Three universal goals most of us share are:

1. To live longer,
   
   
2. To live free of illness and
   
   
3. To control our weight.
   
   Interestingly enough, normal walking helps us achieve all three and it is not that much of an effort – IS IT?
   
   

All it takes is a little time, common sense and a few guidelines. Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation floating around regarding fitness walking, weight-loss and dieting.

To lose weight, it's more important to walk for time than speed. Walking at a moderate pace yields longer workouts with less soreness - leading to more miles and more calories spent on a regular basis.

Equally, it is important to get your body used to the new activity. Rather than starting with an hours' walk straight away, start with 15 minutes and increase the length of your walks each time you go out. This allows your body to adjust slowly to the new requirements and will spare you from the aches and pains of an untrained body doing a “marathon”. You are more likely to stick to your new plans and keep up your motivation if you get used to it slowly and can enjoy a certain feeling of satisfaction when you successfully increased the length of your walk for another 5-10 minutes.

High-intensity walks on alternate days help condition one's system. But in a walking-weight-loss program, it's better to be active every day. This doesn't require walking an hour every day. The key is leading an active life-style 365 days a year. Therefore, make a point in walking to the bus-stop or taking the stairs rather than the lift on your “non-walking days”. You will be amazed how quickly you will get used to your new activities.

When it comes to good health and weight loss, exercise and diet are interrelated. Exercising without maintaining a balanced diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining inactive.

The national research council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fruits and vegetables are the ideal diet foods for several reasons. They're relatively low in fat and calories, yet are often high in fibre and rich in essential vitamins and minerals.

Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement and help raise internal body metabolism. They're also satisfying. The key is not adding high-fat toppings to your carbohydrates.

It's everyday habits which define our weight and body composition. A three-minute walk after each meal is worth four pounds less body fat annually. Two flights of stairs a day burns off half a pound of body fat in a year. On the other hand, one candy bar eaten daily will add 20 pounds to your body-weight in a year's time... I don't know about you – but I would have an apple instead. Less sugar, better taste and part of your “5 each day-program”.

Today the average duration of human life in the United States is just about 80 years for women and about 75 for men. Conservative experts believe that our bodies are really build to last about 100 years; and that medial advances and more healthful living habits could bring this about within a generation or two.
What good is it though to add years to life if we do not also add quality of life to those years we gained? In fact, unless people learn to enjoy life and to grow old gracefully, the extra years may turn out an additional burden rather than an additional gain.

From 18 to 30 years is roughly the period of highest physical and mental vigor. The experiences we accumulate from the day we are born help us to conserve and to use our physical and mental abilities more wisely, so that for some time after 30 years we are able to perform increasingly well in spite of slowly slipping vigor. After age 50 the increasing accumulation of experience is no longer able to offset the now more rapidly declining energy and therefore aging begins to assert itself noticeably and in many different ways. Not every human being ages at the same speed or notices the same “symptoms” of aging. The individual aging-process is as much dependent on your genetics, your overall state of health and your own attitude towards it.

Here are a number of things that may come about gradually as you grow older:

• People who have not used eyeglasses before may at some time in their forties need them for reading, and in the fifties they usually need bifocals.
  
  
• At a higher age, people are likely to put on weight because there is a general slowdown in the oxidation rate of the aging body tissue and because they tend to do less strenuous work with no reduction in the amount of food consumed.
  
  
• In the fifties, some loss of hearing is likely to be noticed. Usually the high-pitched tones go first, so words with the sounds of F, S, and TH get confused. A hearing aid may be needed in some cases. You may also find it difficult to follow conversations that take place in a group of people. If you are experiencing loss of hearing, it can be increasingly difficult to distinguish between what had been said by an individual participant of the conversation. If more people speak at the same time, the words can sound rather “blurry” and unclear. More often than not, individually adjusted hearing-aids can improve the situation greatly.
  
  
• Aging is generally accompanied by a loss in physical and mental flexibility. This is noticed in a tendency to become stiff in the joints; in slower comeback after a strenuous trip, excessive "night life," or hard work; in slower healing of wounds, sore muscles, and strains or in a slower recovery after an illness and sometimes in greater difficulty to adjust to new people, new places, and new ideas.
  
  
• Men, especially, will notice loss of muscular strength. There will be increased unsteadiness and delicate muscle movements will be more clumsy and the stride in waking will become shorter. The conclusion now is that the performance and ability of the elderly has long been underestimated and can be greatly improved by a proper diet, sleep and exercise along with rest and relaxation.
  
  
• Many elderly people tend to lose their joy and will to live and chronic worriers may mope around and withdraw. Medical authorities now say that laughter is one of the best medicines for the elderly. You can always keep your sense of humor tuned up by surrounding yourself with pleasant and interesting people. Just act your age and don't be afraid to laugh at yourself even when no else is around.
  

Now that we all know the role that physical activity plays in our lives, remember to do something physical every day. The joints must be used or quite simply they will tighten with age creating that stooped worn out appearance we so often associate with getting old. Keep yourself flexible and fit on an exercise program consistent with your ability.

All the money in the world is nothing if you are not in good health. As wifes and moms, our focus is not only our health, but also the well-being of our loved-ones. Therefore, we are always looking for information to help us improve our well-being. If you are an expert in the area of Health and Beauty, why not contribute to this site by publishing an article or two? The more people help us putting the information together, the more valuable a resource it can become for all of us...