If huffing and puffing isn't your scene, don't sweat it. Literally. While "exercise" is good for your body, what we usually think of as "exercise" isn't the only alternative. You don't have to jog, walk miles, do crunches or go to the gym to do your body good.

Ah, the gym! What a wonderful place for the overweight person. Tight clothes. Seats that are too small and uncomfortable if your rear is wider than normal. Weight machines where your knees hit the metal supports because they're made for toned body builders, not people like us.

Frankly, I'd rather do my workouts at home, if I did workouts. I don't, but I do exercise. You can do the type of exercise I do – probably already do – but I doubt you call it exercise. Do you talk on the phone? No, that's not technically exercise, except for your jaw and one arm. But if you walk while you talk – and I make a conscious effort to do that – you can burn up a lot of calories while your friend tells you exactly what she said to her husband when she found that pair of undies under his car seat.

Do you have a pet? Do you walk your pet or just let it out into the yard? If you walk it, it's exercise. If you clean your cat's litter box, it's exercise. If you clean it more often than you need to, it's more exercise and how about lifting that bag of cat litter several times, instead of just once? Just heft it up as far as your waist a few times. Ditto for anything else that weighs about 5-10 lbs.

I've gotten really creative. When I cook, I make a separate trip to the cupboard or fridge for each item. I lift the pans, cans, boxes and bottles several times each, as I use them. If you take every opportunity to move, rather than stay in one place, you'll be surprised how much it helps with weight loss and toning your body.

Most of us can blame at least part of our weight gain on gradually moving around less and less. We park closer to stores. We carry as many things as possible at once, so that we don't have to make so many trips. We use our body less and it gets to where we're automatically expending as little energy as possible, all the while taking in more and more energy in the form of food.

To help with weight loss and to feel better and more alive, make a conscious effort to move around more and sit less. It doesn't take heavy sustained exercise or trips to the gym to get more fit. It just takes some thought and a little effort and you can do it right at home.