While the right eating plan is crucial to weight loss, consistent exercise may help you drop pounds and keep you in shape. And if you&#39;re not quite ready for calorie-incinerating routines like high-intensity interval training (HIIT)? Go for a walk. It&#39;ll likely <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/slideshow/simple-free-way-improve-health">improve your overall health</a> in multiple ways, and you don&#39;t need a gym membership, special classes or pricey equipment&mdash;just a few minutes and a decent pair of sneakers. Try these tips to maximize the benefits.

1. Use your&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/best-walking-shoes">shoes</a>&nbsp;to curb a craving. 
When all you can think of is chocolate, or you&#39;re salivating over the thought of a salty snack, get up and take a walk&mdash;but not to the convenience store! Instead, amble around your neighborhood, a local track or a nearby park; you could find that your hankering disappears. Multiple small studies have found that a brisk stroll may temporarily reduce cravings.

2.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/get-fit-fast-by-walking-to-lose-weight">Get speedy</a>&nbsp;every now and then. 
Since walking alone at a regular stride doesn&#39;t burn many calories, alternate your regular walking pace with intense one- to three-minute intervals&mdash;&quot;intense&quot; meaning conversation is tricky but not so hard that you want to stop talking altogether. Then, dial back to your regular pace for a minute or more to recover. Repeat as often as you can for as long as you want.

&quot;This isn&#39;t an exact science, so don&#39;t worry about a magic formula,&quot; says Gregory Florez, an American Council on Exercise spokesperson in Salt Lake City. &quot;Play around with it. Walk fast toward the next stop sign, then slow down, repeat. However you do it, varying your intensity and exertion will dramatically increase the calorie burn during your walks.&quot;

3. Other times, don&#39;t worry about speed. 
If you just can&#39;t go any faster, Florez recommends these other tools to help you lose weight by walking:

<ul>
	<li>Frequency:&nbsp;When you think you&#39;re not losing, add another session of walking to your week.</li>
	<li>Intensity:&nbsp;After you&#39;ve added more walking sessions, try some hills to make your walk a little harder. You want to be between 12 and 15 on the Borg Perceived Exertion Scale; 0 on the scale is sleeping, and 20 is a full-out sprint where you are panting and feel ready to faint. &quot;You should be able to carry on a conversation, but every other sentence you should have to take a deep breath.&quot;</li>
	<li>Time:&nbsp;Just walk a little longer each session. Add 10 minutes to your walk every day and you&#39;ll have amassed an extra 70 minutes that week. Easy, no?</li>
</ul>

Want to raise your activity levels and meet your exercise goals? Studies suggest that tracking your steps can help you be more active. Try a pedometer or wearable step tracker, or download an app like Sharecare for <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sharecare/id964313779?mt=8" target="_blank">iOS</a> and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sharecare.realgreen&amp;hl=en" target="_blank">Android</a> today.

<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/static/realage-test">Did You Know? Walking at least 20 minutes a day can make your RealAge up to 1.9 years younger. Take the RealAge Test to learn more.</a>

Medically reviewed in December 2019.

3 Secrets of Walking to Lose Weight

Walking and weight loss often go hand-in-hand, but many people think they don&rsquo;t have the time. To help inspire you to find time to walk, we asked avid walkers how they make time for fitness. Here&rsquo;s what they said:

1. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/benefits-of-walking/why-good-walk-morning">Do it first thing</a> 
&quot;My best walking time turns out to be right after my kids head off to school. I walk with two neighbors, and we fit it in before our days really get going and it becomes too hard for us to stop and walk. My husband is typically out the door by then, too, so I know that when I get back, the house will be all mine. I come back feeling &#39;up&#39; and ready to get to my desk.&quot;

-- Nancy Young, 52, mom/home-based public relations consultant

2. Carry out your plan 
&quot;I plan my family dinners in advance, and I plan my walking in advance. If I plan it, I do it. It&#39;s taken me a while to figure this out, but it works. I also have four regular walking friends, and I rotate among them. I&#39;m the catalyst. They count on me to get them going, so even if I&#39;m having a super-busy day, I know I need to call and get in a walk for both of us. If it is raining or frigid, I jump on the treadmill and just do it&mdash;even if I&#39;m out of town. Last week I went away, and I walked on the hotel&#39;s treadmill from 4:30 to 5:30 while my friends headed for the free happy hour. I didn&#39;t feel deprived; I just joined them afterwards!&quot;

-- Lillian Hayes Martin, 43, mom/freelance project manager

3. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/what-tips-walking-with-dog">Depend on a friend</a> 
&quot;The fact that I have a dog, Lily, gets me out&mdash;three times a day, every day. My walks revolve around when she needs to be walked&mdash;before work, after work and at night. Since she&#39;s rehabilitating from knee surgery, she&#39;s needed steady 20-minute walks instead of a couple of quickies, plus a few 3- or 4-mile walks each week. These are really good for me, too. I&#39;m the thinnest I&#39;ve ever been since we started this routine. It&#39;s helped me more than hour-long sessions on the elliptical or the spinning bike.&quot;

-- Elizabeth Albright, 32, high school English/journalism teacher

4. Make it an after-work habit 
&quot;I walk as soon as I get home from work so I don&#39;t get involved in other things. I usually have a friend waiting for me, and her dog is chomping at the bit to go, so I feel guilty if I even stop at the grocery store or get gas on the way home! Going to a gym was always a pain, but, somehow, walking isn&#39;t. I get home, instantly change clothes and walk out the door for a 2 1/2-mile loop in my neighborhood&mdash;5 days a week, and sometimes on the weekend, too. For whatever reason&mdash;habit, sanity, guilt&mdash;I keep doing it!&quot;

-- Nancy Reding, 47, mom/office manager

Take the first steps to growing younger and healthier with the <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/static/realage">RealAge Test</a>.

Medically reviewed in June 2019.

4 Ways to Make Time for Walking

1. Schedule it. If you treat walking as an automatic &quot;must&quot; on your daily list -- like brushing your teeth or taking your vitamins -- then there&#39;s no debate about whether you will or won&#39;t do it. Before long, it&#39;ll be a rock-solid habit.

2. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/weight-loss/article/weight-loss-help-a-buddy-and-your-doc-can-make-all-the-difference">Get a buddy</a>. Having a friend (human or furry) waiting for you to take a walk gets you out there day after day. Your walking &quot;buddy&quot; doesn&#39;t even have to be somebody you see. It can be a pal with whom you check in every day, by phone or online. If your pal doesn&#39;t get your daily &quot;I just walked&quot; message, he or she knows to give you a get-going poke.

3. Add some fun. Dying to play Boggle on your smartphone? Head outdoors or hop on the treadmill, and think up words while you walk. Addicted to recorded romance novels? Listen to them only while you stride along (just don&#39;t run into anything when it gets steamy!). Whatever makes walking more fun for you, do it!

4. Keep track. A walking log, a <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/best-pedometers" target="_blank">pedometer,</a> even a little notation in your calendar -- it&#39;s all good. That&#39;s because keeping track of your miles and goals increases your odds of sticking to your plan.

5. Reward yourself. We&#39;re all for bribery when it comes to exercise. Give yourself a <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/sansone-fitness-walking">walking goal</a> of, say, 10 miles per week for a month, or 60 minutes a day for a week -- and if you&#39;re successful, treat yourself to a massage or a gotta-see-it movie or a new MP3 player for your walking tunes or recorded books.

Walking Motivation: 5 Ways to Make It a Habit

Want to wear out your walking shoes as fast as we do? (Dr. Mike goes through a pair every 12 weeks.) Determined to hit the sidewalk (or treadmill) regularly, despite rain, sleet, bad hair days and mismatched tube socks? YOU can. Just lace on your sneaks and bust through these &quot;buts&quot;:

Excuse: &quot;But I&#39;ve got a cold.&quot; 
Bust it: Walk to avoid sniffles and sneezes.

Every step you take mobilizes immune-system warriors that patrol your nose, throat and lungs in order to take down invading cold and flu viruses. The benefit lasts for hours afterward&mdash;which may explain this new finding: People who exercise five or more days a week have 46 percent fewer colds than those who work out once a week or less. When active people do catch a cold, their symptoms (sneezing, congestion, coughing, dripping) are 41&nbsp;percent less severe.

Insider tip: If you haven&#39;t left the couch recently, don&#39;t start training for a triathlon today. Exercising to the point of exhaustion can suppress your immunity. Your goal is to get fit, not sick. Start by getting a pedometer (get a good one) to see how many steps you take each day. Then add 250 steps daily until you&#39;re doing 10,000 steps every day. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/benefits-regular-exercise/how-can-exercise-prevent-colds">Do this to lower your cold-catching chances.</a>

Excuse: I want to lose weight before shaping up in public! 
Bust it: Don&#39;t wait. Being fit can save your life, even if you&#39;re overweight.

Walk in the privacy of your own home (buy a walking video, do laps in the house, dust off that old treadmill). Or pull on workout clothes you feel okay about (sweatpants, loose tops) and hike the neighborhood when few people are around. Just do it, because the answer to that hotly debated exercise question&mdash;&quot;Can you be fit AND fat?&quot;&mdash;is a resounding yes. In a string of recent studies, overweight adults with good cardio fitness were less likely to die young than even normal-weight unfit folks. All it takes to tune up your heart and blood vessels? A brisk daily walk.

Insider tip: Not that we don&#39;t want you to lose excess pounds. Being fit at a healthy weight is even better than fit and fat. But if you first succeed at daily walking, you&#39;ll find success breeds success. It&#39;ll make losing weight that much easier. And blasting body fat&mdash;especially belly fat&mdash;lowers your risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and several kinds of cancer. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/video/fitness-and-exercise/walking">Watch this and learn how to make getting 10,000 steps easy</a>.

Excuse: My bum knee might flare up. 
Bust it: The right moves keep knees healthy.

Sit and wait until your joints are jumpin&#39;? No way. Keeping leg and torso muscles strong and flexible works way better than &quot;take 2 pain relievers and rest.&quot; Exercise itself won&#39;t increase your risk of arthritis. In fact, a moderately paced walk or other low-impact activities (swimming, cycling) along with strength training with light weights seems to keep the cushioning cartilage in your knee joints healthy.

Insider tip: If you suspect you&#39;re vulnerable to knee osteoarthritis, avoid high-impact workouts (jogging, step aerobics) and moves that involve lots of knee bends (lunges, squats). They&#39;re hard on cartilage.

Excuse: I&#39;m pregnant! 
Bust it: Gentle exercise can improve your health&mdash;and your baby&#39;s, too.

Just one in four pregnant women get the 150 minutes of exercise a week that even your favorite Uncle (Sam) recommends. A good program can ease baby-on-board effects like backaches, constipation and sleep problems. Junior benefits, too: Exercising moms-to-be deliver babies with healthier birth weights, which lowers their risk for weight problems later on.

Insider tip: For a great workout plan to help you thrive during pregnancy, see our book YOU: Having a Baby. Skip downhill skiing, scuba diving and bungee jumping!

Excuse: I&#39;m too stressed out. 
Bust it: Exercise cuts anxiety 29 percent.

Tense? Why melt down, scarf up doughnuts or spend 20 minutes venting to your best friend (again), when walking would take a big bite out of angst? Yep. In a recent huge analysis, people who got physical for just 30 minutes a day cut their anxiety by almost a third, even if they were dealing with severe mind-body stressors like cancer. Male, female, young, old, makes no difference: You&#39;ll feel better after a walk. In a bad mood? <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/energy-boosters/article/in-a-bad-mood-try-this">Here&#39;s what a good walk can do for you</a>.

Insider tip: Stick with it. There&#39;s growing evidence that exercise stress-proofs your brain in a few weeks. Meanwhile, you&#39;ll burn calories&mdash;and your BFF won&#39;t be tempted not to answer the next time your number shows up on caller ID.

Medically reviewed in April 2019.

Benefits of Walking 30 Minutes a Day

Using a <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/fitness-exercise/how-do-i-use-pedometer">pedometer</a> can motivate you to walk farther. But which one to choose? Take this checklist to the store to score exactly what you need:

[&nbsp;&nbsp;] Check the accuracy. While we all love a bargain, a pedometer that adds steps when you simply shake it doesn&#39;t do you much good. And good ones aren&#39;t that expensive anyway -- typically, $15 to $30. There are different mechanisms that count steps, but accelerometers are considered the most accurate. Look for models that need to be calibrated to your stride length (it&#39;s really easy to do).

[&nbsp;&nbsp;] Check how it attaches. The last thing you want is to have to retrieve a pedometer from two stalls over after it&#39;s popped off your sweats in the Target bathroom (happened to one of us). Look for a sturdy clip-on model, ideally with a tiny clip-on &quot;leash&quot; as a backup. (Pedometers with flimsy clips fall down faster than leaves in autumn.) Some styles clip onto a waistband, belt, or bra strap. Others strap on like wristwatches. A few even count steps when carried in a backpack or briefcase. Pick out what works best for you.

[&nbsp;&nbsp;] Check the display. Look for big, clear numbers that are easy to read. Some displays light up -- helpful if you tend to walk early or late or use reading glasses.

[&nbsp;&nbsp;] <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/free-pedometer-apps-for-smartphones">Check the tech</a>. Only buy features you need. Most walkers want a daily step counter and a 7-day memory so they can get a weekly step total or compare daily distances. A pulse-rate reader, speed estimator, stopwatch, and other fancy tech features may just make the thing too complicated to use.

[&nbsp;&nbsp;] Check out what the experts say. Drs. Oz and Roizen give pedometers two thumbs up and are fans of a 10,000-steps-a-day walking plan (that&#39;s about 5 miles).&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/walking-benefits" target="_blank">Find out just what it is about walking that they love so much</a>.

Medically reviewed in March 2019.

How to Choose a Pedometer

The Shoe Check

The toe should be wide enough that toes aren&#39;t pinched. This is extra important if you have any foot issues like bunions or Morton&#39;s neuroma (a pinched nerve between your third and fourth toe). The shoe should be long enough that your big toe doesn&#39;t touch the end. Many walkers buy <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/fitness-footwear/what-look-buying-walking-shoes">walking shoes</a> a size larger than regular ones.

The heel should be flat and relatively straight. You don&#39;t need that big, wide, flared heel that some running shoes have for stability, since walkers land with less force.

Flexibility is key because walking is a rolling motion, and your shoes need to work with you. That means they shouldn&#39;t be stiff. Bend the shoe in half and twist it a bit to test its flex. It should give easily.

The shape should be a natural curve to facilitate walking&#39;s heel-to-toe motion. If you push the shoe&#39;s toe down on a flat surface, the heel should rise slightly.

The cushioning depends on your foot type. More cushioning increases comfort for someone with a high arch, for instance. If you have any issues with your feet, go to a store that specializes in walking or athletic shoes, and have a fitting expert help you <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/fitness-footwear/athletic-shoes-can-i-wear-avoid-foot-problems">find shoes</a> that will likely work best.

The Fitting

Keep it personal. To determine the best shoe for you, a good salesperson will ask about your walking goals (how often, how far, on what surface) and observe your stride length. He or she will look for pronation (whether your foot rolls inward when you walk) and check out your arch type (high, low, flat).

The perfect match takes time. Even with expert help, you may need to try on lots of shoes to find the ideal pair. It&#39;s worth it. Wear the socks you plan to walk in when you try on shoes. Once you&#39;ve narrowed it down to a couple of pairs, walk around the store in each one for several minutes (not a few steps). Repeat at home that night -- on carpeting, in case you have second thoughts about your choice or size.

Worry about the style last. You want to look good, yes, but feeling great during and after your 10,000 steps comes first. Choose the shoe that fits and feels the best.

Medically reviewed in December 2019.

Find the Right Walking Shoes

It&#39;s simple, requires no equipment, and is easy on your joints. And new research shows it helps banish brain fog, too. It&#39;s walking.

In a study of people age 55 to 80, engaging in one of the world&#39;s oldest and simplest forms of exercise helped improve signaling communication in the brains of the study participants.

Steps Away from a Younger Brain 
As we get older, communication pathways within the brain begin to bog down. But in the study, the brains of couch-potato adults who enrolled in a year-long walking program showed significant improvement in cognitive functioning and communication signaling at the end of the study period. Specifically, communication between what&#39;s known as the default mode network and the frontal executive network in the brain was stronger -- great news since these two important networks tend to take a hit as we get older. (<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/walking-benefits" target="_blank">Check out 10 other amazing health benefits you gain from walking.</a>)

Toning or Two-Stepping? 
The problem of sliding cognitive powers may be worse for people who don&#39;t do any cardio. Another group of study participants did stretching and toning exercises for a year instead of walking, but their MRIs and cognitive skills tests didn&#39;t show quite the same improvement as the walkers&#39; did. Any brain boost they experienced was chalked up as a result of learning and mastering a new exercise. Still, for a variety of other health reasons, you&#39;ll want to have both cardio and strength training on the fitness menu. (Need some tips on making exercise happen every day? <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/what-to-do-when-you-dont-feel-like-walking" target="_blank">Try these seven tips to bust even your most compelling excuses.</a>)

No time to walk? <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/4-ways-to-find-time-to-walk-when-you-are-too-busy" target="_blank">Here are some sneaky strategies for finding more minutes to pound the pavement.</a>

Medically reviewed in December 2019.

Clear That Brain Fog with This Easy Exercise

1. Go up (and down). 
Do 15 minutes of a 35-minute <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/wellness-healthy-living/article/head-for-the-hills">walk on hills</a>, not flat ground, and you&#39;ll burn close to 100 extra calories, according to walking guru Mark Fenton, author of The Complete Guide to Walking: For Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness. Not only will walking up and down hills burn more calories, but it can also help sculpt your butt. If you&#39;re on a treadmill, hike your incline 15% for 15 minutes of your walk (break it up by raising the incline for a few minutes, then lowering it, then putting it back up again).

2. Make it a game. 
Really pick up the pace for 30 seconds every time you see a dog, a mailbox, a red car, or someone sipping coffee. Making a game of it can keep your walks more interesting and make you faster over time. Every time you speed up, you&#39;ll burn more calories. Then, let your pace go back to normal (but no slower than that) while you catch your breath. Tip: When you put on your short bursts of speed, make sure that your steps are faster, but not smaller. Next week, try making the faster parts 5 seconds longer. Keep at it.

3. Get (a little) speedy. 
If you&#39;re walking 20-minute miles, make it your goal this week to do one 19-minute mile each time you walk. Even if you <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/types-of-exercise-programs/article/want-to-lose-weight-interval-training-workouts">go faster for just 1 mile</a> of your 3-mile circuit, you&#39;re making progress. Work up to 19 minutes for each mile of your workout. Once you can do that, try doing 1 mile at 18 minutes.

4. Do 5 minutes more, here and there. 
This week, either add 5 minutes to three walks, or add a 15-minute mile to one walk. Your choice. If you weigh 150 pounds, that small investment of time can nix almost 90 additional calories (those are the chocolate kisses you ate last night). Take a longer loop back home, or reset your treadmill timer. Just keep up the pace; if you walk slower when you walk longer, your additional calorie burn won&#39;t add up to much -- if it moves the needle at all.

5. Add music. 
In one study, people who worked out to up-tempo tunes covered 11% more ground -- without even feeling like they did anything extra. So <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking-safety/what-tips-music-while-walking" target="_blank">try walking to music</a> with a makes-you-want-to-move beat&nbsp;-- it can give you that lift you need to walk a little faster. Anyone ready for &quot;Rock That Body&quot; by the Black Eyed Peas?

6. Go Nordic. 
You can burn 20% more calories just by adding springy fitness poles to your walks -- you know, those long poles you see some walkers using that look like they were borrowed from Nordic skiers. Even though you&#39;re doing more when you use poles (working your arms, walking taller), your workout might actually feel easier, as the poles help propel you forward.

6 Ways to Burn Fat Faster (No Running Needed!)

Walking is an easy exercise, but use this minute rule to make sure you&#39;re hoofing it hard enough to get the minimum benefit.

Strap on a pedometer and make sure you&#39;re taking about 100 steps a minute. This will help ensure that you meet baseline exercise requirements for intensity level.

The meaning of moderate 
To get your cardiovascular health to the next level, you want to aim for 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on most days of the week. But what does &quot;moderate&quot; mean? In a study, researchers found that men needed to take 92 to 102 steps a minute and women needed about 91 to 115 steps per minute to elevate their heart rate and oxygen intake high enough to qualify their activity as moderately intense. How fit is your heart? <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/fitness-exercise/article/heart-rate-recovery">Check your fitness level here</a>.

Watch your steps 
If you are new to exercise or have a health condition, check with your doctor before trying to hit the benchmark of 100 steps per minute. If exercise is old hat to you, don&#39;t let yourself get too comfortable with the number. As the researchers pointed out, this is really the minimum walking pace that qualifies as moderate-intensity exercise. Here are a few other tips to help you get fit faster:

<ul>
	<li>Never used a pedometer before? <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/fitness-exercise/how-buy-good-pedometer">Here&#39;s what to look for when you pick one out</a>.</li>
</ul>

Medically reviewed in May 2019.

Calling All Walkers: Use This Minute Rule

Walking is a nearly perfect <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/slideshow/walk-your-way-better-health">exercise</a>, especially for older adults. It strengthens your muscles, helps keep the pounds off, improves your balance and lowers your risk for falls.

A new study published in The Lancet suggests that where you walk can be just as important as the walk itself. In the study, researchers learned that walking in a traffic-clogged city with polluted air might do more harm than good for older adults who have respiratory illnesses or heart disease.

In fact, even just two hours of exposure to air polluted with soot or dust appears to erase the benefits that walking confers on the hearts and lungs of people aged 60 and older.

How the study worked 
For the study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, researchers recruited 119 older adults. Forty of the volunteers were healthy, 40 had stable chronic <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/copd/slideshow/living-well-with-copd-expert-tips">obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)</a> and 39 had stable <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/heart-disease/what-is-ischemic-heart-disease">ischemic heart disease</a>, a condition marked by narrowed arteries that restrict blood flow to the heart.

The participants were randomly assigned to walk for two hours along the western end of London&rsquo;s Oxford Street, where diesel-powered buses and taxis are the only vehicles allowed to operate. Another group walked through a traffic-free section of Hyde Park in the center of London.

Three to eight weeks later, the groups switched; the park-walkers moved to the traffic areas and those who&rsquo;d walked in the traffic strolled in the park.

Before and after each walk, researchers measured the traffic-related air pollution (black carbon, nitrogen dioxide and other matter) in the air.

Breaking down the results 
The healthy walkers who strolled Hyde Park experienced improvements in their lung capacity. Specifically, they had a 7.5 percent average increase in their FEV1 measurement, which is the maximum amount of air you can exhale in one second. What&rsquo;s more, their arteries became less stiff. These improvements lasted for up to 26 hours.

However, the healthy Oxford Street walkers experienced only a tiny increase in their lung capacity, and their arteries stiffened by 7 percent. Researchers noted this effect was linked to their increased exposure to black carbon soot and ultrafine particles released by diesel exhaust.

Additionally, the people with COPD who walked heavily-trafficked Oxford Street reported an increase in disturbing symptoms like coughing, thick mucus secretions, shortness of breath and wheezing. Their arterial stiffness also worsened. Researchers linked these harmful effects to black carbon soot and ultrafine particles, just as they did for the healthy people who walked Oxford Street. &ldquo;This supports the view that fossil fuel combustion particles are particularly toxic to people with heart and lung disease,&rdquo; they noted.

Regarding participants with ischemic heart disease, arteries stiffened only for those who were not taking medication for their condition. That suggested to researchers that these drugs might have a protective effect against pollution&rsquo;s damage, but they said that more research is needed.

&ldquo;Taking medications which improve arterial stiffness, such as statins, ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers may well reduce the adverse effects of air pollution in people with ischemic heart disease,&rdquo; said study author Professor Fan Chung of the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London in a statement.

What it means for your daily walk 
&ldquo;Our findings indicate that in traffic-congested streets&hellip;the health benefits of walking do not always outweigh the risk from traffic pollution,&rdquo; said Chung. He added that this should not prevent older people from walking, especially if it&rsquo;s their only exercise. &quot;We suggest that, where possible, older adults walk in parks or other green spaces away from busy roads.&quot;

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) suggests that Americans get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity every week, which can include walking, or a minimum of 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity weekly activity, like jogging or hiking uphill. Keep in mind however, even more regular physical activity provides greater health benefits. If you can&#39;t get outdoors, try an indoor track or a shopping mall, or <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/slideshow/sneaky-ways-to-add-steps">add steps to your regular routine</a> by taking the stairs, walking to coworkers&#39; desks or even just pacing while you&#39;re on the phone. You don&#39;t have to move for long periods of time to reap the benefits&mdash;even a two-minute stroll can help improve your health.&nbsp; Every minute of physical activity will also count toward your weekly goals.

In the meantime, working toward a cleaner environment can help everyone. &quot;Our study provides a clear message to improve the quality of air we all share,&quot; said Chung. He suggested that working to reduce emissions, as well as phasing out diesel-powered engines and replacing them with battery-powered alternatives, are good first steps.

Medically reviewed in December 2019.

News: City Pollution May Blunt the Benefits of Walking

You can roll out of bed and head for a walk wearing practically anything (<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/outdoor-indoor-walking" target="_blank">including your PJs; check out who&#39;s walking in those</a>). But you&#39;ll be more comfortable -- less chafing, no extra fabric flapping around -- and maybe more inspired if you dress for it. And the more comfortable you are, the longer you&#39;ll walk.

Keep it smooth. Walking, like any sport, is a repetitive action, so avoid shorts or pants in heavy, stiff, or bulky fabrics that cause friction and can lead to chafing. Nix corduroy, thick sweats, even wide-ribbed socks, and go for something smooth.

In chilly weather, layer up. Layers keep you warm when you start out, and let you peel down when you get warm. Begin with a T-shirt, then pull on something with long sleeves (a sweatshirt or fleece top) that you can take off and tie around your waist. If the weather&#39;s iffy, add a water-resistant jacket.

Make it sweat absorbing. Especially in hot weather, whatever&#39;s next to your skin should absorb perspiration and help it evaporate (that goes for socks, too). Staying cool and dry fights chafing and keeps you going. There are all sorts of synthetic blends made for workout clothes that do a great job of this (look for words like &quot;dri-fit&quot;). Avoid cotton, which just gets soggy.

Stay safe. If you&#39;re walking when there&#39;s not much light, make sure there are reflective stripes, patches, or dots on your clothes and <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/best-walking-shoes" target="_blank">shoes</a>. On bright days, remember your hat, shades, and <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/choosing-right-sunscreen/sunscreen-spf-sun-protection" target="_blank">sunscreen.</a>

Rock your style. Celebrate your walking commitment in something other than those old gray sweats. Good-looking walking clothes come in all shapes, sizes, and price points and can make you feel great about getting out there and racking up your steps.

Walking Gear: Look Good, Feel Great

Don&rsquo;t let cold weather stop you from burning calories and having fun with friends.

Get the Most Out of Winter Walking

Even if you don&#39;t sport a hybrid car, and you sometimes forget to recycle, here&#39;s another way you can save the planet&mdash;and get skinny to boot: Lace up those walking shoes.

One scientist estimated that if everyone in the United States substituted an hour of walking a day for driving the same distance, oil consumption would be slashed by 38 percent. And the average Joe would burn 26 pounds a year!

It all adds up 
A daily walk is one small step for you, but possibly one major collective step forward for humankind. If we all were a little less car-minded and a little more walking-minded, it would save billions in healthcare costs related to obesity. And what if those savings were applied to carbon-abatement programs? It&#39;s estimated that climate protection on that scale could reduce carbon emissions by up to 35 percent.

More ways to be green and healthy 
Eco-friendly habits and age-reduction habits often go hand in hand. Here are a few more ways to save the planet and make your <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/static/realage">RealAge</a> younger at the same time:

<ul>
	<li>Add some greenery to your home.</li>
	<li>Drink more water. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/water-liquid-nutrient/article/tap-water-vs-bottled">From the tap!</a></li>
	<li>Kick chemicals <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/chemical-toxins/article/dangerous-chemicals-home-cleaners-products">out of your house</a>.</li>
</ul>

Save the Planet, Get Skinny

1. Make your goal doable. If you stick a 3-year-old on a two-wheeler and tell him to ride, he&#39;s going to fall off and refuse to get back on for a long time. Make your immediate goal something you know you can do -- if it&#39;s just a 10-minute walk, fine. Don&#39;t push yourself to the brink of exhaustion. Just do it, and aim to do slightly more every week. Eventually, you&#39;ll achieve goals that first seemed beyond you.

2. Get in your face. The best way to do something regularly is to have constant reminders to do it. Have walking shoes at home and at work. Put a chart on your fridge. Keep your goal in sight.

3. Seek out positive people. If your friends believe that exercise is a waste and are interested in only watching TV or going out for dessert, you&#39;re going to be forcing yourself to walk alone. Cultivate new friends, people who like being physically active, and suddenly walking every day gets much easier. Join an online community -- share success stories!

4. Put it in writing. You can have the best intentions in the world, but a funny thing happens as time passes. You don&#39;t want to walk one morning, and then at the end of that week, you&#39;ve walked five times instead of six or seven, and you tell yourself that&#39;s still pretty good. Soon, three times a week is still pretty good, and you don&#39;t remember your goal of at least five walks a week. That&#39;s why it&#39;s vital to write down your goals.

5. Avoid temptation. Whatever your guiltiest habit is, get everything related to it as far from yourself as possible. If your goal is to be fit and eat less junk, the best favor you can do yourself is to clear your house of junk food.&nbsp;Removing temptation does make a difference.

6. Recognize negative thinking patterns. There are a million varieties, but they all come down to the same issue: not existing in the here and now. Things get complicated when your mind starts focusing on the past or future, not the present. Maybe you say, &quot;When I&#39;ve lost 100 pounds, I&#39;ll look good,&quot; or &quot;If I had started this a year ago, I&#39;d really see progress now.&quot; But these thoughts trick you into ignoring one reality: that anything you do happens one step at a time, starting today.

7. Aim for no slips for 4 weeks. Once you&#39;ve established a pattern, you can slip now and then and it won&#39;t affect your overall success or motivation. But earlier slips interfere with forming a new habit. So for the first month, try extra hard to stick to your goals. If necessary, remind yourself that you will be allowed to deviate eventually. Sticking to something with no slips for 4 weeks is doable; doing it for life with no slips isn&#39;t.

Medically reviewed in December 2019.

7 Secrets for Sticking to Your Walking Goal from Leslie Sansone

Regardless of where you find yourself on the scale after the holidays, a few extra walks will still do wonders for your heart.

Even if you&#39;re well above your ideal weight, burning off about 1,000 calories a week helps improve your cardiovascular health and reduces your risk of heart disease.

Batting 1,000 -- At Least 
After a decade-long study, researchers have found that burning about 1,000 calories a week through exercise was enough to significantly lower the risk of coronary heart disease in women who are obese. It didn&#39;t totally erase their risk, but study participants were far better off than obese women who got little or no exercise.

Exercise, in any shape or form, is proven medicine for your heart -- lowering blood pressure, improving blood vessel function, and possibly inhibiting certain types of blood-clot-encouraging chemicals released by fat cells. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/video/workouts" target="_blank">Get started getting fit with our collection of online workout videos.</a>

How to Make the Mark 
So what does it take to shed an extra 1,000 calories a week? Depends on your size and how hard you work out. You could burn anywhere from 125 to 200-plus calories with 30 minutes of walking -- so you&#39;d need to hit the pavement several times each week. No matter how big or small your New Year&#39;s fitness goal is, RealAge can help you stay on track.

Medically reviewed in December 2019.

Heavy? Aim for 1,000

The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other can lead to huge gains in health and huge losses in weight. Don&#39;t think this simple exercise can change your life? Here&#39;s how I know it can work for you, as it has for thousands of others.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/fibromyalgia/article/fibromyalgia-exercise">Check out this success story</a>:

<ul>
	<li>Walking is easy and effective. You don&#39;t have to be coordinated. You don&#39;t have to learn any complicated poses or routines. You just put one foot in front of the other and walk, walk, walk.</li>
	<li>It&#39;s not hard on your body. Many things don&#39;t happen when you&#39;re walking. You don&#39;t crash and burn. You don&#39;t get bruised or broken. You don&#39;t develop intense rivalries; you build fast friendships.</li>
	<li>You don&#39;t go broke. Too many people put off exercising because they think it will be expensive or intimidating. Not a problem. Just <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/best-walking-shoes">lace up a decent pair of sneakers</a> in your living room and you&#39;re ready to walk.</li>
	<li>You&#39;re designed for it! Look at those two masterpieces of engineering sticking down from your hips and connecting you to the ground. Legs have only one purpose: to move you around. If we were designed for a life of sitting, we&#39;d look like one of those blow-up clowns that you can&#39;t knock over&mdash;no legs, all middle, with maybe a cup holder built into the belly button.</li>
	<li>It&#39;s fun and it feels right. If the sole reason you walk is to lose weight, you&#39;ll start resenting that half hour of your day pretty quickly. But you&#39;ll soon discover that walking is an end in itself, both revitalizing and relaxing! Once you enjoy walking on its own terms, you&#39;ll find yourself craving your daily walk.</li>
	<li>Your body wants you to use it. Your body does a wonderful job of giving you what it thinks you want. If you spend every evening sitting on your backside watching CSI, your body thinks, hmm, some padding down there might be really comfy! If, on the other hand, you walk every day, your body feels those muscles working and thinks, &quot;Hey! This would be even easier with more muscle.&quot; It gives you what you need.</li>
</ul>

Treat your body like you&#39;d treat good silverware: If you keep it stored away and use it only once a year, it just gets tarnished sitting there. But regular use keeps it at its beautiful, gleaming best. Your body works the same way.

Medically reviewed in March 2019.

Leslie Sansone on the Benefits of Walking

First thing every morning, do this (well, do it after you brush your teeth and kiss your partner): Lace on your sneaks and go for a walk. Why? Early morning walkers are much more likely to:

<ol>
	<li>Stick with their routine.</li>
	<li>Sleep better (and get more deep sleep).</li>
	<li>Boost their immune system and catch fewer colds.</li>
</ol>

What a triple play! Morning movers stick with their routines better, mainly because their day hasn&rsquo;t gotten in the way yet. Do it first thing and you&#39;re done before you&#39;re too busy to do it <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/benefits-of-walking/why-good-walk-morning">(75 percent of morning exercisers are still at it a year later)</a>,&nbsp;versus just 25 percent of late-day folks.

Plus, your body likes morning aerobics. Your core is cooler then, which makes cardio activities feel easier. Just be sure you start with 5 minutes of slower walking to warm up your muscles before hitting your stride. (Need more inspiration? <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/sansone-benefits-of-walking">Walking guru Leslie Sansone explains how walking can lead to huge losses in weight as well as huge gains in health</a>.)

About sleeping better: All exercise helps you sleep as long as it&#39;s 3 hours before bedtime, but brain scans (no arguing with those!) show that fitting in fitness around 7 a.m. helps you spend 75 percent more time in <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/sleep-basics/what-are-phases-sleep-cycle">deep sleep</a> than later-day workouts do&mdash;and you cycle through the stages of sleep more often. Hitting all four sleep stages several times keeps your energy high, your mind sharp and your body looking good. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/sleep-disorders/article/three-myths-about-sleep">(Don&#39;t fall for these three sleep myths.)</a>

Meet your new BFF: your morning walk.

Medically reviewed in April 2019.

Take a Morning Walk for Better Sleep and Health

It may take a bit more effort, but finding a pretty place to walk is priority number one if you want to feel mentally refreshed.

Research suggests that getting your stroll on somewhere scenic not only is great for the body but also helps revive tired brain cells. Both memory and focusing abilities will get a lift.

Outdoor Outcomes 
The small study tested short-term memory and attention levels in two groups of walkers. One group was tested after taking an hour-long walk in a park. Another group was tested after walking in a busy downtown area. And the back-to-nature walkers showed marked improvements in their mental test scores afterward. But the downtown strollers? Not so much. (<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/fitness-exercise/article/why-outdoor-workouts-work-better">Here&#39;s another reason why outdoor workouts work wonders.</a>)

Natural Healing 
So why does exercise time with Mother Nature have the power to give mental pick-me-ups? Researchers suspect that scenic surroundings simply put people more at ease. Such surroundings also require less attention to detail and decision making. So whether you workout outside, in your home, or at a gym, give your brain a break by creating an environment that feels calm and easy to negotiate. (<a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/stress-reduction/article/where-to-turn-your-eyes-for-stress-relief">In fact, just looking out the window at something pretty may help relieve stress.</a>)

Here are a few more ways to get better mind-body benefits from your walks:

<ul>
	<li>Let nature guide you.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Find peace of mind in your stride. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/walking-meditation">Here&#39;s how to get the benefits of meditation from walking.</a></li>
	<li>Tap into your greatest source of motivation. <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/sansone-fitness-walking">Learn Leslie Sansone&#39;s seven secrets for staying committed to walking.</a></li>
</ul>

Medically reviewed in December 2019.

The Best Walk on Earth

George Matthew Schilling is said to be the first person to walk around the world -- he did it from 1897 to 1904. And according to Guinness World Records, the first verified global trans-perambulator was David Kunst who trekked from June 20, 1970 to October 5, 1974. He walked 14,450 miles through four continents. But you don&rsquo;t have to go to all that effort to get the amazing benefits of regular (the key word is regular!) walking.

By getting a pedometer, a <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/walking/article/the-best-walking-partner">walking buddy</a>, good shoes, and heading out for <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/type-2-diabetes/article/normal-blood-sugar-with-10000-steps-a-day">10,000 steps</a> every day, you can&hellip;

<ul>
	<li>Banish the bad influence of weight-promoting genes! Harvard researchers found that walking for an hour a day cuts the &ldquo;plump-you-up&rdquo; power of those genes in half!</li>
	<li>Shrink your craving for sweets. Putting one foot in front of the other, say scientists at the University of Exeter, eases chocolate lust while other studies show walking mutes the desire for a wide range of sugary snacks.</li>
	<li>Reduce the risk for breast (and possibly other) <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/benefits-of-walking/how-walking-reduce-heart-disease">cancers</a>. An American Cancer Society study shows that gals who walk seven or more hours a week have a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or fewer per week. &nbsp;</li>
	<li>Strengthen your immune system.&nbsp;Even a little walking (20 minutes a day, way less than our optimal recommendation) helps. A study of more than 1,000 men and women showed that 20 minutes, five days a week reduced their sick days 43%. Just think what 10,000 steps a day will do!</li>
</ul>

Medically reviewed in June 2019.