I want to make a healthy fresh start. I need to adopt a more healthful lifestyle, but I don't know where to start.

I smoke 1 pack of cigarettes a day, I drink a ton of pop (diet pop, but it's still not good for me), I don't always make the best food choices, and I don't exercise!

Can anyone tell me what the best way to overhual my life style would be? Should I detox all at once or pick one and work my way through them?

And if I do that do I start with the hardest first or the easiest?

First, you have to ask yourself, how committed am I to change? I can list here all of the things you need to do to have a better lifestyle but if you're not disciplined enough to really change, then they'll be useless. :)

I'm new to this board...but I'm going to jump in and give you my best advice.

I used to smoke 2 packs a day, and drink literally nothing but Pepsi. That was five years ago and I don't do either one. In fact, most people come to me for advice for diet and exercise! You can become healthy. I agree with the other posts...first, get a right frame of mind. Are you ready? Are you willing to commit to a healthy lifestyle? Are you ready to have more energy and feel good about your new choices?

I would start s-l-o-w-l-y. I think the biggest mistake people make is diving in head first and eliminating EVERYTHING.

1. Start with the smoking...I didn't do the cold-turkey thing...I started reducing the amount I smoked each week. If you need to, talk to your doctor or pharmacists about which stop-smoking aides work best. BE PATIENT.

2. REDUCE the amount of soda you consume and fill-in more water, crystal light, flavored water, and lower sugar juices.

3. REDUCE junk foods...try the 80/20 method...eat healthy food 80% of the time and the other 20% can be sweets, junk, etc. As with anything...MODERATION is key.

4. Don't go full-blast into an exercise program. Start slowly with walking and research a weight training program. Listen to your body. Don't force yourself...if you are exhausted, take a day off and start fresh tomorrow.

5. Take time out for yourself. Don't forget that you only live ONCE. If you eat like crap one day, dust yourself off and start over at the next meal. Consistency will pay off. BE PATIENT. Don't expect to be a figure model overnight. It takes lots of work and dedication...and most importantly throw away the scale. In the whole scheme of our lives, numbers on a scale shouldn't amount to anything. Focus on being HEALTHY. Do it for your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and brain. They will thank you!

Take Care!

I lost 80 pounds in a matter of six months and really changed my eating habits, and I barely exercised at all. I started changing my eating habits. I got use to veggies and now really enjoy them. They make me feel good, same with fruit. I started eating less meat and used less and less oils and other things while cooking. I drank soda, a lot. I started drinking green tea and lots of water. Within three weeks that is all I drank. I've had two sodas since then and both physically made me sick, really sick. I still eat junk food here and there, but it's rare and I don't crave it. After I started eating better I just counted calories and in no time I was thin. Even though I did it with virtually no exercise, I would not recommend going that same route, at all. It was just an example to show that you don't have to work out seven days a week to drop some weight and feel better, but it helps. When I dropped all my weight I lost a lot of muscle as well. I was a good 10 pounds under weight and it took be quite awhile to build my muscle and stamina up again. I've never had experience with smoking, so I can't say much towards that. I'm the only non-smoker in my family though, so it just doesn't interest me I guess. A tip if you're going to go out and jog though, just because you feel like you're out of breath, it doesn't mean you are. When I started jogging I stopped when I got a bit winded and never made any progress. One day I decided to suck it up, and if I was to passout then that's just too damn bad. I made it two males sucking in air with my lungs burning. My legs gave out before my lungs did. Over the next week the burning stopped and it was easy to breath. With two months of jogging/running daily I'm up to two miles in well under 15 minutes.