The following will help you prepare for making changes to improve your health.

See your doctor

If you have any medical conditions or you are not physically active, see your doctor before you begin to exercise. Your doctor may want to check your blood pressure and blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels. If you have heart problems, are at high risk for heart problems, or have joint problems, your doctor may want you to have some additional testing before you begin an exercise program.

Change your thinking

Instead of focusing on weight loss programs, which are rarely successful over the long term, change your focus to improving your health. Focus on other health aspects you can improve, such as raising your fitness level and reducing your blood pressure, reducing your blood sugar if you have diabetes, and reducing your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Becoming active and improving your eating habits are the two major ways to improve your health.

Heredity plays a role in your body type and your weight. Avoid comparing yourself to others. Healthy bodies come in all shapes and sizes.

Learn to celebrate your body for what it is and the fitness and health you can achieve. Use measures other than weight or clothing size to track your progress in reaching your health goals. Realize that our culture overemphasizes extreme thinness, which makes people feel bad when they cannot achieve such an unrealistic body size.

Set goals you can reach

Focus on small, cumulative changes in your physical activity and eating habits that will lead to long-term healthy changes. Your goals should be specific, within your reach, and flexible.

Tips for setting goals:

• Write down your goals. This gives you a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Also, reading your goals can serve as a helpful reminder.
• Make your goals specific. A specific goal can help you measure your progress.
• Focus on achieving one goal at a time. This can keep you from feeling overwhelmed.
• Set goals other than weight loss, such as improving your eating habits, increasing your physical activity, or lowering your blood pressure.

Tips for setting activity goals:

• Fit in physical activity whenever you have time. Your physical activity does not need to be done all at once. If you do not have time to walk for 30 minutes, instead try to fit in 10 minutes of walking 3 times a day.
• Keep track of the number of steps you take each day with a step counter or pedometer, which you can buy at a sporting goods store. Wearing a step counter may motivate you to be more physically active. Write down your daily step count on a calendar to track your progress.
• Find creative ways to add physical activity to your day. Park your car at the far end of the parking lot when you go to the mall or grocery store. If you ride the bus, get off one stop before you usually do and walk the rest of the way. When you watch TV, walk in place or do jumping jacks during the commercial breaks. Instead of e-mailing a coworker, get up and walk to his or her desk.