When you feel tired and stressed from work or life in general, it's hard to be a good father, mother, son, daughter, and worker or to enjoy life at all. You want to do things with your loved ones and to take pleasure from each moment, but if your level of fitness is just not good enough.

Instead of living in this disappointing manner, adding even a little exercise to your life can help raise your level of fitness.

In fact, moderate exercise, maybe something as simple as a 30 minute walk several times a week can increase energy, burn fat, improve your mental outlook, lead to better problem solving and help you sleep better at night. Add to that, the improved perception you will have of yourself and life in general. In addition to obvious physical changes such as weight loss and vitality, there is an overall positive impact in your approach to and enjoyment of each day.

Many people make the mistake of trying to do too much exercise when they first get involved in a fitness program whether for physical health, weight loss, the psychological lift, or combinations of these. Start your exercise program at a level you can easily perform. Remember that whatever you are doing that you weren't doing before, as far as exercise and fitness are concerned, are new to your body, and your self-perception, and will take some getting used to.

That 30 minute walk mentioned above was begun as something as simple as a walk to the mailbox and back for some people. Some people began their exercise program with high hopes only to realize that their state of physical fitness was so bad that they could only walk a few feet from their home. However, with perseverance many have improved such poor states of fitness to the point that they could run marathons...eventually.

Don't force it. Let your body find the point where it is getting benefit. If you are in pain either during the exercise or after, back off a little bit. It took a lot of time to reach whatever state of fitness, or lack of it, that you are at, and a single blast of exercise will not change matters...only make them worse, probably.

To get you started with your exercise program whether for weight loss or just for fitness and health, here are a few tips.

1. Walking has to be not only one of the best exercises, but it is also one of the most natural and enjoyable. You can vary your speed to suit your particular level of fitness or to fit with your surroundings. You can walk your dog, walk with the kids, walk in the mall, walk through a serene park, or hike up a mountainside. Walking is one of the best ways to burn fat.

2. Experiment with yoga or tai-chi. Despite the pictures you are accustomed to seeing, these ancient exercise disciplines are actually easy to learn. It is not necessary to achieve the level of competence of the models seen in the pictures, but many of them started at the same level of fitness that you are at now. Yoga and tai-chi routines can be as long or as short as you wish, and once you learn a few basics, they can fit easily into spare moments of the day or be done as full-blown routines.

3. Play a sport. You don't have to butt heads in a football game, but even a little badminton or ping-pong can have very positive effects on health and fitness. Shooting basketball with the kids is a great way to be a parent and get in some exercise, while encouraging them to improve their fitness as well. Team sports not only can be great for exercise, but may even be a way to extend a personal network of friends or to bond with business acquaintances. For that one, just take a look at how much business gets done on the golf course these days. Don't forget! For the exercise benefit, leave the golf cart behind, walk the course, and carry your own clubs. This is good for weight loss and it is a fun way to burn fat.

4. Join scheduled exercise programs. You can sometimes find inexpensive or even free exercise programs offered in your community. Having your exercise scheduled and led by a professional may be just what you need. It may also give you more knowledge of your ability and needs. While you're at it, why not start your own exercise group. Get together with some friends and take a walk one day, bicycle on another, pop in a new aerobics video and try it out together. Another place to find sponsored exercise programs might be at work. More businesses are learning that fitness contributes to employee satisfaction and performance. Who knows? Maybe you can burn fat and fatten your paycheck at the same time!

5. Don't lie around the house. Play (or exercise) around the house. Did you know that a 150 lb person vacuuming for 15 minutes burns 79 calories? This is an average, of course, but that same person only burns 23 calories in 15 minutes while watching TV. Just for comparison, hang gliding and sky diving burn about the same number of calories as vacuuming. Makes you see the Hoover in a whole new light, doesn't it. By the way, playing with the kids is a great physical fitness program. Even moderate children's games such as hopscotch or jacks can burn 90 calories in 15 minutes! That's better than water volley ball or ping-pong. If you want to burn fat and get fit, chase some kids around! What a weight loss program.

As you can see, adding exercise to your life is not really all that difficult. Just by making a few simple adjustments to your activities and your attitude, you could easily burn from a few extra calories a day to a few HUNDRED extra calories a day.

Whether your goal is weight loss, fitness, health, family togetherness, to be there for your kids and grandkids, to burn fat, to cope with the stresses of the family and the workplace, or just to feel better and to feel better about yourself, start today. Start easy. Make it fun. Make it happen.