A Daily Dose of Walking: It's Good Medicine

This is a feature section to help you improve your vascular health through exercise.

1. Think of walking like food, both are an every day essential. You need nutrition for your body; your muscles and legs need 'exercise nutrition'. Strive to walk every day, knowing that if you miss a day here or there, you will still meet the recommended 5 times a week!
   
   
2. It's too hot, it's too cold, it's too windy, it's too rainy, it's too snowy, it's too early, it's too late, it's too Monday-ish, I'm too busy, I'm too bored, I'm too bald…you want cheese with that "whine"? Right now, write down a list of all the good reasons why you should walk and another list of all the bad things that will happen if you don't walk. Keep those lists handy (right next to your list of rewards for when you DO walk). Refer to it when your will power is weakening. Nine times out of ten, half way through your walk you won't even be able to remember why in the world you didn't want to walk.

Author, Mitzi Ekers, MS, ARNP, is a nurse practitioner who has been working with vascular patients for more than 30 years. She is Director of Vascular Services at the Heart and Vascular Institute of Florida in St. Petersburg. She helped start both the Society for Vascular Nursing and the Society of Vascular Ultrasound.