Ask yourself, what exercise can I realistically do in a day?

Begin instead with whatever you can realistically fit into your day, even if it’s only 15 minutes walking around before you get into the car to head home after work. Any success, however small, will build motivation for the next time. As a bonus, rather than feeling stressed, you will wind up feeling more energized and positive.

If you choose to do another few minutes when you get home, that amounts to yet another win, and so it goes.

If you tend to be overly hard on yourself for not adhering to your workouts, try giving yourself credit where credit is due instead. The truth is, we all move our bodies to some degree, and all movement counts. All physical activity requires some level of effort, and this includes less formal forms of exercise such as running an errand, cleaning the house, mowing the yard, playing with your kids, etc.

Taking a walk during work breaks, climbing a set of stairs, or even sitting and standing from your office chair, all burn calories, strengthen muscles and add to the habit of being active without making it a chore.

These days, it’s not uncommon to find people counting the number of steps taken throughout the day. For those with a fitness watch or pedometer, it’s an easy way to get an idea of how active they are day to day, and isn’t as confining as setting a goal that requires a set number of minutes. The idea here is that it’s not necessarily about how much time you spend moving around, but how much effort is put into the time that you do have.

In one study, when overweight women were asked to wear a fitness watch to count steps, they typically ended up exceeding 10,000, while those who were asked to walk for 30 minutes most days of the week averaged fewer total steps.

Being active outdoors rather than indoors has also been shown to be more effective when it comes to increasing activity levels and boosting mood.

The bottom line is that when finding ways to be more active that fit naturally into your day, the chances of developing a lifelong habit of movement are much greater.

Regular exercise and a healthier diet often go hand-in-hand. Typically, people who move more also eat less. Working out can reduce food cravings in people prone to overeating and improve the appetites of people who don’t feel like eating.