I think the best New Year's Resolution anybody can have is to KEEP MOVING! Even a little exercise does a lot. Not everyone can be thin, but everyone can be fit.
If your goal is good health, you don't need to train for marathons. You just need to look for opportunities to be more active throughout the day. I wrote a whole book about the Healing Benefits of Exercise (Even a Little!)… It's called Move Yourself.
The principle is simple -- medical science indicates that even small amounts of activity, when done consistently, provide big benefits for health, longevity and quality of life. The guidelines provided in Move Yourself are based on 40 years of research and experience at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas and built on the U.S. surgeon general's recommendations.
Just a few minutes of low-dose physical activity every day can dramatically improve your health-without running a marathon, joining a gym, or even breaking a sweat.
Exercise can decrease your risk of heart disease, improve your memory and your mood, help you sleep better, and slow down the aging process. And yet most of us can find plenty of excuses for not exercising.
Instead of spending time on the couch, why not develop a more "activity-based" mind-set, doing things like gardening or cleaning the house, which get the heart pumping.
And don't forget the benefit of just taking a walk.
You only need one step to get started, so think about buying a step counter. you can get them at any activity store. Log your activity, and try to take 5,000 steps per day. Eventually, if you're really getting after it, target 10,000 steps per day. As you get healthier with more movement, you'll make better eating choices too.
Remember, being more active doesn't have to be time consuming, difficult, or expensive. All it takes is a desire to keep moving.
For the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center, I'm Dr. Tedd Mitchell, and this is the President's Prescription.
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