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This article was submitted by Kevin, author of Weight Ladder Weight Loss Journal (rss feed). See weight loss pictures of his ongoing journey.

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.

This article was submitted by Kevin, follow and encourage as he climbs down the Weight Ladder Weight Loss Journal (rss feed). See before and after weight loss photos of his ongoing journey.