"By Bob Greene

You know that you need to move more to lose weight, but you may not know exactly where to start. Should you do aerobic or strength training? How often should you work out? How hard? What kind of activity is best? Don't worry! Here are all the tips you need to get started. Use this guide to design a fitness plan that will help you achieve your goals—whether you're lacing up your sneakers for the very first time or you're returning to exercise after a long break. (And remember to get the green-light from your doctor before starting an exercise routine.)

Set your goal. The first thing you should do is figure out exactly what you want to accomplish—what your primary goal is. For example, your exercise plan might be different if you're looking to lose weight than if you want to improve your overall fitness. For most of you, weight loss will be your goal; the guidelines below can help you create a routine that will peel off pounds.

Find an activity you enjoy. Typically, most people focus on aerobic exercise when they're trying to lose weight, and that's a great place to begin. Aerobic exercise, which helps your muscles burn calories at a higher rate, is basically any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously, is rhythmic in nature and elevates your heart rate and breathing. This includes jogging, walking, swimming, rowing and biking. If you're just starting out, I'd recommend that you begin with power walking (see Walk this Way for tips on power walking). This is my number-one choice because you can do it virtually anywhere, anytime and the risk of injury is low. Obviously, the workout you choose should be based on any physical limitations you may have and your preferences. For instance, do you prefer to be alone or in a group setting? Would you rather exercise indoors or out?

Schedule your sweat sessions. Your next step is to determine how much exerise you can reasonably fit into your life (check out The Best Life Activity Scale to gauge where you are now and decide what level you can eventually achieve). Look at your schedule and plan out your exercise sessions. A good place to start:15 to 20 minutes three times a week. (If you can do more than this, great. The general guideines for using aerobic exercise to achieve weight loss include exercising five or six times a week for 30 to 60 minutes per session at a moderately, vigorous intensity. Otherwise, do as much as you can and work your way up. You can try adding a few minutes to each session after the first few weeks.)

Work on your intensity. Many people overlook this aspect of exercise, but you'll have to work out at an intense enough level to reap the full benefits from your routine. To gauge your intensity, you can use either a heart rate monitor to figure out your target heart rate, or even easier, use your perceived level of exertion—basically, how hard it feels like you're working based on your breathing. This scale consists of 10 levels, where 1 is resting and 10 is all-out exercise. The level you want to aim for is a 7 or 8; at this level, you could still talk, but would prefer not to, and though the workout is challenging, you could still complete your planned workout. Check out How Hard Are You Really Working? to learn more about the perceived exertion scale.

Add in strength training. Once you feel comfortable with your aerobic routine, I'd recommend that you start incorporating some strength training exercises. Strength training, or resistance training, is so important because it maintains and builds new muscle;. And remember, it takes more calories for the body to maintain muscles than it does fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. You can use body weight (calistenics), dumbbells (or free weights), resistance tubes or bands, or weight machines. Check out The Basic Eight for a sample workout. Start with two sets of 15 to 20 repetitions for each exercise. (A repetition, or rep, is one complete movement, while a set refers to a group of consecutive repetitions.) You can do this routine twice a week to start, and again, work your way up.

The beautiful thing about the human body is that whatever your level of fitness is today, you can significantly improve it by consistently challenging your ability. So if you've never exercised or haven't in quite some time, start with small steps towards your goals and before you know it, you'll not only be slimmer, but you'll be fitter and healthier, too!
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