Volume 1, Number 4, April 2009

Take the 10,000 Steps Challenge! You may have heard Oprah promote this program. To achieve good health, strive to take 10,000 steps a day (the equivalent of walking roughly five miles). A person who walks 10,000 steps a day will burn between 2,000 and 3,500 extra calories per week, which will result in achieving a vastly better health profile and longer lifespan. No matter whether your goal is to achieve good health, lose weight, or maintain your weight, put your pedometer on when you dress in the morning and don ’t take it off until bedtime. Every step you take throughout the day counts!

Volume 1, Number 3, March 2009

National Start! Walking Day is April 8.  This event is sponsored by the American Heart Association,  www.americanheart.org   This is the day that adults nationwide can make the pledge to Start! Walking and to become active and heart healthy.  Walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity and is the simplest positive change individuals can make to effectively improve their health.  You carry your own body weight when you walk, so it is a “weight-bearing” exercise.  Some of the benefits are

• Increased heart and lung fitness
• Reduced risk of heart disease and stroke
• Improved management of hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes
• Stronger bones
• Increased muscle strength and endurance
• Reduced body fat

It’s cheap.  It’s easy.  And it’s good for you.  So take a walk!

Volume 1, Number 2, February 2009

February is all about hearts and the American Heart Association has proclaimed February American Heart Month.   It’s a great time for us to contemplate the disease ranked as the #1 killer in the U.S. – heart disease.  Did you know that inactivity doubles the risk of developing heart disease?  Federal guidelines for adults recommend two and a half hours of moderate exercise per week.  In addition to regular activity, a healthy diet will help you control your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol.  Log on to www.heartcheckmark.org to find out some of the better food products available in our supermarkets.  For information on blood pressure, log on to www.americanheart.org/hbp. 

Volume 1, Number 1, January 2009

Smoking is the #1 cause of death and disability in Colorado and in America. Smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body, is linked to at least 15 different cancers and accounts for some 30% of all cancer deaths - and, it costs billions of dollars each year. Yet one in five Americans still light up. If you quit smoking before age 50, your chances of dying before age 65 of smoking related diseases are cut in half! (American Cancer Society)

The Colorado Quit Line (www.coquitline.org) offers free online quit tools and tips based on the latest research. If the caller prefers to speak to someone in person, they have coaches standing by, ready to work with them. Some other groups to contact for quit tips and other programs to help smokers quit smoking are American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and American Lung Association.