A woman got fit at 68 by learning to swim. She has 4 tips for getting fit no matter your age.

• Vijaya Srivastava learned to swim at the age of 68 to lose weight.
• Now, seven years later, she's incorporated swimming and fitness into her life, and loves it.

At 68, the closest Vijaya Srivastava had ever gotten to swimming was dipping her ankles in a pool as she watched her children play. Now, she swims three times a week and has transformed her health and social life by getting active.

It started when Srivastava told her doctor in a regular checkup that she wanted to lose weight. She was already walking daily, so her doctor recommended she take up swimming.

The apartment complex where Srivastava lived in Albany, California, had a pool, where she regularly watched people "gracefully swimming end to end," she told Business Insider, so she was all set up to start.

The only problem? She couldn't swim, and was afraid of water.

She teamed up with a neighbor in a similar position and looked for a teacher.

They found a high-school student who was lifeguard-trained and willing to teach her first senior clients.

At first, Srivastava's goal was to complete one lap, but as she improved, the goalpost kept moving. Now aged 75, she can swim much further.

"The goal went from to do one lap to doing five laps, and then seven, then 10, then 12," she said. After a "slow journey," she reached 20 laps — but doesn't often do that many regularly, because she runs out of time thanks to chatting between laps.

Tricks to make it work

Even if it is a slow journey, it's never too late to start prioritizing your health, said Lauren Hurst, a personal trainer who works with older people.

Srivastava shared four tips for starting to exercise at any age with BI.

1. Don't give yourself the option to back out

You have to put your mind to whatever you decide to do, or else "you'll never do it," Srivastava said.

Having a buddy really works for her. She still swims with the neighbor she learned to swim with, who will encourage her on days when she's having second thoughts.

"I would say get some people who are close to you — younger, older, doesn't matter — and are interested in the same activities" as you, she said, because "you always motivate each other."

She also uses the promise of the hot tub or a coffee at the end of whatever she's doing to motivate herself to get going.

2. Exercise with people

Srivastava has built up a community of people who live near her to do physical activities with, and meets them most days. They swim three days a week, do yoga at least once a week, and go for long walks or hikes.

She's also gotten friendly with others who use her community pool, who give her swimming tips and compliment her progress, which really pumps her up, she said.

The social time between laps is one of the best parts, she said, and chitchatting makes the time go quickly.

Making exercise social is also a key habit of super-agers in the world's Blue Zones, where people live longest, BI previously reported.

3. Add exercise to your routines

Because Srivastava combined her social life with her exercise routine, she's built it into her weekly plans. The members of her friendship group, who call themselves the "Divine Nine" (even though there are now more than nine) do something most days.

She also walks to coffee shops and the grocery store in the afternoons, building exercise into her daily activities in ways that "don't have to be intense."

Research suggests that incorporating bits of exercise into your day can reduce risks of cancer, BI previously reported, particularly if it's vigorous activities like walking briskly or carrying heavy shopping bags.

4. How you feel is more important than you look

"When we first started, we saw little kids taking lessons in the same pool. And at the other end, both me and my friend would look at each other and say, how can they do it? Why can't we do it?" Srivastava said.

But knowing that how you feel is more important than what you look like "kept me moving," she said.

And as she got fitter and did more exercise, Srivastava noticed that she felt better, too.

She said she feels more muscular — "and I have good posture and more stamina, better lung capacity. I can hike much more than I used to, I have more confidence," she said, adding, "And that there's a sense of belonging when you have a community, and we have fun."