It may be too late for a good start on a diet. But it’s not soon enough for a good exercise plan.

People have big ideas about how to get small, but they often follow the path parallel to that one paved with good intentions. As might be expected, the American Heart Association takes a rather sober look at exercise.

“Programs designed to improve physical fitness take into account Frequency (how often), Intensity (how hard), and Time (how long),” the AHA states.

According to the Heart Association following the so-called FIT Formula benefits the heart, lungs and circulation.

“Perform any vigorous activity for at least 30 to 60 minutes, 3-4 days each week at 50-75 percent of your maximum heart rate,” the group recommends. ”

It’s getting started with exercise that’s hard. To lose weight and keep it off, start an exercise plan slowly. A body not in motion will have to pop out the kinks and get used to the idea before feeling good. Any movement burns calories. Once it begins the calorie-burning capacity of your body, metabolism, starts to increase.

Experts and researchers say if you can master it, eating less causes your stomach to expect less and it doesn’t send those “I’m hungry” signals up to your brain. This is possible due to certain hormone levels, as a 2002 study by Johns Hopkins University found.

“In the new study of lean (normal) mice and mice genetically engineered to be obese, the scientists looked for changes in the appetite signals in animals that fasted for one day and those injected with C75,” the study says, in part. “While neither group ate, mice injected with C75 had more of the “satisfied” signals and less of the “hungry” signals than other mice. …The C75 mice ignored food, even though they had access to it.”

Theodore Friedman, who appears on CBS’s “The Early Show” agrees but puts more of the onus on hormones.

“Hormones play an important role in how and when we eat,” Friedman said on his Web site (goodhormonehealth.com). “Mechanisms that prevent weight loss include signals telling you to eat when hungry, and signals telling your body to decrease its metabolism when food is scarce, such as when you diet. The hormones, leptin (an important hormone released from fat), ghrelin (a stomach hormone) …among others, signal the body that the person is hungry.”

The AHA has tips for bringing exercise into the office. They include simple ideas such as:

• Brainstorm project ideas with a co-worker while taking a walk.
• Stand while talking on the telephone.
• Walk down the hall to speak with someone rather than using the telephone.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Or get off a few floors early and take the stairs the rest of the way.
• Walk while waiting for the plane at the airport.
• Take along a jump rope in your suitcase when you travel. Jump and do calisthenics in your hotel room.