Losing weight can seem daunting when it involves a complete overhaul of your lifestyle. Faced with so many factors — diet, exercise, stress — many aren’t sure where to begin … and so fail to even start.

It was Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, who reportedly first said:

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

… and this is very true when it comes to weight loss. Small simple changes add up to major strides when it comes to reaching your ideal weight. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed when you start small and take it just one step at a time.

9 Easy Habits to Make You Thinner

9. Know Your Trigger Foods

Most people have a food (or a few) that they simply can’t stop eating. Or, there’s a food that you know you’ll turn to if you’re feeling stressed, sad, lonely or angry. Since most eating binges, including those that are emotionally driven, take place at home, make a point to not buy your ‘trigger’ foods or keep them at home.

If you know you’re virtually guaranteed to overeat cookies, ice cream, pizza or potato chips if you have them around, the simplest way to break the habit is to keep them out of your house.

8. Take the Far Away Parking Spots

You know that ‘first’ parking spot that everyone covets? Ignore it and look for the spot that’s farthest away. If you do this every time, the extra steps it takes to run your errands or go to and from your office will add up.

7. Use the Stairs

It’s an oldie but a goodie! Skip the elevator or escalator and use the stairs as much as you can. If you’re feeling ambitious, go up and down a few extra times for good measure. It’s like a free step aerobics workout!

6. Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Being sleep deprived increases your appetite, as sleep has a significant impact on the complex production and release of hormones that influence how much you eat, when you eat and how many calories you burn or store as fat.

One study even found that cutting your sleep short, even by a mere 80 minutes one night, can make you eat nearly 550 calories more than you ordinarily would the next day.[i]

5. Eat Soup and Salad First …

Filling your tummy with a small salad and a bowl of broth-based soup can help you to eat significantly less at your meal (as in, 12 percent and 20 percent less, respectively).[ii] It’s true! You can actually weigh less by eating more!

4. Eat Five Meals Instead of Three

One study following how more than 5,000 people were able to keep their weight off long term found that those who were successful were more likely to eat five small meals a day instead of three larger one.[iii] This might be because it keeps you from getting overly hungry, making it easier to eat properly sized portions.

3. Drink Two Glasses of Water Before Your Meal

Obese individuals who drank two eight-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch and dinner lost five pounds more than those who didn’t, and they also kept more of the weight off after a year.[iv] So before you eat, drink up.

2. Sit Less

Regular exercise is important, but mounting research is showing that what you do during your non-exercise hours (which is the vast majority of your waking hours) is equally important — if not more so.

Studies have linked prolonged sitting with obesity, metabolic syndrome and other health problems. Plus, you’re more likely to be thin if you tend to move around often (including fidgeting, standing, throwing a ball for you dog, etc. … anything but sitting).

Obesity expert Dr. James Levine told Rock Center:[v]

“People who are lean, even who don’t go to the gym, move about two and a quarter hours a day more than people with obesity, … Somehow those individuals are finding the opportunities to walk to the trashcan, to walk down to accounting, to go to the bathroom, or the coffee shop, whatever it may be.”

1. Spritz With Youth Hormones

Your body’s natural production of youth hormones (HGH, or human growth hormone) begins to steadily decline by the time you reach your early 30s. Around this same time, you probably find you “can’t eat the way you used to,” and losing weight becomes much harder. As your HGH declines, all of the following occurs:

• Your metabolism slows down
• You pack on adipose tissue (FAT)
• Your organs shrivel
• Your aerobic activity decreases
• Your muscles shrink

Research shows that men who supplemented with HGH for six months had a 14.4 percent reduction in fat, and a nearly 9 percent increase in lean body mass,[vi] which is why you might be interested in learning about ThinMist, which is NOT a synthetic form of HGH, but a way to increase your body’s production of this youth hormone naturally!

This breakthrough formula contains a uniquely calibrated blend of 7 essential vitamins and amino acids that work together to help boost your body’s ability to produce HGH. All you have to do is spritz it under your tongue, three times a day.