Americans are less active today than ever before, which contributes to the high rate of overweight and obesity. One reason for the increase of inactivity is that our environment offers many more conveniences than ever before, such as elevators and escalators and remote controls. There are also more people driving cars instead of walking, and a decrease of manual labor in the workforce.  Therefore, it is important that we work hard to make physical activity a part of our lifestyle.

Daily activity (exercise or lifestyle) is important for weight loss, maintenance of weight loss and general good health. The U.S. Surgeon General recommends moderate physical activity on most days of the week of at least 30 minutes per day for adults and 60 minutes per day for children.

Tips to making physical activity a daily routine:

• Let your doctor know if you are starting a new or strenuous exercise routine to make sure that it's safe for you.
• Begin your routine slowly. Gradually increase intensity.
• Select exercise activities that you enjoy and that can be scheduled into a regular routine.
• Add lifestyle activity every chance you get, like taking stairs instead of using elevators or parking farther away from a store entrance than you normally do.