Exercise won't make you live longer or lose weight. Sorry about that.

Maybe it will -- stands to reason -- but I've read conflicting studies. We all know lots of old fat people. And rail-skinny people who exercised incessantly and still died way too young.

But that's not why you should exercise in the first place. You exercise not to live longer or to lose weight but to enjoy to the fullest your life as you're living it, at least physically.

When I work out, I often strap ten-pound weights to each ankle, to make pull-ups and other exercises a little harder. Actually, it makes everything a LOT harder. And it occurred to me recently that if I had to walk around all day with those weights around my ankles, I'd be damned tired by suppertime. And that was only twenty extra pounds. You know people who are more than twenty pounds overweight, right? Think how hard it must be for them just to get around!

Vigorous exercise of any kind -- walking fast, running, swimming, rock-climbing -- will tone and strenghten your muscles and reinforce the supply of blood to your heart and lungs and brain. But, alas, it won't make you lose weight. That depends -- you know -- on how much you eat. And what you eat.

So yeah, you already knew that you shouldn't eat anything you want, in any proportions, but you were hoping there was another way to good health and the perfect figure. Unfortunately, there's not. Ya gotta eat less. Sorry.

Along those lines, to digress, I've found that the best way to cut down on over-eating is not to eat at scheduled times, when you're more likely to load up your plate with what looks to you like a real meal: meat, potatoes, a salad, bread, maybe dessert. Forget the traditional meal.

Eat like an animal. (I have a previously blog on this topic.) Graze. Open the fridge and see if anything looks worth a few spoonfuls. You'll eat a lot less this way, I guarantee.

So we're agreed that exercise probably won't make you live longer and that it also won't make you lose weight unless you also cut down on the calories you consume. Right?

Back to the main idea: you exercise because it makes you feel better.

Remember the ankle weights? Suppose you had them on and also a weighted vest, which is another piece of workout apparel. And maybe something extra heavy hanging around your neck. And it's time to go to the mall!

It's hard even to get into the car. Your over-burdened joints hurt, and you're having a harder and harder time fitting under the steering wheel. I mean, there's only so far back you can push the driver's seat. You're huffing and puffing by the time you turn the key in the ignition. And now here comes all that walking. Oh Lord.

This is an extreme example of the results of lack of exercise. And a poor diet. Everything above could have been prevented with a little (or a lot) more movement and many fewer sit-down meals. Keep moving and eat like an animal.

Seen any fat cheetahs lately? Monkeys? Squirrels? Birds? Wasps?

There are, to be sure, fat animals in nature -- walruses, whales, hippos, etc. -- and certainly lots of domesticated ones -- cows most notably -- but I'm thinking that the fat must serve a real purpose for those animals that I don't know about (except for the cow, who we raise to be fat).

But most animals are not fat, and most of us humans don't need to be, either. Even those of us who don't exercise know that we have to limit how much and what we eat if we're going to fit into that favorite pair of jeans. And even if you can still wear that same size, what you're stuffing into those jeans is likely to be a lot wobblier than what slid into them twenty years earlier.

Unless you exercise. It's the only way to subtract twenty years from your body image. First, if you must, do the diet thing. Lose the weight. Then firm up what's left with exercise. But it's easier -- and quicker -- if you do them at the same time. As you lose pounds, you get more buff at the same time, not later.

And you won't just look better -- you'll feel better. You'll feel like you've taken off those ankle weights and are walking on air. Going up stairs won't be a problem. The occasional sprint across the street to keep from getting whacked by a car -- piece of cake. You'll be a new and improved physical machine. Your body will be ready for emergencies but also just easier to be in during the day. In short, if you stay in good physical condition, you'll forget all about your body.

You won't be thinking about those stairs or about that ache in your knees. You'll take your body for granted. Just as you take your car for granted. Your body the machine will be in such good working order that you won't even be aware of it. After all, it's your vehicle, and you need to keep it in good running order. (Earlier blog about this, too).

So my advice -- and I'm an exerciser but not an athlete -- is to get physical, however best suits your taste and time and tolerance, not to lose weight or live longer but to enjoy so much more the life you're living right now.

A fit you will be a happier you. Money-back guarantee.

When you don't have to be thinking about your body, you can think about so many other things!