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The basics of The Step Diet are pretty simple. The plan is designed to last 12 weeks, and combines decreasing your calorie intake with increasing your activity level. Sounds good, right? Well, the best part is you don’t have to be a nutiritionist or join a health club. The first “step” is to take a week-long inventory of your eating and activity habits. This helps to develop guidelines for the amount of food and number of steps you usually take in a day.

Once you’ve got that information you are ready to start stepping it up, so to speak. You can eat anything you want, just decrease the portion size by 25%. That can  accomplished by literally taking 25% off your plate, or by replacing a food item with something that has 25% less calories and fat. On the activity side you add 500 steps to your routine – with a total minimum of 2000 steps per day. The steps don’t only have to be walking, you can convert any activity to a number of steps. There are charts in the Step Diet book, but you can use something like this to start.

Each week you continue to add 500 steps until you’ve reached the plan’s goal of 10,000 steps per day. These steps don’t have to be completed in one session, so don’t worry about having to carve out a huge chunk of your day. Adding 500 steps a week only increases your activity time by 3-5 minutes, which makes it easy to incorporate into your lifestyle. If you have a day where your food intake increases a lot, just add more steps proportionally.

If the Step Diet sounds too easy to work, it really isn’t. The plan is really just the basic advise most weight loss experts give. You have to eat a bit less and exercise a bit more. The Step Diet just presents it in a way that is simple and possible for almost anyone. The gradual increase in steps will ease you into the program, and is great for folks who are very sedentary. Plus steps are easy. You can walk around your house if it’s cold, and bring your kids or dog along in nice weather.

the thing we like best about the Step Diet is that you don’t really need to buy the book. All you really need is your will to succeed, and ideally a pedometer to help count your steps. There won’t be any dramatic weight loss in 3 days like some plans promise, but you will be stronger and healthier after 12 weeks if you stick to it. That’s a great way to turn your life around.

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Tip #1 – Go for a brisk walk. Really. Walking at a brisk pace (4 MPH or so) for 30 minutes a day will make a huge difference. You can get your metabolism going, and build your endurance. This is especially important for those of us who live our lived behind the wheel. Get out of the car and walk for a bit. It can even be in your house. If you have a treadmill you don’t have to run on it. In nice weather go for a longer walk with your dog or kids in a stroller (short legs won’t be able to keep up the pace you need). Stretching for a few minutes before and after your walk will keep you from getting sore and help tone some of those muscles.

Tip #2 – Dance it away. We’re not talking some cardio-fitness-boogie video, either. Just put on your favorite 80s CD and get to it. 15-20 minutes of enthusiastic dancing around your living room will get your heart rate up and you’ll be having so much fun you won’t notice you’re exercising. This is another great way to involve children in your workout. Kids love a dance party, and hopefully you can tire them out a bit too.

Tip #3 – Strengthen while you relax. Moderate weight lifting is so good for your body. It burns calories, and builds lean muscle that keeps you burning more all the time. Plus, a little extra strength means a lot as we get older. And you don’t have to go to the gym to do it. You can pump iron with no iron. Try filling 2 wine bottles with sand or something kind of heavy, and doing a series of curls and lifts standing next to the sofa while watching TV instead of lounging on it. A segment of television is usually about 10 minutes which is a great amount of time for a set. Fun and strengthening.

If you’re a dedicated exercise fan, good for you. There are a lot of plans and programs out there that will help you push your body as far as it will go, and with dedication the results will be impressive. But, if you just want to give yourself a kick in the pants and a trimmer body, these tips can help a lot, in just a small amount of time – and still be fun. The key, as always, is finding what works best for you.

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