health and fitness flash

I've been getting SELF magazine for awhile now. Scattered throughout the magazine are different 1 page summaries of things related to, health, fitness, beauty, etc.

I saw a couple that I thought were great information and thought I would pass them along. More evidence that walking is GOOOOOD.

• Walking to work (or any other place for that matter) can keep your legs AND lungs in shape. Most particle pollution is found inside cabs and cars, not outside, a study in Atmospheric Environment reveals. In fact, a five minute taxi ride exposes city dwellers to twice as much dirty air as a five minute walk.
• For a calmer head, take a brisk stroll. People on the verge of a panic attack who walked 30 minutes were twice as likely to dodge the episode as those who rested quietly, a study by Charite University Hospital in Berlin reportes. Get out for a trek as soon as you feel yourself nearing the breaking point, scientists suggest, because anxiety can escalate in only 5 to 10 minutes.
• Workouts can deliver dramatic health results long before you hit your goal weight, a study from UCLA shows. Overweight non-exercisers who walked for up to an hour a day for 21 days lowered their cholesterol by 20 percent. What's more, half of those with type 2 diabetes normalized their blood sugar.

If you didn't guess already, David and I have been on a fitness kick lately. We've been to the gym 3 times this week already, and have some more exercise planned for this weekend. And I attribute my lack of weight gain after getting Maggie and after stopping our working out, to all the walking I do (both with maggie and without her). I think the walking has also changed the shape of my legs a bit.

Well, we are headed to a Mariners game tonight. Don't know who they are playing, but it should be fun. It has been a beautiful day again today, and so the game will be especially enjoyable!