. Get up and wash the dishes right after dinner. You will burn calories and not be tempted with leftovers.
20. Get deep rest between midnight and 3:00 a.m. Click Here for Tips on Getting a good Night’s Sleep.