by Cliff Smith

If you’ve ever tried to accomplish something seemingly unimaginable at first, but you did it anyway, then you know how satisfying it is to achieve that which you once believed impossible.  The hardest part of any challenge is gaining the courage to take those first few steps. I've found myself standing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon more than once, looking up at the rim ten miles away and thinking how impossible it will be to get to the top.  Then, I reminded myself that the only way anyone ever accomplished anything was by taking those first few steps.

For many people, healthy weight loss is a goal that seems out of reach.  So, here are the first 5 steps to achieving healthy weight loss with tried and true techniques. If you know that other humans have traveled the same path, then you can do it, too. For healthy weight loss, point your heart and mind and body in the direction of your goal while taking these first five steps to success.

Step 1 -  Eat breakfast

Numerous studies over the years have proven that people who ate breakfast ended up eating fewer calories later in the day.  The Weight Control Registry, which tracks more than 5000 people who lost 30 pounds and kept that off for at least a year, reported that a majority of them took the time to fuel up when they woke up.  Healthy weight loss occurs as the body adapts to more calories in the morning and fewer calories later.

Step 2 -  Start lunches and dinners with soup, salad or fruit.

Soup, salad and fruit are good choices for healthy weight loss any time because they’re loaded with water and fiber.  When you start lunch or dinner with one of these choices, you take in low-calorie, high energy, metabolic boosting nutrients before you even begin your meal.  Magically, this helps you burn fat and calories while you’re eating.  Rachel Brandeis, R.D., of Atlanta, tells us that eating 3 cups of green salad with fat-free dressing cut the number of calories people consumed at a meal by 12%.  A study from Penn State University found that people who consumed soup each day for a year, lost 50% more weight than those who consumed the same number of calories from typical foods.

Step 3 -  Get good water in and bad water out

Good water in, bad water out can lead to a quick 30 pounds of weight loss might that might just be excess water weight.  People consume so much sodium combined with unhealthy beverages that it causes the body to hold tight and clench the water it does have, even if toxic.  You’ve got to get clean water into the cells of your body so that the toxic waste water can be flushed out.  While they may be associated with good times like parties and sporting events, soft drinks are not good for the body, and are totally unnecessary now that we have healthy drinks available online.  One soft drink has nearly the same amount of sugar and calories as a candy bar.  Many studies have proven that diet soda is not a good option for healthy weight loss, either.  The University of Texas, Health Science Center in San Antonio reported that diet soda raises the risk of being overweight by as much as 37%.

Step 4 – Focus on food and nutrition rather than the world around you.

When you eat to satisfy nutrition before hunger then you set yourself on the course toward healthy weight loss and peak fitness.  When you focus first on getting the healthiest nutrition you can from complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, quality protein and fiber before satisfying cravings for simple carbs, sugar, or salty, fat-filled foods, you are going the right way to reach the summit.  By focusing on the food and contemplating the flavors, scents, and textures rather than the texts, TV or Facebook, it’s much easier to adjust how much food is consumed.  Eating slowly and deliberately will help you maximize nutrition over calories.

Step 5 – Don’t buy it and you won’t eat it.

In order to achieve healthy weight loss, it is crucial to keep sugary, high calorie foods out of your home and workplace.  If you don’t have cookies or ice cream close at hand, it is far less probable that you will eat them.  “Cravings are often fleeting, and if you have to leave the house to go get ice cream, you’ll be less likely to do it,” says Roberta Anding, R.D., of Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.  Instead, load your pantry with whole food concentrates and healthy snacks that satisfy hunger without the ill effects of sugar, saturated fats or chemicals.