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Your Fitness Options

Fitness isn't just a plan you embark on with a diet to lose weight. It's a lifelong love of movement and activity that will help you maintain good health and the physique you want.

Here are Dr. Oliver-Pyatt's recommendations on how to evolve your activity plan -- from beginning to marathon runner. The theme here is picking something you love doing and nurturing your feelings every step of the way.

After you read these options, use this week's journal page to explore your fitness habits, desires and goals.

Level One Recommendations

Begin by expanding your definition of exercise: You don't need to run, sweat, or grunt -- any opportunity to partake in an activity where your mind and body are united counts as exercise!

If you feel shy or uncomfortable going to a gym, a ten-minute walk, twice weekly, is an excellent first step toward better fitness. In addition, if you enjoy and can afford it, get a regular massage. Consider buying a good beginner's exercise tape, too. (A tip: rent exercise videos from your local library and try them out to see which you enjoy.) One of my favorite activities is gardening, an underrated form of stress reduction and exercise.

Get in touch with your physicality by taking a Jacuzzi or sauna after a cool shower or, if this isn't possible, taking a bubble bath. Afterward, try some gentle stretching (for ideas, I recommend the book Stretching by Bob Anderson), perhaps followed by another cool down shower and Jacuzzi. A facial also is a good way to reconnect your physical and mental being.

If you feel daring, consider karate or a dance class (one of my patients discovered that she loved ballroom dancing) or bowling. Enjoy the activities you pick, but don't make yourself continue with them any longer than you want to; for instance, don't force yourself to bowl three games if you feel like bowling only one. Remember that your goal is to make yourself healthier and fitter by nurturing yourself and reducing your stress level.

Level Two Recommendations

Think about bowling, softball, or any other type of entry-level team activity. Many people who aren't natural-born athletes love team sports, because of the combination of exercise and social interaction. (Mall-walking groups offer the same benefit if you're looking for something iess strenuous.)

If group activities aren't for you, start a walking routine, two or three times a week, for fifteen to twenty minutes. If you feel like it, try jogging for a few minutes during each walk. Do a few jumping jacks, sit-ups, or push-ups along with stretches in the morning before work. Jump rope with your kids or buy yourself a Hula Hoop. Take an in-line skating class or start going out dancing occasionally with friends.

Dance, tai chi, and yoga classes are enjoyable, low-stress fitness activities. Also, consider buying several exercise tapes and try out fun activities including biking, swimming, horseback riding, or even a regular game of Frisbee with your dog.

Focus, above all, on giving yourself permission to enjoy your physicality. If you can, start getting regular massages. If you belong to a gym, don't feel that you must engage in a strenuous workout every time you're there; instead, try going occasionally just for the enjoyment of stretching for several minutes and then taking a Jacuzzi, steam, or sauna. When you do, you'll learn to reconnect with your physicality and rediscover your body as a source of pleasure.

Level Three Recommendations

By selecting the right exercise program, you can make your natural athleticism work for you. Avoid falling into hard-core, heavy-duty exercise programs that trim off inches for a little while but may not work in the long run because they can cause exercise burnout. (This mistake is similar to thinking that "quick fix" weight-loss plans will solve your problems.) Find activities that you enjoy instead of merely choosing those that burn calories. When you do, you'll achieve excellent long-term results. You probably already know some of the activities that you do and don't like, so select activities that you prefer and drop those that bore or stress you.

For instance, are you starting to dread your usual five-mile run? If so, give yourself permission to take a leisurely bike ride or swim instead. Too tired for a thirty-minute workout? Then exercise for fifteen minutes instead, and see if you feel like continuing. And if you find yourself setting harder and harder goals ("I need to run an eight-minute mile"), reconsider your priorities. Remember that participating in regular, moderate exercise is smarter and more effective than forcing yourself to participate in intense, grueling workouts that can lead to injury or burnout.

Because you like physical activity, you might enjoy the challenge of participating in a run or bike race for charity -- a great way to get exercise while meeting new people and helping your community. You might even want to train for a half-marathon, if running is your favorite activity. Just be sure to make fun and stress reduction -- not calorie-burning -- your top priorities!

Level Four Recommendations

Keep up the good work! Your goal is to establish a healthy and pleasant exercise routine, intermingling challenging activities with peaceful and relaxing mind/body experiences. If you find yourself becoming bored, vary your exercise routine with creative new activities; for instance, if you're tired of jogging every morning, try taking up kickboxing, spin cycling, in-line skating, even a jazz dance class. Spicing up your exercise routine will motivate you to stick with it.

No matter what level of activity is right for you, concentrate on nurturing yourself through exercise. When you do, you'll feel good -- and when you feel good, you'll stick with your fitness plan.

Some days that plan might lead you to be the first person at the gym or to sign up for a challenging fitness run. Other days you'll be found at the spa getting a massage or stretching for a few minutes before you take a leisurely walk. It may seem hard to believe, but all of these activities are active ways of achieving true and lasting fitness.

So forget "no pain, no gain," and instead focus on the joy of swimming, walking, skating, belly dancing, or even Jacuzzi-ing your way to better health and a trimmer body. Expand your definition of exercise to include any activities that help you relieve stress and "connect" your mind and body -- and make a commitment, based on self-love and self-affirmation, to make exercise a priority in your life. When you do, you'll see your excess pounds and inches come off more quickly and effortlessly.