Now There’s No Reason Not to Get Fit

You’ve heard from the exercise early birds and the ones with so much energy they work out after a full day’s work. But still you’re not moving. We knew it would come to this. You need more than hearing about exercise options during the day. You need motivation and guidance.

Read on.

Approach Diet, Exercise With a Winner’s Mind-Set

Exercise and diet have been responsible for completely shaping the woman I have grown to be. That is to say, my dramatic physical transformation has led to incredible confidence and higher self-esteem that has caused me to set higher goals, which I am achieving! I am on the road to doing and seeing things that I had only dreamed of doing while I was overweight. Diet and exercise are not just a matter of discipline; they take a winner’s mind-set.

As a financial speaker, I have a very erratic schedule and travel a great deal. Sometimes, I get up an hour earlier to ride my stationary bike while I go over notes or watch the morning news. The priority, however, is to get my heart rate up, not to simply pedal away for an hour--that would be a waste of time. I always keep a gym bag with fresh gym clothes and shoes in the trunk.

Diet is important too. If you feel tired at 5 o’clock, the last thing you want to do is get on the treadmill. Have a moderate snack a couple of hours before your workout.

Splurge a little on nice-looking gym clothes, make friends with people at the gym (incredible networking opportunities await you). The gym is a culture of people dedicated to self-improvement. The new-found confidence will spill over into other areas of your life, and you then experience the power that exercise and diet can create.

BRENDA M. WEINER

Monrovia

Switch to an Activity That You Really Like

Five and a half years ago, I was going through a bout with breast cancer (lumpectomy, radiation and chemotherapy). I decided then that once I got through it, I would start taking better care of myself.

My husband and I joined a gym. I started with the treadmill and bicycle. I’d bring a book or stare absently around me. It was OK, but I wasn’t really into it, nor was I motivated to keep to a schedule. One day I was on the treadmill looking through a large window into a workout room, where I saw a group of women stepping and moving in a way that looked like dancing. They were working hard, but it seemed so graceful. I began trying the different low-impact aerobics and step classes. Very soon I realized this was great exercise and something I really liked. I make the time--my week is not complete if I don’t do step or aerobics classes.

--HARRIET SEGURSON

West Hills

Turn Off That Darned TV, and Just Get Moving

For more time to work out:

1. Less TV! Those hours sitting on the couch could be spent exercising.

2. Consider a workout “quality time with your loved one” and exercise together.

3. If you prefer to work out at night, don’t go home after work to change; instead, go straight to the gym. You’ll have a better chance of sticking to your workout, because there are a million reasons not to leave your cozy home after a hard day at work.

4. Instead of a lunch hour, make it a workout hour and find someone at work to walk with or join a gym for midday workouts. This will pep you up for the afternoon, and anyway how long does it take to eat a sandwich?

5. If you prefer to work out early, go to bed earlier (no TV!), and you’ll see how wonderful it is to be “up and at ‘em” before everyone else is. Guaranteed, a superiority complex will develop because your friends will be in awe of your discipline.

--ELIZABETH BELCARRA

Malibu

Staying Fit Is a Matter of Discipline, Creativity

Surprise--it has nothing to do with finding the time. Everybody has enough time to work out. It is about three things:

1. Discipline. I have gone swimming after working a 12-hour night shift at 8 a.m. in a wet and cold fog in an outdoor pool.

2. Priority. Exercise has to be a part of your life, like eating and drinking and sleeping.

3. Creativity. Working in an office in Manhattan, I took my lunch hour to go running and then washed up in the ladies room (no shower), causing quite some gossip.

If I have to run an errand, I use my bicycle. If I need a haircut, I run to the beauty salon and walk back. If I cannot leave the house, I work with weights (which is the perfect workout for mothers with small children).

--ERIKA BLOS

Santa Barbara

Remember That It Feels Good to Be Thin

Now that I’m 30, now that I’m divorced, I get to be the athlete I never was. I spent too much time getting the grades, being a cheerleader, becoming a wife . . .

a mother.

But now, the balancing act is between my son and my own life. Fortunately, the two are nowhere near mutually exclusive.

Now I run and play soccer. I’m 5-foot-6, weigh less than I did in high school and have those runner’s arms I longed for forever. I am the athlete I tried to be for my father, the athlete I got sneered at for trying to be by my ex-husband.

And now it doesn’t matter either way. It feels good to be thin. It feels good to be peaceful.

--HEATHER STEVENS

Long Beach

--Compiled by AARON DAVIS