There isn’t one person in my circle of friends who doesn’t ache to lose a few pounds at least once or twice per year. Even the skinny ones among us talk about their dieting and exercise woes. Men, women, teens, seniors, everyone wants to lose weight but we’re either too busy, too tired at the end of the day or too lacking in motivation.

If you fit in any of those categories you’ll need to know that losing weight, changing your food habits and getting more exercise is all a ‘head game’. Sure it’s hard – you need both will power and some sweat equity to decrease your mass – but with time, dedication and effort you get to live in a body you love.

The mental prowess you’ll need to keep yourself motivated is a huge part of the process. If you can use determination, the fun factor, jealousy, or any other emotion to your advantage you’ll be able to tackle the bulge and put the excuses to rest.

Remember we’re not talking about running a marathon every weekend here. You begin with small steps – a little more than your body is currently used to – and as the pounds slip away you’ll take your new love of exercise and your new strengths to tackle more challenges on your path to better health.

This is just as simple as strapping on a pedometer, gauging the amount of steps you take in an average day, and increasing that number as your first fitness goal. Walking really can help you lose the weight that you’re ready to be rid of.

Over the next few days I’ll be adding a “Walk It Off” online course for all our readers. We’ll also be investigating ways for you to keep track of your steps and your fitness goals through Pedometers.org. More about that later, for now please understand that walking will burn a sufficient amount of calories, which ensures that stored fat on your body will be used for energy.

All that is required to start is a simple pedometer and thirty minutes of energetic walking everyday. If you are very heavy right now you might like to talk to your doctor first or go a little slower for the first few weeks until you gain some strength and stamina.

Let’s get back for a moment to the mind games we play with ourselves and the excuses. Here’s the one I hear the most often. It’s boring! Yes, it can be hard to find joy, fun or entertainment in a 30 minute walk but you’ve got to find a way to do it nonetheless. Take an MP3 pedometer for a walk with you and listen to some music or recorded seminars that you’ve been dying to listen to.

You can also change where you walk. Head off to the mall and some do some walking. You can window shop on the way. Or walk with a friend or neighbor. How about heading to the park, beach boardwalk, or bike path?

Here are a few other suggestions:

A friend of mine was going to Italy in two months. He wanted to be fit when he flew over because he was tired of carrying around an extra 25 pounds so he started walking. You know what else he did? Learned some great conversational Italian on his MP3 pedometer.

If you’re lonely on your walks make a pact with a friend to walk at lunch or every night after dinner together. You can even wager a free meal or task (“…if either of us cancel our walk three times we have to clean the other friend’s house.”) Better still…your dog will never cancel out on a walk with you, so take Fido along.

Stay tuned to Pedometers.org for more information and our upcoming course on Walk It Off.