Stay Active

In addition to eating high-quality foods, physical activity can help you reach and maintain a healthy weight.

• Getting regular physical activity is one of the best things you can do for your health. It lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and certain cancers, and it can also help control stress, improve sleep, boost mood, keep weight in check, and reduce the risk of falling and improve cognitive function in older adults.

• It doesn’t take marathon training to see real health gains. A 30-minute brisk walk on five days of the week is all most people need. Getting any amount of exercise is better than none.
• Being a “couch potato” may be harmful even for people who get regular exercise. 

Regular physical activity helps the body function better – it keeps heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other diseases at bay, and is a key component for losing weight.

• The precise amount of exercise needed to achieve or maintain a healthy weight varies based on a person’s diet and genes. The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association support the idea that “more activity increases the probability of success.” 
• How much exercise do you need? Physical activity guidelines— including strength training and flexibility training — explain how much you should be moving. Keep exercise safety in mind, too.

Physical activity can also help people maintain weight loss. 

• Among the nearly 3,700 men and women who are part of the National Weight Control Registry, a group that includes only people who lost more than 30 pounds and kept them off for at least a year, the average participant burns an average of about 400 calories per day in physical activity. That’s the equivalent of about 60 to 75 minutes of brisk walking each day, or 35 to 40 minutes of daily jogging. But there’s quite a bit of variation from participant to participant—some require more physical activity to keep the weight off, some require less.

The contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.