Take a two-mile walk every morning before breakfast
Harry Truman (advice on how to live to be 8O,
on his 8Oth birthday)

They say that ‘old age puts more wrinkles on our minds than on our faces’. You are as old as you feel. A fifty year old who feels forty is forty - a forty year old who feels fifty is fifty. A bored forty year old is the same as a bored fifty year old. In the fight against aging, mental fitness is as important as physical fitness. Mental fitness gets you up and going; mental fitness gives you a new attitude, a new outlook to life; mental fitness gives you the drive and energy to make plans for a healthy future.

Many people drift into old age as though it's inevitable. They make financial plans for their middle age and retirement but they don't give the same consideration to a physical plan in order to enjoy these years to the full. They drift into their middle and later years sitting around waiting for a heart attack, when what they should be doing is making plans for a healthy future.

It's not the passing years that's a problem - it's a passive lifestlye. By their 5Os more than 4O per cent of males and 8O per cent of females are sedentary - they spend too much time sitting. A sedentary lifestyle is now considered so bad for you that The American Heart Assocation lists it as a major 'risk factor' on a par with high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure and cigarette smoking.

There are many aspects of your life over which you have no control - but you do have control over your exercise and diet. Getting started now and making small changes to your lifestyle will help you regain aerobic capacity, stamina, strength and flexibility. And the easiest way to do this is to walk regularly. By walking regularly you cut your rate of physical decline by half. 'Use it or lose it' is the adage. If you don't exercise, muscles deteriorate, your aerobic capacity deteriorates and you have less stamina, strength and flexibility. Life becomes a strain and you have less energy and vitality to get you through the day.

In addition to improving cardiovascular health, walking helps with back pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, varicose veins, reducing cholesterol, and other medical problems where inactivity is a factor. Start now by taking a moderate 10-minute walk around the block and back to get you motivated and begin a habit that could change your life. Then to progress further, follow our free 7–Day Walkfit Plan on the Home Page and buy Walk Slim.

Health Check! If you have been inactive for some time, or have a diagnosed medical problem which may inhibit you taking exercise, or you are unsure about your current state of health, then check with your doctor first.