Getting a handle on your diet is just the first step toward losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle. In order to tame the weight loss beast, you MUST change your physical habits as well as your eating habits. You don't necessarily have to exert yourself as if you were training for the Olympics, but you definitely need to learn how to burn off more calories than you consume. Once you have accomplished that, you can step in to a regimen to maintain your ideal weight.

Individual activity goals depend upon each person's health and weight goals and issues. Begin by checking with your medical advisor or healthcare physician to get a green light on which activities would be suitable for you, what your target weight range should be and a strategic plan to improve your health.

In a nutshell, during activities, calories are burned, pounds are shed in the long run. And the number of calories burned depends upon the duration and intensity or the activity. Slow and steady is the rule of thumb. And note daily progress. For those who have never been very active at all, it may be advisable to begin slow like with walking 10 minutes each day, gradually building up time and distance with increased 'brisk' pacing. Turn everyday activity into exercise. Even if you can't get out to walk, bike or swim, take stairs instead of elevators and escalators. Clean your house (changing bedding is great exercise!). Clean your car. Wash windows. Wash your dog. Check out exercise videos, cassettes and workout books from the public library and put some of their ideas into action. Check out your local fitness centers, YMCA, community center, too, for ideas. Partner up with a neighbor to walk or join a community volleyball team. There are unlimited ways to be active and enjoy life at the same time without using painful weight loss strategies.

Here are some more tips.

* Hide your remote control and get up and down to change the channels.
* Try balancing on one foot without support while putting on your shoes and socks.
* Instead of sitting in the stands while watching your kids play at a ballgame, try pacing the field instead.
* Take a brisk ten minute walk each morning, afternoon and evening.
* Plant a vegetable garden. You'll have all that terrific food to eat and exercise in the process!
* Walk your dog and keep pace.
* Take a Frisbee along and play in the park with your dog.
* Park in the furthest parking space.
* Clean your house .
* Take a brisk ten minute walk each morning, afternoon and evening.
* Learn a new dance.

Starting today . . . right now . . . this very minute, make a conscious decision that you no longer accept ownership of excess weight. You are not what you weigh. You are a unique human being and entitled to all the gifts that this life has to offer.