When Michelle Kloese was 35, she started to gain weight. She also developed back and foot pain, developed high cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and had an overall feeling of sluggishness, the education technology worker told Today.
“Things just didn’t feel like me anymore," she said.
In January 2023, Kloese traveled to Ireland for her 40th birthday, and didn’t like what she saw in the photos from her trip once she returned home to Florida. That’s when Kloese weighed herself and discovered she’d gained 38 pounds.
“I decided that day was the day I needed to do something different in my life,” she said.
Kloese, who had entered early menopause due to a medical condition, started looking for weight loss tips for menopausal women in their forties.
Now, the 41-year-old is 50 pounds lighter and has a regimen of healthy habits that not only helped her lose the weight, but also boosted her mental and physical health.
Here are Kloese’s seven micro habits—small, easy-to-implement actions—for losing weight and keeping it off, which she shared with Today:
1. Use a habit tracker
Kloese used the Me+ Daily Routine Planner habit tracking app to set goals. Checking them off as she completed them helped her stay committed even when she lacked motivation.
But flexibility was key to her consistency, she said.
“I didn’t want to be too rigid—I took it day by day,” Kloese told Today. “I would be a little stricter on the weekdays, and then on the weekends I might just walk and drink water instead of doing everything on my list. That gave me a little bit of reprieve and celebration.”
2. Prioritize strength training
Kloese used an app with personalized workout plans to help her get started with strength training, which can increase your lean muscle mass and boost metabolism.
As she became more engaged in strength training, Kloese could create her own workouts, combining exercises like planks for core strength and lifting five- to 10-pound dumbbells. Now, she said, she holds a three-minute plank every day.
“I realized which ones I felt more comfortable with and which ones made me feel stronger,” she said.
3. Drink plenty of water
Before she embarked on her healthy habit journey, Kloese said she was drinking less than eight ounces of water per day—and suffering frequent headaches as a result. Over time, she worked her way up to 72 ounces per day.
“Now I start my day with a glass of water and then have steady sips throughout the day,” Kloese said. “I have a water bottle that helps me stay on track, and I keep it with me at all times.”
Drinking enough water daily can help you lose weight, according to an analysis out of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Researchers found that adults with overweight and obesity who increased their water intake lost 44% to 100% more weight than their peers in the control groups after 12 weeks to a year.
4. Walk whenever you can
Initially, Kloese set a goal to walk 15 minutes a day—now she walks 45 minutes most days, and has increased her daily step count from 4,000 to nearly 9,000 steps a day. Recently, Kloese told Today, she was able to walk the distance of a half-marathon: 13.1 miles.
She began to incorporate movement whenever she could during her day and even bought a walking pad to use during work calls or when the weather didn’t allow her to walk outside.
To help set herself up for success, she walks 15 minutes at the start and end of each workday.
“Even if I don’t have any meetings, I know I’m getting that 30 minutes in,” Kloese said.
5. Make healthy shifts in your diet over time
Kloese started intermittent fasting as a way to cut out late-night snacking. She then built upon that habit and cut out soda, switching to black coffee, and opting for flavored water over alcohol.
Soon she made other small changes, she said—like eating only half of a bun with a burger or swapping sweet potato fries for regular fries. As Kloese started to lose weight, she got more excited about meal planning over ordering takeout.
“My husband and I were going out to eat three times a week, so we swapped out some of the restaurant nights with premade meals,” Kloese said. “Now we only go out once or twice a week.”
6. Find a community
Kloese decided to switch to another healthy habit tracker called Personify Health, which was provided by her employer, so that she could connect with coworkers through their health journeys as well.
“I have a remote job, and I work with people from all over Florida. We can all see each other’s steps,” she said. “The friendly competition is really fun for me.”
The more she shared her goals with her friends, too, the more she saw how they wished to make the same changes she did—and support Kloese in the process.
“If you surround yourself with people you trust, who you can be open and honest with, they’re your best supporters,” she said. Now her friend group builds social gatherings around healthy habits.
“Instead of going out for drinks at night, we go on a weekly walk together,” she said. They also choose to walk, take a yoga class, or hike in a nearby state park over sitting at bars.
7. Embrace slow and steady progress
Kloese’s weight loss didn’t happen rapidly—it took her a year and nine months to lose the 50 pounds. That pace was challenging at first, she admits, but her consistency paid off.
It was a slow process of losing two to five pounds a month—with stalled progress every now and then—but she stuck with it. After four to five months of sticking with her habits, her clothes began to fit looser.
Kloese’s patient effort is what is keeping her on top of her habits, even after hitting her weight-loss goal.
“I don’t want to ruin any of my habits. I worked so hard to make them habits, and the hard work is paying off,” she said.
“I just want to stay active. I’ll try anything. Keeping that healthy lifestyle is what I want,” she added. “I don’t want to go back to where I was.”
Kloese said that one of her best friends also lost over 100 pounds—and her husband lost 30 pounds: “We’re all feeling our best in our forties,” she said.
For more on weight loss:
- 7 habits that can help you lose weight—and keep it off—according to experts
- The incredible health benefits of drinking enough water: New study highlights role in weight loss, migraines, and more
- Ozempic and Wegovy surge to national approval with most U.S. adults considering it ‘a good thing’ to treat obesity
