Everyday, thousands of people begin a new weight loss journey. Most have tried before, but vow that they are "going to really do it this time". Unfortunately, they do nothing different. They still start off great, then hit a snag, slow down a bit, make one last push, and then finally fall off the path completely. I'm going to show you a simple 5-Step plan that you should put into place on Day 1 to put yourself in a better position to succeed in your weight loss efforts.

Write down exactly what you want to accomplish with your weight loss journey. And don't just say "lose weight". That's not enough. You must have reasons for wanting to lose weight. Do you want to look better, feel better, have more energy, or improve your health? Whatever it may be, you must find the root of your want for weight loss. Then you must write it down.

Be specific. It's OK to say that you want to lose 20 lbs., but that's not the root of what you want. You want to lose the 20 lbs. for a reason. Be specific about what you want the result to be. If you want to look better, describe exactly how you want to look. If you want to feel better, describe exactly how you want to feel. Do this for all of your reasons.

Create a nice visual in your head of exactly what you want your life to be like when your mission is complete. You will want to go back to this image any time things get rough, so make sure you get it all on paper and store it somewhere it will be easily accessible.

At times during your weight loss journey, you are going to want to know if your efforts are paying off. You are going to want some hard evidence that your plan is or isn't working. Most people turn to the scale. However, the scale does not tell the whole story. You could have lost 5 lbs. and look worse, feel worse, have less energy, and see a decline in your health. You could also have lost nothing and look better, feel better, have more energy, and have a considerable improvement in your health. The reason for this is that there is a difference between weight loss and fat loss.

This is why I advocate you taking a "before" picture and taking some measurements. Take a picture from yourself from the front, back, and side so that you get to see the full perspective. You will then take additional pictures every four weeks to see if you notice any changes. This can be a huge pick-me-up after four weeks of hard work. You may not have noticed any of the gradual changes to your body, but you'll be glad to see the hard evidence!

If you are a numbers person, like myself, I advise you take some body measurements as well. Get out a tape measure and jot down your stats for your waist, hips, thighs, arms, neck, and anywhere else you want to measure. It's a real quick and easy way to keep track of your progress. Keep in mind, though, you may build some muscle in some of these areas. That's why you need the pictures, too.

Also, if your goals are to feel better or anything along those lines, just jot down as best you can a summary of how you've been feeling lately. It's tough to measure, but try to be as descriptive as possible.

Create a plan for the first week or two. It is critical that you get off to a great start and that you start right now while your passion is high. Start by writing down what days you are going to go to the gym (or wherever you will work out) and when. Also, write down what you will do for each workout.

Then, write down two new disciplines that you will begin following. For example, you plan on cutting out your sodas and juices and replacing them with water. That's one. Second, you plan on cutting out white bread from your meals. Starting small is fine. Adding two disciplines every two weeks really adds up over time.

This plan will be less detailed, but will cover several months of time. Here you will map out your overall strategy. Write in your planned workout days. Write in when you will be adding a new discipline. Write down some ideas for these disciplines. Write down when you will be taking pictures and measurements. Mark out some potential obstacles and come up with a little gameplan to stay on track.

Also, this is where you should write up an ideal nutrition plan. Write something that you will be able to follow and gives you the best chance at great health. Your small disciplines should eventually lead you to this plan.

Similarly, you should write up an ideal exercise routine. Set a few goals for yourself as to the type of workout you'd like to accomplish. Have some fun with it. Don't be afraid to be wrong, as in the ideals plans may not actually be all that good for you. You can always make some changes to your long-term plans so long as they are in your best interest.

This is the big one. You must promise yourself that you will make decisions that in line with what you want and that you will continue to work toward your goals until you reach them. It's that simple. Just go out and get it done.

And there you have it. You have your goals so you know where you are going. You have your plans so you know how to get there. You have a method to check to make sure your plans are working (or if they're not, you'll know you have to make a few changes). You also have your promise to yourself that you will use those plans to get where you want to go until you get there. Now, all you have to do is go out and execute!