How to Get Fit and Healthy Without Spending a Lot

Have you ever stayed up late at night and watched those infomercials for the latest fad diet or exercise craze? I have, and I've also seen the books, videos, and equipment in my local Goodwill, sometimes as early as 3 months later.

Everyone wants to be fit and healthy. No one chooses to be overweight, tired, and unfit. However, it is important to remember that those infomercials are not terribly realistic. Personally, I'm far more impressed with a new exercise video, piece of equipment or even a new diet when the infomercial shows people of varying weights using the product, and what their results have been for each one of them. This tells me that the people making the infomercial haven't gone out and hired a bunch of hard bodies who never used nor saw the product prior to being hired to make the infomercial. In these cases the plan is to dupe the public into paying a lot of money for a product that may or may not work. Sadly I think many of them don't work because people become discouraged when they don't get the quick fix that the infomercial promised, and stop using them.

So, how do you get fit and healthy without spending a ton of money? Here's how.

1. Set realistic goals. Don't wake up one morning and tell yourself, "Ok, starting today I'm going to eat right and go to gym every day of the week." Doing this sets you up for failure. You are human and because of that prone to make mistakes; it's important to keep this in mind.

2. Start Small. Besides setting realistic goals, starting small is important. Maybe decide you are going to include more fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet, or decrease your intake of soda pop for example. Maybe decide to go for a 15 minute walk a couple of days a week. If you start out small, and set realistic goals you will be more likely to stick to them.