Are you apprehensive about making those lifestyle changes that you know you need to make so that you can get healthy and fit because you think it will just be too hard?

While changing how you eat and exercise can be one of the biggest challenges you will ever undertake, especially when you consider you will need to heal the source of your overeating, there are some simple, easy steps you can take today that will help you shed a few pounds.

Here are just 5 easy tips to help you lose weight that you can implement today:

1. Drink 100 ounces of water each day. This is a change that you can make today that won’t cost you a dime if you don’t mind tap water, otherwise you can purchase plain bottled water (check the ingredients to make sure it doesn’t contain sodium or any other ingredients besides filtered water).

Making the change to drink 100oz. of water a day will do a couple of things for you: it will help flush your body of toxins, keep you hydrated, and effectively help you cut back on other non-nutritional beverages.

2. Forgo eating a large meal right before bed. Your body doesn’t need fuel when you’re sleeping. When you sleep your body is processing toxins and waste, besides recharging your “battery”. If you fill your stomach with food, where will it go? It will more than likely get stored as fat (future fuel), since you won’t be using it at night.

This doesn’t mean that you have to go bed hungry, though. If you truly are physically hungry, why not have 1/2 of an apple or banana, or one piece of plain, whole grain toast? That will cut your hunger and it’s a whole lot better than eating an entire meal or a bunch of sweets before bed.

3. Eat breakfast. This is so simple and I am amazed to hear over and over again how many people don’t do it. If you skip breakfast because you think it will help you lose weight, it will actually keep you from doing just that. Your body has been fasting during sleep and you need breakfast to get your metabolism rolling. It’s interesting to note that most obese and overweight individuals do not eat breakfast; it’s your most important meals of the day.

4. Eat more. Surprised? Yep, you need to eat to lose weight. Now I don’t mean overeat in one (or more) sittings, but instead eat throughout the day when you are hungry. This is a hard concept for many people to grasp, but you do not lose weight by starving yourself or by severely restricting your intake.

To put it very simply, when you don’t eat when you’re physically (not emotionally) hungry, your body kicks into starvation mode. Your metabolism slows down, which means you aren’t burning the fat that you want to burn, and when you do eventually eat, your body will store that food as fat for the future. Why? Because your system thinks there is a shortage because you aren’t eating when you’re hungry. Therefore it has to help you stay alive during this time of supposed starvation.

The way that I stay on top of this is by eating small, portioned, balanced meals throughout the day, every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Even if you’re not eating like that right now though, just make sure that you eat when you are hungry, eat slowly, make smart choices, and stop when you’re full.

5. Walk just 15 minutes a day. How many things in your day do you spend 15 minutes on? Do you spend 15 minutes watching TV or snacking, or internet surfing? If you took just 15 minutes and went for a walk each day, you will not only feel better but you will start to build up motivation to increase that 15 minutes to 30 minutes. You can put yourself first and take out just 15 minutes to get moving and walk each day.

These are not quickie, overnight weight loss tips, and no, I don’t suggest that you force them on your cat despite the title. However, if you implement these changes in your lifestyle today, what have you got to lose except some excess weight that is dragging you down? 😉