Walking 20 Minutes a Day Might Save Your Life...

A brisk walk could cut your risk of early death, even if you’re obese There’s now more encouraging evidence that you don’t have to run marathons to make a difference in your health. A brisk 20-minute walk each day could be enough to cut your risk of early death – even if you are obese, according to new research published Jan. 14, 2015. The study of more than 334,000 European men and women found that twice as many deaths may be attributable to lack of physical activity than to obesity. And a modest boost in activity could make a big difference, the study concluded. Small Change = Big Reward “This is a simple message: just a small amount of physical activity each day could have substantial health benefits for people who are physically inactive,” said Ulf Ekelund, of the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge, England, who led the study. He added, however, that we should really aim for more than that. “Physical activity has many proven health benefits and should be an important part of our daily life,” noted Ekelund. The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Exercise. Deadly Effects of Inactivity Inactivity puts you at increased risk of heart disease, cancer and early death, studies show. It can contribute to increased body mass index (BMI) and obesity, though the association with early death is independent of your BMI , the researchers said. In the Cambridge study, researchers found that the greatest reduction in risk of premature death occurred in the comparison between inactive and moderately-inactive groups. Subjects were categorized based on their level of work activity (such as being a desk worker vs. a nurse) and how active they were outside of...

What Should You Weigh?

Figuring out what the scale should say, not what you want it to, is worth the trouble You probably have the number in your head right now. Most of us do. It’s the weight you’d like to weigh, if you had your druthers. It may be a long-ago weight — before you had kids, before you were married, even when you were still in school. Or it might be more recent — the number on the scale when you were training for, say, your first marathon in your 30s or when you did aerobics nearly every day. It could be time, though, to put that fantasy number to bed and focus on reaching or maintaining a healthy weight — the figure at which we feel strong, energetic, like our best self. So what is that number? Good question. Figuring it out is not an exact science, says Lisa Young, an adjunct professor at New York University and author of The Portion Teller Plan: The No-Diet Reality Guide to Eating, Cheating, and Losing Weight Permanently. That said, “it’s important to strive for something that’s realistic and healthy, and that’s usually a Body Mass Index [BMI] of 18.5 to 25,” which is considered normal weight, says Young. But BMI Has Its Limits No doubt you’ve heard of BMI, a fairly simple number crunch of weight and height to estimate how much fat a person has. Though widely-used, it’s not a perfect way to measure the link between weight and health, says Dr. Rexford S. Ahima, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Years ago, “the World Health Organization came out with some standards and [said that] if you have a BMI of 30 or higher you...