• Regular aerobic exercise, such as walking or biking, you raise your metabolic rate and burn more calories. Do not be tempted to dive in and workout for an hour the first time. Work up slowly and gradually, or you will probably injure yourself, tire out, and give up.

• It may be hard for you to get motivated to work out, and to keep it up for a half hour to an hour. However, you really will be glad you did it after it is over.

• Exercising a little every day is better than trying to make up for a missed day or week by overexerting yourself. Overall, fat loss requires you to burn up more calories than you take in. Everything you do burns calories, but the more active you are, the more calories you burn.

• If, at the end of the day or the end of the week, the number of calories you took in is less than the calories you have burned, then you’ll lose weight. On the other hand, if you’ve eaten more calories than you burned off, you’ll gain weight. In other words, the more active you are and the smarter you eat, the more successful you’ll be at losing fat. It’s that simple.

• Whenever starting on a new diet or a new exercise routine, start slowly. You can never take things by haste. Like crash diets, forcing your body to exercise will easily make you tired and can harm your muscles and joints because of the ‘shock’.

• Do warm-ups whenever exercising, like stretches. It helps tone the muscles, preparing it for the activity. Afterwards, repeat the stretches and cool down before rushing into the shower room.

• Good exercises include aerobics, sports and even dancing. It doesn’t just help you tone muscles and lose weight and a few inches, but you get to have some fun along the way.

• Do NOT forget to replenish the lost fluids from your body whenever you perspire. Drink plenty of water or natural fruit juice or if you prefer those commercial thirst quenchers (though water is still the best thirst quencher there is).

• Good exercise should be done at the least three to five times a week, and at least 15 to 30 minutes (or an hour) each time.

• Be certain to get your doctor’s approval before starting any new exercise programs. This is offered as information only! Certain physical and health conditions may warrant you’re not attempting any of these exercises.

• Eat less, and you won’t have to exercise as much!

• Put your exercise machine next to your computer so when it takes a while to download a file, you can exercise while you’re waiting, burning calories and not just be sitting at the computer.

• Get a weight loss/fitness buddy, someone to weigh in with and someone to exercise with. The competition definitely helps some.

• At work, get a little extra exercise by using the stairs instead of the lift, and instead of using the phone when you need to discuss something, walk to the person’s office instead.

• In order to tighten your abdominal muscles, you should: stand or sit with a tall posture, and hold your stomach in as much as possible. The best exercise you can do during the day to tighten your abs is: When you exhale, pull your stomach in, pushing the air out. Pull your stomach in tightly and a little quickly, and then let it out naturally while you breathe air back in the lungs. Pulling the stomach in tightly acts to push the air out of your lungs as you build your abdominal muscles.

• Exercising is good, but don’t overdo it. Test yourself: If you can’t keep a conversation going while doing your routine, you might just be over-exercising yourself.

• Do sustained exercise. By running, swimming, bicycling, and walking, your heart rate will increase and strengthen your heart and lungs. You’ll also breathe deeper and get more oxygen into your bloodstream.

• Consider a brisk walk of 15 to 20 minutes each day, bicycling for strengthening muscles, and swimming for 15 to 20 minutes several times per week to build muscle tone and strength in the legs, and arms.

• Always warm up with stretching, etc. before exercising. This will make your body burn more fat when you actually do start exercising, and will help prevent accidental muscle damage.

• Supplement sustained exercise with conditioning exercise. Doing callisthenics or isometrics will improve your muscle tone, prevent fat deposits from building up, and keep muscles stretched out. Both types of exercise–conditioning and sustained exercise– use calories, tone your muscles, develop your cardiovascular system, and saturate your body with oxygen.

• Stop exercising if you feel pain. It’s possible that you’re doing the exercise incorrectly or that you’ve pushed too hard. At any rate, get your physician’s OK before starting again. Also, be extra careful not to overstretch while exercising or while doing everyday tasks such as getting out of bed.

• Be regular and be smart. Remember that regular exercise is preferable to exercising every couple of weeks. Also remember to drink plenty of water and exercise in a place where you can sweat comfortably.

• You should keep track of your measurements (inches) as well as pounds. Write them down every week. Inches will come off even though weight is not coming off, or coming off slowly. This is due to muscle build up in your body. Muscle is heavier than fat.

• Take a picture of yourself in a few positions in skimpy clothes when you start your diet. If you are really daring, hang one inside the refrigerator. Put a picture in your wallet, near your money that you use to buy food. When you reach your target weight goal, take pictures again. Put them together and realize the considerable accomplishment you have made.

• Keep a spare pair of walking shoes in the car for walking on your lunch break or when you have extra time between appointments. Remember that of those who are successful at keeping off the weight, more than 95% are exercisers, and 90% of those that don’t exercise do gain the weight back. Remember that a good workout is also a stress reducer, and you will probably look forward to it.

• Put a fan in front of your treadmill, and you will be surprised how much longer you can walk. If you are a beginner, please start slowly, or you will be less likely to continue.

• Listen to books on tape while you exercise. Instead of having your morning coffee with the newspaper, try watching the news while using your treadmill or stationary bike. Listen to music while you exercise or do housework; picking up the pace will come naturally.

• Work all your major muscles. Playing just one sport or performing just one type of exercise is likely to strengthen certain muscles at the expense of others, leaving some tendons and ligaments weaker and thus more vulnerable to injury. For example, shin splint, a common running injury that causes pain in the front of the lower leg, are often the result of the imbalance between the powerful muscles along the back of the lower leg and the relatively weaker ones in front.

• Varying your activities is one way to prevent this muscle imbalance. Another precaution is to consciously strengthen the muscle groups you’ve underused. And be sure to stretch all muscles involved in your workout.
  
• Start walking if you can, if not, roll your arms, your head, and your ankles. No matter, what shape you are in, you can do something extra. Keep your exercise bikes or equipment in plain sight. This acts as a constant reminder of the effort you have invested, so you don’t eat the wrong foods and waste those efforts. Join yoga or an exercise class.

• When parking your car at a store, park it as far away from the store as possible. This will also reduce dents in your car doors from careless people.

• Play with your kids! It is hard enough for us to find time to be with them with all the pressures of life. Play some kind of game requiring physical movement. They will love you for it, and you will benefit in more ways than you can imagine.

• Use music or reading to keep boredom away while exercising.

Photo by Becca Correia: https://www.pexels.com/photo/reflective-moment-on-sunlit-terrace-32314389/