Boost your activity level each day, and you’ll be burning calories and getting lean and trim in no time.

Many men and women are interested in getting fit, but don’t know where to start. Or, they start, but don’t keep it up because they get bored or feel like it’s a lot of hard work.

But you can get into the mood and the move in a lot of different ways that don’t involve hours on a treadmill or stairclimber, or spending a fortune on gym membership or equipment.

The most important way to stay fit and lose weight is to stay on the move. It takes 2000 calories to put on a pound, but 3000 to burn one off.

But exercise does not have to be a chore, or something you need to set aside hours for. The good news is that even 10 minutes a day can help—and new research has also shown that 4 sessions of 10 minutes a day is actually better for you than 40 minutes of sustained exercise.

Not only does it help you stay physically fit and trim, exercise also enhances your mood. Often you can even meet a lot of great like-minded people who will encourage you to stay fit.

The easiest way to exercise is the 10,000 steps a day rule. You can get an inexpensive pedometer to help keep you on track. Walking is a tremendous way of staying in shape for many men and women. You can gradually begin walking more with each passing day. In time, you can build up to the 10,000 step a day level.

You can also carry two water bottles and/orswing your arms more vigorously, to burn even more calories. Walking up hill or up stairs can also increase the impact of the workout and the number of calories burned.

Walking to the store instead of taking the car, or, not grabbing the first parking spot, but actually parking further away from the store entrance, can all help you meet your 10000 step goal.

Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, both up and down counts. Stepping from side to side while you wait for a bus or train works too, and actually exercises another set of helpful muscles. To increase your heart rate when walking, take smaller, more numerous strides per minute instead of longer, fewer ones.

A dog is also a great way to keep fit, and he is a mood booster too. Just remember, a puppy is a 15 year marriage commitment, til death do you part, usually its death. At the same time, though, there are tens of thousands of dogs looking for a home at www.petfinder.org if you feel that a canine pal will help keep you on track with your fitness goals.

Other daily activities which you can include would be golfing, especially if you carry your own clubs, and gardening.

Swimming is another huge calorie burner with low impact on your joints, something to consider if you are trying to lose weight without stress and strain to yourself or your joints. But you can’t do it literally anywhere (even in a plane!) the way you can with walking.

The worst exercise is none at all, so look at your daily schedule and try to see where you can add a few steps here and there to get your 10,000 every day. Every step counts on your path to better fitness.

Herbal preparations have received enormous attention as potential preventive strategies or treatments for age-related problems or changes in the brain. A visit to your local health food store or pharmacy will help you appreciate the large variety of herbal diet supplements available.

Herbals have become a genuinely big business in the last few years. By some estimates, at least one-third of Americans have tried herbal medicines, for which they spend at least $4 billion per year.

The major difficulty with this burgeoning ‘nutraceutical’ industry is the scarcity of systematic studies to tell us which of these preparations really work. How do you know whether these compounds are what they claim? Since they are not considered to be either a food or drug, there is no regulation by the FDA of the safety, potency, or claims made regarding these products.

If you are thinking about taking a supplement to boost your memory, you should ask three basic questions about it, or indeed about any health product you take:

What is in it?

Is it safe?

Is there any evidence that it works?

You should also think about what you can afford, and any other drugs and medicines you might be taking. For example, gingko is often touted as an herbal supplement to aid memory, but it often interacts with other over the counter and prescription medicines.

As with all pills, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

One other caveat: just because it is ‘natural’ does not mean it’s safe.

In an earlier article we gave you some handy healthy eating tips. Here we are going to give you some advice about how to stay active to help keep slim and trim.

• 4 short 10-minute work-out sessions can be even more effective than a 40-minute burst. The thing is to keep moving.

• Cable TV has a lot of great workout shows. Find the one that’s right for you and stick to it. You can also record several on tape and play them to break up the monotony.

• Netflix has a full library of workout DVDS. Again, you can view them all and keep note of the ones you like the best, then invest in them.

• Try different styles of workout, from yoga to belly dancing to tai chi to kick boxing. Avoid boredom above all.

• Avoid anything that makes you feel strained, and avoid high impact exercises, especially if you are overweight or have joint trouble.

• Start gradually and work your way up. Don’t try to lift 50 pounds the first time you go to the gym. Start with a weight you can do 20 reps with, and gradually increase both the weight and the repetitions. When you get to a level where you feel bored, increase the weight.

• Avoid toning the same part of your body over and over again. Schedule your daily workouts so that you get to work on all parts of your body at least twice a week, but never two days in a row.

• Don’t punish yourself if you want to have a day off, or take an exercise break. Get back into your routine as soon as possible.

• Stretch and warm up before starting any exercise.

• Practice proper form in any sport or exercise for maximum exercise impact, and to avoid injury.

• If you do join a gym, try out a number of different classes to keep your interest up and meet new people as fitness buddies.

• Try to find a better body buddy. Exercise is more fun if you do it with other people. Do aerobics with a friend or play a sport with your family. Even doubles tennis counts as exercise!

• A change in environment keeps boredom at bay. Don’t just stand on your treadmill or stairclimber, get out to the park, walk up a hill, take the stairs instead of the elevator.

• Taking a nap for 15 to 20 minutes in the afternoon can sharpen your memory, improve alertness, and help reduce fatigue. If you can’t take a nap, set aside some time for lighter activities, such as checking email or answering phone calls.

• Build muscle to boost metabolism. Experts estimate that an additional pound of lean muscle mass can increase resting metabolism by 30-50 calories a day. So turn that chunkiness in the middle to a six pack and you’ll be firing on all cylinders like well-oiled, well fuelled machine.

Little changes can add up to big results!

Many herbal preparations can interact with conventional medicines. It is important to tell your physician or pharmacist what you are taking. Pharmacists have plenty of information in their computers about both conventional medications, and herbal preparations and can look for possible interactions and precautions.

The information in these computer databases should also be of enormous benefit as time goes on. Not only will they provide new knowledge as it is developed, they will provide more knowledge of which substances interact poorly with one another.

Always remember to tell your doctor and pharmacist about any pills you are taking, even vitamins, to ensure the best treatment. Keep a list handy, with the brand and dosage, and update it frequently. As we age, we are more likely to take an increasing number of medicines, all with the possibility of interacting.

One other point is that many over the counter medications can cause temporary memory loss. You will usually go back to normal once you stop taking them. Antacids, for example, may seem harmless, but can disrupt memory, and block nutrients from being absorbed.

Everyone worries about getting proper nutrition, but in this hectic-paced world we live in, where fast food abounds, actually eating right can be a very challenging task.

 The lifestyle of an average American is crammed with chores, which makes us cram goodness knows what into our mouths. Between juggling work, family, and outside commitments, people have come to believe that they have no time for cooking or healthy eating.

 Creating a nutritious meal for the family when you are all on the run is challenging enough. Trying to balance your  daily nutrition requirements can be even harder. Add to that special diets, like vegetarian, vegan, or lactose intolerant, for example, and you can have a nightmare on your hands.

Fortunately, MyPyramid is here to help, at http://www.mypyramid.gov

 The FDA has put up resources to help you calculate your daily requirements, and the best sources for each, so you can make every meal, and even every mouthful, count. And customize it for all your family members as well if you are cooking or planning meals for more than one.

 One size does not fit all when it comes to food and nutrition, which is why the have designed these interactive tools.  MyPyramid Plan offers you a personal eating plan with the foods and amounts that are right for you. You can get started with the MyPyramid Plan quickly and easily at the site.

MyPyramid Tracker offers a detailed assessment of your food intake and physical activity level. You can also use the advice “Inside the Pyramid” section to help you

• Make smart choices from every food group.
• Find your balance between food and physical activity/exercise
• Get the most nutrition out of your calories.
• Stay within your daily calorie needs to maintain weight or even lose weight.

There are a few limitations to the site that you need to be aware of.  MyPyramid food patterns are designed for the general public ages 2 and over.

 They are not therapeutic diets for specific health conditions. Those with a chronic health condition should always  consult with a health care provider to find a dietary plan that is right for them, particularly for conditions like diabetes.

 But MyPyramid is a quick easy way to start thinking a bit more about sound nutrition and educating yourself about what you can eat each day for maximum nutrition.

A lot of people turn to vitamins and supplements, but ideally you should be able to get balanced nutrition from the food you eat. 

The useful sample menus should get you started with a nutritional eating lifestyle you can sustain both short and  long term without driving yourself crazy or taking too long cooking and shopping. So you can have more time to sit down, eat, and savor!

Your brain needs glucose (sugar) for energy. But to build cells, to produce chemicals necessary for nerves to communicate, and to repair damage, you need the basic building blocks of cells, proteins.

The proteins you eat do not go directly into the brain because a filter, called the ‘blood-brain barrier,’ protects the brain. Even though the level of some substances might be quite high in your blood, this filter keeps them from getting into your brain.

Otherwise rapid fluctuations and surges of substances that might be helpful at low levels, but harmful at higher levels, would pummel your brain. The blood-brain barrier excludes from the brain many substances, including protein from the foods you eat and medications, such as antibiotics.

In contrast, other substances, such as glucose, pass freely into the brain. The more glucose in your blood, the more there is in your brain. Other substances do get into the brain but at slow, controlled rates.

Since proteins cannot pass directly into the brain, your brain makes its own, using the substances that do cross the blood-brain barrier, namely, amino acids. Amino acids are the basic structural units of proteins, which connect together like beads on a string. When you eat protein in, say, soybeans or steak, your intestinal tract and liver digest it, breaking the protein’s long strings of amino acids into individual amino acids. These amino acids then circulate in your blood. Like glucose, these lone amino acids can enter the brain, which then assembles them to make the specific proteins it needs. At this level it does not make any difference to your brain if the source of the protein is beef or soybeans.

Of course, the other parts of the food consumed, like fat, do make a difference in your overall health, so a good quality diet rich in protein but not excessive amounts of animal protein is recommended.

Fish has often been touted as ‘brain food’ due to its high protein content, and other very good minerals known to affect the brain, such as zinc.  It also has a good calories to protein ratio, and protein helps you feel full after eating (as does fat, but again, we want to limit it in the diet).

More studies need to be done on the role of fish in a brain-healthy diet, but one things is for sure, fish is generally a healthy food choice, though with increasing levels of mercury in the world’s oceans,  you should do your research on which types of fish are considered least risky.