No money to spare for gym membership? Babysitting all day and too tired to go to the gym? Stressed after a totally exhausting day at work and have no drive to drive to the gym?

These are all too-real concerns that spring from the crazy lifestyles we have imposed on ourselves. Present society has a way of swallowing us with work, work and more work while giving us tremendous amounts of stress that lead to overeating and all sorts of health problems, obesity included.

Work, stress, overeating and obesity-all in that order-become a cyclical process when left unchecked. Exercise has to be integrated somewhere to put a stop to this potentially life-threatening lifestyle.

Because gym memberships can be expensive and the demands of work and family leave us with precious little time to get there, the best way to lose those extra pounds and keep fit is to develop your own weight loss program right in the comfort of your own home.

How do you do this? Well, the basic principle behind losing weight is this: Burn more calories than you consume. Thus, a sensible home weight loss program involves eating the proper foods and exercising to keep the weight off.

With this in mind, take stock of the equipment you have at home and the time you have in your hands to perform at least 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercises five times a week. If you have the stairs, you can use this as your treadmill-just make sure that you're careful and don't fall in the process. If your daughter has a skipping rope, you can use that to jump around and get that great weight-reducing workout done. Water or baby bottles filled to the brim can be used as home made weights that you can use to increase the intensity of your "punch the air" exercises. Of course, an early morning brisk walking, bicycling or jogging routine can certainly do wonders for your figure.

You can also integrate playtime with your kids as part of your home weight loss program.  You're not only doing yourself a favor, you're also setting the stage for making your children healthy individuals. Instead of allowing the television to baby sit them while you clean the house, why not encourage them to help you sweep, vacuum and wipe everything to a shine? Admittedly, this will make your work a bit more difficult, but think of the added benefits that this will have on your kids. They not only learn to work, you also get the chance to workout more by following up on things that they can't do as well as you'd like them to. For your teenagers, challenge them to a game of badminton or table tennis instead of allowing them to play the computer. This is a great way to bond as a family and sweat it out in a fun and exciting way.

Where your diet is concerned, have more servings of fruits and veggies. Fiber is important, too. Stay away from fats and sugars. If you must eat meat, do so in little servings and go for the lean portions. While they may be very sumptuous, shun chicken skin-they're chockfull of fat.