Fitness: Prevention Is Better Than Trying To Find A Cure

Simplified Yoga for your daily body-mind relaxation

You hear a lot about living a healthy lifestyle, but what does that mean? In general, a healthy person doesn't smoke, is at a healthy weight, eats healthy and exercises regularly. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, it can be. The trick to kick-starting healthy living is to make small changes. For example, take more steps each day, add fruit to your cereal, have an extra glass of water. These are just a few small ways you can start living healthy without drastic changes. The lack of exercise is one of the biggest problems in America today, creating to an epidemic of obesity that we never seen in human history. We know exercise is good for us, but many of us avoid it like the plague, either because we're used to a sedentary lifestyle, hooked on the TV, or afraid that exercise has to be vigorous to be worth our time.

The truth is, movement is movement, and the more you move, the healthier you'll be. The more you move, the more you increase your stamina. Eventually, with time and commitment, your 15-minute walk will seamlessly ease turn into a one-hour power walk . Even moderate activities like chores, gardening and walking can make a difference. Just adding a little movement to your life can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, improve joint stability, increase and improve range of movement, help maintain flexibility as you age, maintain bone mass, prevent osteoporosis and fractures, improve mood and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, enhance self-esteem, improve memory in elderly people, and reduce stress.

So even if you opt for small changes and a more modest weight loss, you can clearly see that the benefits are pretty good. One study has found that just a 10% weight reduction helped obese patients reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and increase longevity.