Got a whim this spring to start working out?

This time of year inspiration runs high and the outdoors call to us, but you have to be careful not to go flying out the door in a hurry -- you'll have a good shot at losing all that perfectly good health and fitness mojo and wasting your efforts.

Of course there's always the risk that if you're not careful you might hurt yourself, but thinking things through and making a plan is about more than just safety: it's also about success. If you start something new on a whim, and then don't see immediate results, you run the risk of burnout, boredom, and disappointment. That's not to say whims aren't good for anything, just make a point to turn it in to something deliberate. After all, it's really about changing your way of life, right? Not just working out a couple times here and there.