by Edie Summers

Created on: January 07, 2009   Last Updated: February 10, 2009

The holidays are over. It's back to working long hours and daydreaming about faraway island beaches. Although there may be a slight reminder of your holiday memories in the fact that you can't wear your favorite pants any more. No to worry, it happens to just about everyone. A good thing about this time of year is that many of us have made New Year's resolutions to eat better and hopefully stick to an exercise and diet program.

Exercise is a word many of us dread thinking about or - even worse - doing. But it is the main key to losing or maintaining weight as well. In fact exercise is so important to health that it would be the number one "drug" prescribed by many doctors if it were a pill. Exercise makes you sleep better, look better, and increases your chances of living longer.

This is the time of year that fitness clubs are packed and gym memberships go up. The enthusiasm usually lasts for a couple of months until people realize that exercising and eating right take on-going work, discipline, and routine. Those aren't exactly motivating factors when it comes to getting and staying in shape. When it comes to our personal lives, most of us operate on inspiration, not the promise of perspiration.

The key to sticking to an exercise plan then is to find something anything which you actually enjoy and look forward to doing. Some people have an aversion just to the word exercise. A better word is "move." Just move as much as you can everyday, doing things you like to do. Think outside the box. For example if you love shopping, go walk around the mall as much as you can every day and only occasionally stop in a shop you can't resist. This is called mall walking and is a popular way to exercise, especially in the early mornings before the stores open.

If you love dogs, take your dog out every day, twice a day. If you love sex, have more of it, and take your time. If you love to dance, turn on some music and dance around your living room, or enroll in a ballroom class, or salsa, or hip-hop. It doesn't matter if you look or feel like a dancing fool. Everyone is a dancing fool, and you're saving your life and having fun to boot.

There is always a way to find a way to move: gardening, swimming, martial arts, boxing, walking, housecleaning, bowling, roller-skating, etc. Find it, do it, and before you know it, you just might become hooked. And, by the way, you get to eat a ton more of food, or at least, more food, because your metabolism is elevated and you have more muscle

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