Health Blog

Before you know it Spring will be here. It will be time to get back outside and get moving. But don't think that to get moving means you need to have expensive gym memberships or fancy equipment. In fact, according to the National Institutes of Health, it's just the opposite!

The NIH is offering a booklet that demonstrates what it is that you can do to easily get, and stay, healthy, just by using the things you that you already have around you. This is great news for anyone who wants to get healthy and fit but doesn't want to break the bank trying to help make it happen.

The publication is 8 pages long and is titled "The World Around You: Use What You Have to Stay Healthy and Fit." It offers real-life suggestions and tips covering such topics as eating better and being more physically active. Following this booklet, try a variety of activities and see which ones fit your lifestyle and preferences, and then stick with those activities.

When it comes to getting active, try finding someone to pair up with and take a walk. This can be done around the block, by walking with a friend, at the local school track, or even inside the mall if it's still too chilly to be outdoors. Nutritionally, add in some frozen or canned vegetables to your soups, rice, or pasta dishes. This is a great way to help you get more vegetables into your diet.

Be sure to set some healthy goals that you would like to achieve, and then work toward achieving them, tracking your progress along the way. By adding in these activities and striving maintain a healthy weight, you may be able to help protect your body against, or delay the onset of, certain health problems, such as diabetes.

You can find the 8-page healthy living tips booklet at www.win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/way.htm.