This is a PSA for anyone who is thinking about starting a fitness journey and needs to lose 50, 60, 70, or more pounds.

This might not help everyone, but for some people it’s an easy way to lose the first 20 pounds.

Every day I see people who occasionally talk about losing weight casually drink four or five sweetened sodas. I’m not going to beat around the bush. That’s an easy thousand calories.

If you switch to water or zero-calorie sodas, anyone who can do basic math can see how fast that adds up. I’m not saying zero-calorie sodas are good for you. I’m saying they’re better than the alternative, and zero calories is better than a thousand.

Another simple tip is to get up and move more. Nothing excessive. Just be mindful of how much you sit and make an effort to get up.

It sounds silly, but I see people at my job do as much as they can from a sitting position.

At my 9-to-5, I cut back on the forklift big time and started using the pallet jack more. After a few years, it’s normal now. I know a lot of us at these kinds of jobs have to use the forklift, but when you’re using it to drive to the bathroom, that’s a little much.

You can turn that and other micro activities into progress.

So that’s it. No tracking calories yet. Just switch to zero-calorie sodas, drink more water, and start stealing more chances to move.

Do that for a couple of weeks. After you see how it affects the scale, you can think about the next step.

If you want to change, start with small changes.