It can be tempting to follow extreme diets or do excessive exercise in the pursuit of weight loss, but such drastic changes are often unsustainable.
Instead, a personal trainer recommended increasing your daily steps to burn extra calories and improve your fitness, without going to extremes.
This is according to personal trainer, strength coach who owns Vigor Ground Fitness and Performance, Luka Hocevar.
The fitness pro has trained clients for more than 21 years, and shared that small lifestyle changes can prompt big results.
Walking every day is a great habit to get into
| GETTYHe told GB News: "When looking to lose weight, especially after the age of 50, the key is focusing on simple and powerful habits that move the needle of weight loss over time.
"Something I share with clients is 'small hinges swing big doors', which means that seemingly small daily habits can become big changes in weight loss, health, and performance.
"Most people take on too much too fast, and because it becomes overwhelming, they can't stick with it. The key is to 'stack wins' and feel good about doing something daily to support your weight loss and health.
"Once you have stacked wins day upon day, then you build your confidence to take up a more challenging task or habit."
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The expert stressed the importance of being in a calorie deficit and strength training when trying to lose weight. Another good daily habit is increasing your step count.
Hocevar said: "Most people walk only barely over 2,000 steps a day. While you hear many people recommend 10,000 steps per day, even increasing it to 5,000 steps a day can have a great outcome when the step count is low.
"Once you get to 5,000, you can increase it to 6,000, then 7,000, and so on. Walking is very beneficial as it increases activity and contributes to weight loss. It is very low-impact, so anyone can do it, and it has also been shown to be beneficial for mental health.
"We find out how many steps our clients are doing per day and set a goal of a couple thousand more per day."
Increasing step count can help burn extra calories
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Increasing your step count in small increments is less daunting than jumping straight to 10,000 steps a day.
Adding a 10-minute walk around the block in the morning, parking further away from the office or getting off the bus a stop earlier are all easy ways to add extra steps into your day.
Consider using the stairs instead of a lift, pacing while making phone calls or walking around the house during TV ads as more great ways to boost step count. Walking 10,000 steps burns roughly 300 to 500 calories, so it should not be underestimated as a weight loss tool.
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