HEATHER, athlete and personal trainer: Congratulations! You’ve taken the first two steps to making a positive change in your life and more importantly for your body. First, you recognize that not exercising is in fact a problem and second, you are questioning how to get started on a program.

Your next set of goals are of utmost importance. The biggest change that you need to make for yourself is to start scheduling a time of day for exercise. Block off one hour of your day in your palm pilot, day planner, or calendar that is dedicated solely to exercise and the betterment of your body. This is an appointment with yourself that cannot be broken and can’t be easily switched at your whim.

. The next step is finding a routine that will keep both your mind and body stimulated and provide the results that you desire. You may need to enlist the assistance of a personal trainer or fitness professional to help you develop a routine that is best for you. If you choose to go it alone, make sure you are finding a balance between strength, cardio vascular and flexibility training. Don’t forget that things you may find enjoyable are also considered exercise. For example, swimming, biking, roller blading and playing basketball are good forms of exercise, especially if you are doing them with a high level of intensity.

Finally, most people find it easier to exercise with a partner. Your partner cannot only help with motivation, but it is much harder to not show up for a workout when you must answer to them for your lack of attendance.

Remember, exercise is a lifestyle change. It must become habitual. You have been given one body- you must take care of it

BARBARA, arts, educational & cultural consultant: Your situation is one that many of us face, especially after a summer of cookouts and vacations. But fall is officially here and what better time than a new season to take control of your life and begin again. That’s right. Use the next 12 weeks (the autumn season) to renew, refresh and retrain.

Renew: Set new goals. Determine to reduce sugar and sweets, eliminate salt and sodium, drink more water, reduce or eliminate caffeine, reduce your carbs or eat more fruits and vegetables. (Each of us is different, so plan realistic goals.)

Refresh: Change a few old habits to some fresh new ones. For instance, if you are used to three large meals a day, try “grazing.” That means eating five to six times a day with three lighter main meals and two to three snacks in between... Many “grazers” claim they feel better and experience weight loss.

Retrain: Stimulate the giving spirit and the hidden athlete within by preparing to enter an upcoming charitable run, walk or bike event. Plan to get in shape for it week by week. Then, when the event comes, you’ll be ready and psyched because it’s for a good cause.

Girlfriends, I’m heeding all of my own advice for this week. I’ve set an autumn goal to renew, refresh and retrain. In fact, a friend has invited me to sponsor and join her on an upcoming Alzheimer’s walk. I have accepted the invitation/challenge and I’ll let you know how I’m doing. Good luck to all of you, too.

ELLEN, the anti-athlete: Credit the white sand of St. Pete Beach and the embrace of good friends for getting my exercise groove back. What usually stops my sneakers in their tracks to the fitness center is fatigue. Even the thought of walking around the block after a rigorous workday seems like a dangerously exhausting gambit. Guilt and the "Just Do It" mantra has worked for me in the past. But not now. Luckily, I literally stumbled into a new strategy on a recent business trip to the Tampa/St. Petersburg area. Here are a few unconventional tips on jump-starting your exercise routine when the usual tactics don’t work.

1. Spend some time with people who love you and don't care what you look like in your swimming suit. I was struck by the comment in last week’s Girlfriends column from Tracey, who has lost 40 pounds with a combination of an eating plan and Pilates. She said a key to her success was that her Pilates teacher didn’t seem to judge her when she first walked into the studio. Even though she was then 40 pounds overweight, Tracey felt accepted, and that helped her get on the Pilates bandwagon.

I had a similar experience in Florida by spending time with good friends who have known me a long time and don’t care how I look. It was liberating and exhilarating.

2. Do nothing. It sounds contradictory: Slow down and loosen up so you can get revved up about sit-ups, weight machines and finding the dough to join a health club or hire a trainer. When I took a few days leave from my daily routine, it made me feel more centered. For the workaholics among us, this might be a good way to get in touch with the athlete within.

3. Spend some time alone. I toggled my time away from home between my business associates/friends and solitude. Usually on a business trip, I’m up at dawn attending seminars and in the bar until 2 a.m. networking. This trip, I promised myself at least two hours a day of solitude. I found after a couple of days that combining "Ellen time" with walking on the beach was a terrific tonic. And it left me craving for more exercise as I wended my way home.

4. Try a massage. I started my time for myself with a massage by a personal trainer and licensed massage therapist at the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa in St. Pete Beach. Robert Wuttke had me do deep breathing during the massage. His work on my muscles was terrific, and his life story was inspirational. Severely injured in a car accident, Wuttke, in his early 30s, used his bodybuilding skills to nurse himself back to health. He told me that he had run 3.5 miles on the beach with one client that morning and another 3.5 miles that afternoon. I guess he recovered!

You don't have to drop a bundle for a massage. Bargain hunters can find good prices by contacting www.amtmassage.org or www.ncbtmb.com. A back rub or foot rub by your spouse, partner or roommate can also do the trick. This can be a good welcome home gift when you’ve been out of town. (Are you reading this, honey?)

Massage is a treat for me. The indulgence during my time away helped me get centered and feel good about my body.

5. Face the fact that time is not the problem. Several days into my daily walkathons, a friend complained between seminars how overweight she was and how she felt embarrassed seeing colleagues who had once known her in a slimmer incarnation. She said she didn’t have time to walk and running was out of the question given her fitness condition. "Pilates!" I yelled as she moved across the courtyard. "In my free time," she said ruefully.

I might have said the same thing a week ago. But after giving myself this break, I have to say that even we very important newspaper editors do have time to exercise. A pundit once reminded a bunch of exercise whiners that the president of the United States exercises every day. He asked: Do you really think you are busier than the president?

Well, no.

6. Turn to nature for inspiration. Believe me, I count myself as one of the truly blessed to have had a few days amidst the white sand and clapping waves of St. Pete Beach. But I didn’t really have to leave home to bask in Mother Nature’s wonders. Cool nights and breathtaking fall colors are about to overtake Philadelphians who have ample trails, parkland and walkable neighborhoods. Do exercise safe practices when walking around unpopulated areas or taking a spin after dark. And don’t forget, we’re just an hour or so from the shore. There is nothing wrong with taking a day off to drive there by yourself and take in a sunset.

HEATHER, athlete and personal trainer: Since my experience with this week’s topic is limited at best, I have enlisted the help of Sue McInereny, group exercise guru and fitness coordinator for the Roxborough YMCA.

With over 20 years experience in the fitness industry, Sue writes, "Pilates is a unique method of body conditioning. This system of exercises was developed over 90 years ago by the late Joseph H. Pilates. Pilates designed more than 500 specific exercises using five major pieces of unique apparatus to develop the body uniformly. His progressions of exercises are still practiced around the world. Pilates utilizes no weights, just mind and body working together from the inside out. This produces leaner, stronger and more flexible muscles, with many other added benefits of balance, control and quality of movement.

Pilates begins at the core, the "power center" from which all other movement patterns are derived. The "core" - abdomen, lower back, and buttocks - is supported and strengthened, enabling the rest of the body to move freely. The fact is that if you have a strong, stable central foundation, then the movements of the extremities will be much more effective and efficient.

Pilates is an excellent addition to any fitness regimen. We invite you to check out a Pilates class or any of our other group exercise classes at Roxborough YMCA, 7201 Ridge Ave. To find a class that fits your busy schedule, check out the Web site at www.roxboroughymca.org. Be sure to ask for Heather or Sue when you come for your free visit!

BARBARA, arts, educational & cultural consultant: A body and mind exercise, Pilates has served dancers, actors and others from around the world. It’s a fact that comes as no surprise to Jeanette Coleman, Pilates instructor at the Abington Club in Jenkintown.

"Pilates helps to improve flexibility and teaches you how to hold your body in proper body alignment," Coleman said. "It gives you the appearance of decreased fat as it improves muscle tone and reshapes the body."

The exercise method is built around the Six Basic Principles of Pilates:

1. Level of Concentration - focus your concentration on affective movement
2. Control - use a slow steady motion to achieve long lean lines
3. Center - teaches proper breathing, improves posture and body alignment (utilizing the lower abdominals, just below the naval)
4. Flowing Movement - use a slow, steady, controlled motion as flow from one movement to another
5. Precision - follow all directions for each exercise to achieve the best execution or the proper form
6. Breathing - inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth; diaphragm breathing is both mental and physical

If you would like to try a class, check out Jeanette Coleman on Tuesday nights at the Abington Club. Other locations are Philly Total Fitness, Bally's, LA Fitness and area Y's. With the claims of improved strength, circulation, posture, longer, leaner muscles and clearness of mind how, can it hurt you?

ELLEN, journalist and anti-athlete: I’ve heard many Girlfriends talk a lot about how great Pilates makes you feel. My motivation to try it increased tenfold last week when a male friend told me his wife Tracey had been practicing it for more than a year and "she looks great."

What better recommendation than to have your husband or partner notice your workout is paying off?

Tracey, in her early 40s, said she lost almost 40 pounds in the past 18 months with a change in eating habits and Pilates. She heard about Pilates on the Today show and shopped around for a reasonably priced class in the Philadelphia area. She found a great teacher and price of about $45 a month for one class a week or $65 per month for two classes a week. Between three to eight students were in her class and they did their workout on mats. Other classes might use a machine, she said.

What she likes best about her teacher is that she was very accepting at the outset, even though Tracey had some weight to lose after four pregnancies. What a relief it must be to walk into a fitness studio and not have to face women with bodies and outfits that rival the Eagles cheerleaders!

Tracey, who lives in Havertown, had tried yoga but found the moves easier in Pilates. Yet Pilates still had the mind/body focus Tracey needed for her change of lifestyle that netted the new slimmer and shapelier body. She describes the exercise as stretching and contracting muscle groups while breathing deeply. The abdominal series of movements, which was usually at the end of her workout, were the most strenuous, she said. But the hour-long class that she took twice a week left her feeling relaxed and energized.

What was most surprising? "It’s changed the shape of my legs!" she said enthusiastically. "It was weird." She also noticed that the muscles in her arms and shoulders are more well defined. She didn’t notice a huge change in her stomach muscles. She attributes that to the pregnancies and perhaps the need for a bit more work.

Tracey recommends Pilates and suggests you shop around before signing up. After talking to her, I’m going to walk my chubby thighs over to the fitness center and find a class.