Note: We recommend checking with your physician before starting any exercise program.

Move More, Eat Less
You can lose weight and improve your health without fancy equipment or expensive diet plans. Simple changes sustained over time can make a difference.

Walking/moving just 30 minutes a day helps with weight control. It also:

• lowers your blood pressure
• increases muscle tone
• strengthens your bones
• increases your metabolic rate (helps your body burn fat)
• lessens feelings of anxiety and depression
• strengthens your heart
• lowers your risk of heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension and even certain types of cancer.

Move More
You don’t have to be an athlete or run marathons to reap the benefits of walking or other regular physical activity. Here are some tips to increase your steps:

• Wear a pedometer (available at most sports stores), and count your steps. Increase over time.
• If you are not ambulatory, use a timer and spend 30 minutes a day on upper body exercises.
• Walk, don’t drive, for trips less than a mile.
• Use the stairs, not the elevator.
• Take several 10 minute walks throughout the day.
• Walk during your lunch break.
• Avoid drive thrus. Get out of your car and walk inside.
• Take a few extra steps to return your grocery cart to the designated area.
• Plan active family vacations.
• Walk your dog…or your neighbor’s dog.
• Walk while using a cordless or speaker phone.
• Move at least once every half hour.
• Hide the remote! Instead, walk to the television to change the channel.

Eat Less
The temptation is there to supersize our meal for a few cents more or to clean our plate like we were taught as children. But remember, every bite counts in your overall daily intake. Here are some strategies to help you eat less:

• Leave 3-4 bites of food on your plate at each meal.
• Have one less can of soda a day.
• Dilute fruit juice with water and sip it throughout the day.
• Eat fun-sized candy bars instead of regular-sized ones.
• Eat an open-faced sandwich (eliminate a slice of bread).
• Ask for salad dressing on the side.
• Replace the gravy on your mashed potatoes with non-fat spray margarine.
• Split a meal with friends when eating out.
• Leave 10 french fries uneaten when dining on fast food.
• Leave the shell behind on your taco salad.