Make a commitment and stay accountable. Settle on a concrete, sustainable health goal to work towards. It may not seem so important, but trust that this will make it easier to track your progress and stay motivated along the way. If you’re aiming for a weight loss goal, plan to lose 1-2 pounds max per week. And pro tip: if you can, recruit a few friends to join you on your journey. Community helps you stay accountable (and have more fun along the way, too!).

Find joy in moving your body. Exercise is a great way to burn calories, and on the whole, active lifestyles do promote weight loss. Still, no one wants to spend the day dreading another boring workout! Brainstorm ways to really relish your routine. Do you love a challenge? Why not train for a 5k? Maybe you’re a social butterfly—go out and find a big, fun dance class or running group. Find additional reasons to love your hour of exercise, and you’ll be more likely to stick to your activity goals going forward.

Choose healthy foods that you love. When you imagine a nutritious meal, tasteless grains and boring salads might come to mind first. But the truth is that healthy food can be totally exciting—and odds are, tons of nutritious meals out there would make your mouth water. You just have to go out and find them! Start exploring new, healthy recipes every few days. When you find a food or meal you like, incorporate it into your routine. Or is there a spice or herb you absolutely adore? Use it to dress up all your favorite healthy base foods.

Avoid classic weight-gain traps. Though they might feel harmless in the moment, some behaviors complicate your weight loss journey. Eating in front of screens and night snacking, for instance, can sometimes make weight loss harder.

Drink more water and get more sleep. Weight loss is all about eating healthy and exercising more, right? Not entirely. Prioritize your sleep and hydration, and you’ll find it way easier to lose weight sustainably. People who get 8 hours of sleep per night find more success at maintaining a healthy weight, and 8 cups of water per day can improve your odds, too. Think of it like a health hack: without tweaking your diet or workout routine, you’re still working towards your goals.

Start with smaller portions and eat slower. No one likes a restrictive diet. Controlling portions shouldn’t be about dropping your fork before you’re full. On the contrary, eating correct portions is more about listening to your body, not ignoring your cravings. It takes about 20 minutes for the satiety chemicals in our stomach to signal to our brain that we're full—so by starting small and eating slow, you might find more satisfaction in your meals, all while eating less, too.

Tweak your habits—don’t jump into intense, crash diets. When you’re determined to get results, extreme diets sound attractive. But the truth is that gradual lifestyle changes are the key to success. Try adjusting one daily habit, and once it feels like second nature, make a new change. For example, you might swap your daily soda with a big glass of water. Then, once you’re comfortable, try swapping your heavy afternoon snack with an apple instead. Over time, these seemingly minor changes can have life-altering effects.