Women have a lot of reasons for not working out. If you’ve never worked out or have not had much success with weight-loss or exercise programs in the past, here are some tips to get you started on the road to fitness:

First and foremost, change your perspective of exercise. Approach fitness as a journey, not the final destination. If your goal is just to reach a certain weight, measurement, or body fat percentage, you may not have long-term success. Many people reach the goal and then fall back into old habits.

Find activities that suit your goals, interests and possible limitations. You HAVE to chose activities that you enjoy, or you will never stick with it. Even if you think you won’t be good at it, try something new. Think outside the box, you do not HAVE to walk on a treadmill or do bicep curls to be fit. If you have injuries, consider Pilates, particularly one-on-one with a trainer who can help you work through injuries, or try a fun class like belly dancing, ballroom dancing or Tae Kwon Do. Whatever it is, choose something that you are actually interested in, and it will be a lot more fun to stick with.

If you are new to exercise of any type, don’t be intimidated. If big gyms scare you, find a small Pilates studio, dance studio or other suitable environment where you feel comfortable. No matter what you decide to do or where you go, remember that everyone else there was new at some point. If you talk to people, you will find that most people will be very encouraging. They are not looking at you with disgust like you may think. More often than not, if they are thinking anything it is, “WOW, good for her. I hope to see her become successful and healthy!”

Do not beat yourself up for letting yourself get out of shape. Instead, pat yourself on the back for making the decision to get healthy and realize that the commitment to a healthy lifestyle must be renewed every single day!

Work on correcting ONE bad habit at time, if you decide to drastically change everything at once, it may be too overwhelming. Create a new healthy goal for each week. For example, Week 1, your goal could be to drink more water and cut out all sodas or caffeine drinks. If you give yourself a plan that allows small successes along the way, you are more likely to make long-term changes.

Look in the mirror and tell yourself that you are “beautifully and wonderfully made.” You need to start looking at the attributes about yourself that you love and embrace them first! Then you will love yourself enough to want to stay healthy and improve other things that may not be your favorite attributes.

Find a buddy with similar goals and become each other’s accountability partners. Schedule sessions for the week, and make each other stick with it. Do not let anything stand in the way of your appointments unless it is an absolute emergency. If you can’t find a buddy, invest in a personal trainer and set up several appointments. Again no excuses, except in the case of an absolute emergency.

Make a list of the positive changes that will take place when you take control of your own health and fitness and post it somewhere that you will see it everyday.

Keep a journal of your progress.

— Christie Hill owns Greenville’s Absolute Studio, 803 Red Banks Road, 830-2271.

Peer pressure aids in weight loss

The simple act of writing down everything you eat and how much exercise you do is a powerful form of accountability, but logging your entries alone is quite ineffective. If you are serious about losing weight, you need someone else to look at your record.

Peer and group support are the most highly proven methods for weight-loss success. When you have to report to someone else, you feel a level of pressure that will change how you think and act.

Find a partner — either a friend or a weight-loss professional — and work together to meet your goals in 2010.

— Donna Johnson is manager of Greenville’s New Leaf Fitness & Weight Loss, 3701 Charles Blvd. The Web site is www.newleaffit.com.