1. Just do it. Set a small, reasonable goal. For example, I bought an exercise bike and my first goal was to use it 20 minutes, 3 times a week. I told myself that even if I just sat on it for 20 minutes while watching tv, that I would at least be on the bike! I now work out on an elliptical trainer or walk 2 miles, 3 or 4 times a week.
2. Keep a record. Plan your exercise time in advance and record your progress. It's especially motivating to note how you feel. At first, you might feel sore or tired, but in a few weeks, you will have more energy and fewer aches and pains. You'll probably sleep much better, too.
3. Commit to yourself that you will exercise at your minimum goal level for 2 months, no matter what happens. If you gain weight, keep exercising. Lose your job? Exercise. Feel depressed? Exercise. Get mad at your partner? Exercise. No excuses, short of illness or tragedy. And, even then, exercise might help.
4. Consult your doctor. Most people can begin a program of easy to moderate walking with no ill effects. But, if you might have a hidden health problem or you have a chronic health condition, or if you are over 40, you need your doctor's advice on how to proceed.
5. Enjoy the endorphins! Exercise does release feel-good hormones. I started exercising because my doctor told me that it might both lessen my chronic neck spasms (whiplash) and release endorphins which made the spasms easier to handle. She was right. It does both. I still have to push myself to exercise sometimes, but knowing how much worse I will feel if I don't usually does the trick.
