It's a fantastic feeling when you start exercising and start to feel fit. You feel strong, healthy and have heaps of energy. Most of us can achieve this. For some of us who haven't felt that way for a long time or ever remember feeling that way, read through my tips and get started!

Train With a Friend

It can be hard to start an exercise program especially if you live in a cold climate and need to get up early before work. If you can find a friend to exercise with, either walking together or going to gym with, it makes exercise a lot more fun. You can't roll over and go back to sleep if you know your friend is going to be knocking at your door to pick you up in a few minutes.

Goal Setting

It's really important to give yourself specific exercise goals to achieve in a certain time frame. This means that you have set criteria to measure yourself up against. As well as motivating you to achieve these exercise goals, it also helps improve your self-esteem when you achieve these goals. If at first you find you are not meeting your exercise goals, you can re-evaluate these goals. Maybe you have set goals that are too hard, or maybe you need to put in more effort to achieve these. Look forward to that great feeling of achievement when you do reach those goals.

Make It Fun

Find an exercise program that you will enjoy. There are many fitness centres, indoor-swimming pools and sporting centres that offer a variety of programs. Find a program that suits you and has other members who you feel comfortable with. There are so many activities to choose from that suit people of all ages and sizes. If you find an exercise where you are meeting great people and are have having fun you will be more likely to stick with it.

Visualise

Think about how fantastic you will feel when you have reached your fitness goal. Don't dwell on any past failures; think about how you will succeed and how much confidence you will have when you achieved your ideal weight/fitness level.

Reward

Give yourself a reward when you have achieved your exercise goals, and also reward yourself throughout your program. Make it something special, you deserve it.