Are you tired of your clothes feeling too tight? Are you tired of looking in the mirror and not liking what you see? Are you tired of aches and pains? Are you tired of feeling worn out even after a good night’s sleep? Are you tired of feeling old before your time? Are you tired of worrying about getting some terrible disease? Are you tired of taking too many pills? Are you just plain tired of feeling sick and tired?
Are you ready to take that first step on the path to better health, fitness, and healthy weight loss?
Are you more than ready to look better, feel better, jump-start your energy, and get closer to the size you were born to be, but don’t know where to start?
How about starting with a good pair of sneakers and just putting one foot in front of the other? Yes, it’s that simple. Just one step at a time for sixty minutes a day, every day, can make all the difference in the world between whether you feel lousy or whether you feel energetic and full of life.
Sure, with all the contradictory information, you may be confused about which foods to eat. It takes a little bit of digging to sort fact from fiction when it comes to choosing the best health- and life-supporting foods.
However, there is absolutely no confusion when it comes to the benefits of moderate exercise. And the best and easiest form of moderate exercise is none other than walking.
You know that consistent walking helps your heart, lungs, bones, and muscles. You know that walking cleans out the fat and cholesterol in your blood vessels and builds up your immune system. You know that walking helps prevent life-threatening and life-robbing diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and strokes. You know that walking boosts your energy, not to mention your self-esteem and positive attitude.
And you know that walking burns those excess calories–calories that get stored right where you don’t want them – on your hips, thighs, stomach, and bottom.
Without question, if you want to add life to your years and years to your life, consistent walking, or another form of moderate exercise, is a “no-brainer.” And anyone with two able legs can do it.
The question remains: if the value of walking is so obvious to all of us and is simple to do, then why don’t we all carve walking into our daily lives? Why do we continue to ignore the well-known fact that over 250,000 Americans die every year from a sedentary lifestyle, and that one of those people could be you?
In fact, look at yourself in the mirror right now and ask yourself why you still haven’t incorporated a daily walking or exercise program into your own life.
Perhaps you, like so many Americans, are just too darn good at the “yeah, but” game.
The “yeah, but” game goes something like this: “I would go for a walk today–yeah, but it’s too cold,” or “yeah, but it’s too hot” or “yeah, but it’s too rainy,” or “yeah, but it’s too sunny,” or “yeah, but I’m too tired or too stressed or too sad or too late or too early or too busy.” If one “yeah, but” doesn’t work, there is always another “yeah, but” positioned and ready to take its place.
Does the “yeah, but” game sound all too familiar? How often do you play the “yeah, but” game?
Do yourself a favor–quit playing the “yeah, but” game; a game in which there is only one loser–you. Quit “yeah-butting” your way to premature disability, disease, and death.
Once and for all, make a commitment to your body, your health, and your life, and put that commitment into action. It’s as simple as going to your closet every day (no, not just three times a week or just on those balmy, sunny 70 degree days) and putting on those sneakers. Don’t even think about it–as Nike says, just do it!
And the next time you are tempted to say to yourself, “I would go for a walk–yeah, but I just don’t have the time,” remember that walking does not take time, it gives you time.
Walking gives you time when it counts the most–at the end of your life.
Dr. Leslie Van Romer is a health motivational speaker, writer, and lifestyle coach. Visit [http://www.DrLeslieVanRomer.com] for more inspiration.
