16 Jan 09 How Walking for Exercise Helps you Lose Weight

Walking for exercise is a purposeful, brisk walk specifically designed for the purpose of improving health. It is one of the best and cheapest forms of exercise. If you want to improve your general health and keep fit, or if you want to reduce your weight, walking is a good place to start.

Walking keeps you fit and helps you take off extra weight and keep it off. It's cheap, it's simple and almost anybody can do it. Walking has a multitude of health benefits for everyone. Walking helps reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, lowers high blood pressure, helps reduce weight and body fat, helps reduce risk of some cancers, gives you more energy, helps you sleep better, helps you look better and helps those people who are recovering from a period of ill-health.

Walking for exercise does not need to be strenuous to produce results. Even walking for 30 minutes a day has been reported to produce measurable benefits, even among those who are least active.

If you want to feel great, have more energy and improve your overall health, take a walk. Walking is one of the best forms of exercise and you can do it almost anywhere, anytime, and for free. Do at least 30 minutes of exercise, like brisk walking, most days of the week. The idea is to use up more calories than you eat. You need to use up the day's calories and some of the calories stored in your body fat.

Along with its benefits to the heart, walking improves circulation, helps breathing, combats depression, bolsters the immune system, helps prevent osteoporosis, helps control weight and helps prevent and control diabetes. It's a gentle exercise and it's suitable if you are recovering from heart trouble, a stroke or other illness. It helps the total circulation of blood throughout the body, and thus has a direct effect on your overall feeling of health.

Remember, if you have a medical condition, are overweight, over 40 years of age or haven't exercised regularly for a long time, check with your doctor before you start any type of exercise program. Your doctor or other health worker can help you set sensible goals based on a proper weight for your height, build and age.

About the author: Copyright 2005. Bridget Mwape writes for the Weight Loss Tips website at http://www.proven-weight-loss-tips.org/ and she is also a regular contributor to the Beauty tips website at: http://www.beauty-treatment-products.co.uk/