Regardless of your age or physical condition, providing you start off sensibly a well planned walking program will have incredible health benefits. I will tell you how to get started and we will examine some of the benefits you will experience as a result of your efforts.

Whether your goal is weight loss or just improved health a walking program is the best place to start. Whenever you begin any new exercise program it is important that you first check in with your physician to let him know what your plans are. Once you have been checked out by your physician and you have the O.K. to follow through with your plans it is important that you realize you must take it slow in the beginning.

To begin your new walking program you should start out by just simply going for a 10 minute walk 3 times a week. Now this may seem to be a little too cautious in the beginning but trust me it is the safest way to begin any new weight loss program. Now that you have started your new walking program and you have made a commitment to yourself to stick with it you may start to add 10 more minutes to your walk each week. If you experience difficult breathing do not become discouraged, just cut back on the time that you walk by 5 minutes.

Before you know it you will be a month into your weight loss and fitness program. With your new walking program it is important that you are constantly challenging yourself, if you keep increasing the amount of time you walk you are certain to see your hard work pay off.

The benefits of walking are numerous to your health and well-being and simply by ramping up your walking program to 30 minutes everyday you can expect to:

- See an increase in your overall fitness and the tone of your muscles

- Feel good and look better

- Find that your level of energy increases

- Feel a lot less stressed and control your stress triggers much better

- Find that your sleeping much more peacefully and you awaken much more refreshed

- Begin to reduce the risk of heart disease

- Reduce the risk of developing certain types of cancer

- Find that your mood is much more positive and you are less prone to depression

- Your outlook on life in general and the way you deal with things changes for the better

- Your weight loss goals are actually being met

- You find that your muscles, joints and bones are stronger

- You reduce the risk of developing diabetes

As you can see there are many benefits to starting a walking program it leads to much more than just weight loss as it is truly a total fitness program. There are many more benefits then what I have listed here, I just really wanted to mention some of the more important ones. The longer you stick with your walking program the easier it becomes and before you know it you will have developed a lifelong habit. When you begin to reach your weight loss and fitness goals your self-esteem will climb and your overall confidence in yourself will give you the will and drive it takes to accomplish anything.

Now it is your time to get up off the couch, lace up your walking shoes and get started on the path to the new, healthier you. You see how little time it takes when you are starting out so that eliminates one excuse because everyone, regardless of who you are or what you do for a living can find at least 15 to 30 minutes to dedicate to your health and well- being. You really can achieve your fitness and weight loss goals by starting a simple walking plan and if you decide to ramp things up as you see improvement then you will experience even greater returns for your added efforts.