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I hate to work out in health clubs. No offense. Stairmasters, Ellipticals, you name it. I pass. Any kind of regime gets old fast. I prefer the outdoors, walking for several miles a day with my Labrador Retriever, Zena.

My lab, Zena, husband, Cliff and me after a long hike. Photo by Bill Saiff

Our walks take time. We trot down country roads and across fields, or some days around city blocks. It’s always changing.

I go on my own schedule. Some days I do more than others. I never get bored, and I hardly notice the difficult physical demands because I’m focused on my goal–keeping both of us healthy and stress-free.

That’s what getting financially fit to change careers is all about. You need to get started and do something, even something small every day to get your finances in shape. And as I mentioned in my last post…that takes a positive, pro-active attitude about money and what you’re willing to compromise to get where you want to go.

For most people, a career restart comes with a financial price tag, particularly if you don’t have the cushion of a partner’s income or a retirement or severance package. It might mean a sizable pay cut to pursue work in a more philanthropic field, the costs of a start-up if you’re launching your own business, a hefty tuition bill for more schooling, or a temporary loss of medical and retirement benefits.

And not to be a wet blanket, but the job picture isn’t helping. A recent analysis by the National Employment Law Project found that net job gains in 2010 have been disproportionately concentrated in lower- and mid-wage industries, such as retail jobs and nursing positions in residential care facilities.

While the recession depleted jobs in every field in 2008-2009, private industry growth since then has been disproportionately driven by industries like these that pay median wages below $15.00 an hour. The findings paint a sobering picture of the opportunities. Higher-wage industries, such as technical services and finance, showed weak growth.

Ideally, time will be on your side. But if a layoff or a shrinking industry has left you little choice but to find another line of work, there’s still plenty you can do to prepare and make that transition as smooth and successful as possible. According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, one-third of American workers are interested in changing careers right now.

Here are five ways to get financially fit:

1. Pay it down. If possible, pay off outstanding high-interest credit card debts, college loans, and auto loans. Or at the very least take a good whack at right sizing. This can take some time, but starting a new endeavor with as clean a balance sheet as you can gives you a leg-up on success. One of my favorite lines: Debt is a dream killer. Repeat after me…

2. Save, save, save. It’s smart to have a cushion of up to six months of living expenses in cash or cash equivalent funds set aside for transition costs, as well as unexpected emergencies. The key is to avoid dipping into your retirement savings–and paying penalties–later.

3. Lower your housing costs. Depending on the real estate market where you live, it might make sense to move to a smaller home, or even relocate to a cheaper area.

The reality is that you will probably have to take a salary cut when you move into a new career, so it might make sense to look for work in an area where the cost of living is lower. Tim Sheerer, 49, moved from an expensive northern New Jersey suburb, where he had commuted to work on Wall Street as an investment banker for Merrill Lynch (now a subsidiary of Bank of America), to Pittsburgh, when he decided to open an Italian bistro. The cost of living there — about one-third lower — allowed him the cushion to get his restaurant up and running without undue financial pressure.

Of course, that sort of uprooting is a little more complicated if you have a family to consider. For Sheerer, he couldn’t have done it without getting the green light from his wife, Colleen, and four children, who all pitch in at the restaurant.

4. Refinance your mortgage. Moving is kind of drastic for most of us. With average rates hovering around 4.25 percent for a 30-year fixed loan and 3.62 percent for a 15-year fixed loan, refinancing is a great option, if you qualify. The goal is to lock in a fixed rate and cut your mortgage interest by at least 1 percent. That way, you’ll likely break even on refinancing costs within two years. Figure out how much you can save over time with an online refinancing calculator. Check HSH.com orBankrate.com for the latest rates and then shop around.

5. Boost your credit score. Your eyes glaze over at the very sound of it. Mine do too. But that nebulous three- digit number, which generally ranges from 300 to 850, is one number you absolutely can’t ignore today. It impacts your entire financial life. Here’s why: If you need to borrow funds to start your own business, lenders use it to determine whether they should lend you money and what your interest rate will be. Landlords may use it when deciding whether to rent to you. And if you’re switching to a new company, many employers review it when deciding whether to hire you. A good score today is 760 and up.

You may have some work to do. Today, 60 percent of all Americans have a score below 750, according to Minneapolis-based Fair Isaac Corp., which runs the FICO scoring system most lenders rely on.

Check for mistakes on your credit report. Visitannualcreditreport.com to request a free credit report from the three major consumer credit reporting agencies–Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

If you know you’re going to make a career change in three to six months, lay low. Don’t open new accounts, transfer balances or close accounts, says Credit.com’s Personal Finance Expert, Gerri Detweiler. Closing accounts sounds like a good idea, but in reality, it lowers your available credit and pushes your current ratio of debt higher.

And the most obvious way to keep your score in shape….pay your bills on time. Miss a pay date, and you lose big-time –shocking, but true, your score could be zapped by 110 points. “All it takes is one late payment to crush your score,” says Maxine Sweet, vice president of public education for Experian.