Motivating facts...a series #2

Looking for some motivation to keep you going?  The next few blog posts will offer motivating facts in the areas of health (mental, physical, environmental, etc).  Check back weekly to find facts to keep you motivated every STEP of the way.  All information comes from this article.

Get a better body

• Walking one mile a day burns 100 calories. You could lose ten pounds in a year without changing your eating habits.

• The experts agree, walk 6,000 steps a day to improve your health, and 10,000 to lose weight.

• A University of Tennessee in Knoxville study with pedometers revealed that women who averaged more than 10,000 steps a day had 40% less body fat and waist and hip measurements that were four to six inches narrower than those who averaged fewer than 6,000 steps.

• If you add just 2,000 more steps a day to your regular activities, you may never gain another pound. So says research by Dr. James O. Hill of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

• A recent Harvard study shows that walking at a moderate pace (3mph) for up to 3 hours a week — or 30 minutes a day — can cut the risk of heart disease in women by as much as 40%.

• The October 20, 1999 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that one hour of brisk walking every day can cut a woman's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in half.

• The Journal of the American Medical Association found that women who walk in their 30s and 40s can greatly reduce their risk of breast cancer.

• If you walk regularly (3 or more times a week for a half hour or more) you are saving $330 a year in health care costs, according to a survey published in the October, 2000 issue of The Physician and Sportsmedicine.