If anyone says that you can achieve fitness and maintain a healthy lifestyle without ever moving a muscle, be assured that they are most certainly not a fitness expert by profession.

It really is basic common sense: if you do not move your body, your body will not burn the extra calories it may have received from food. According to the law of thermodynamics, energy can either be created or stored but NOT destroyed. In this case, since your body cannot use the calories to produce energy, it would store them as fat, and you would eventually gain weight. A fairly simple explanation and certainly not rocket science to establish that there is a relationship between exercise and fitness.

Many people are reluctant to consider and some even panic when hearing the word exercise. But do not worry, we are not suggesting that you join an expensive gym and waste your money and energy there, neither would we ask that you jog or run for hours. All we ask is that you WALK. Yes, it is as simple as that, walking is indeed the key to staying fit and healthy without too much hassle. Walking is one exercise which anyone can do, from a young child to an 80-year old veteran.

There are many ways in which walking helps you. Walking moves your muscles, and when muscles and bones move, they stay fit and healthy. It takes you outdoors away from the television and the sofa and out into the fresh air and sunlight; totally beneficial for your good health.

Walking releases endorphins thereby it rids you of stress and depression. When you start walking, you should start to release your worries and just enjoy the walk. It is a cheap pastime – actually, it is totally free, since you do not need to buy any special exercise equipment or gadgets to walk. Although a pedometer can provide motivation as you see the number of steps you are taking and the calories burnt increasing as you go but really all you need is a pair of comfortable, athletic shoes and you are ready to put your best step forward.

If walking is not a perfect workout for you, I do not know what is.

However if you have never walked for either exercise or relaxation in your life there could be one major obstacle at the outset (be assured you are not alone ) – that of motivating yourself to walk daily. Perhaps it is too hot one day or on another it is raining outside. Under such circumstances, it is too easy to stay in the comfort zone of your room and too hard to take out those walking shoes and step outside. But do try to persevere if you maintain the routine of walking day after day, it really would soon become a habit.

Various studies indicate that it takes a human at least 21 days to form a new habit; however, once a habit is formed, it becomes more difficult to break it. This would apply to your walking routine. Once walking becomes a habit for you, you would feel uneasy if you broke the routine and really miss your regular venture outside for a walk. You would feel disturbed and that feeling would remain with you until your routine of a regular walk was restored.

That is exactly how a habit starts to motivate you and to ensure that you keep on doing what you have been doing. So, while the first 21 days might be tough for you, day 22 onwards, you would find that walking has become second nature.

ChiWalking: Fitness Walking for Lifelong Health and Energy

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $15.99

Amazon Price: $10.87

However no matter how much you walk, you also need to consider changing any unhealthy food habits. Your regular walk will prove to be even more beneficial if you remove junk foods from your diet and replace them with natural fruits and vegetables instead. Junk foods not only ruin your digestive system but also your overall health. When you eat junk food and processed foods, your digestion becomes sluggish and your body’s hormonal equilibrium is lost resulting in weight gain and loss of energy and vitality.

Try to ensure the foods you eat are as fresh and natural as possible combined with your daily walking routine you will very soon see results in a slimmer, healthier and fitter YOU.