I am a Survivor.

Many of us want to know "how much exercise is do I need?" and probably more to the point is, "how little exercise can I get away with doing, to maintain or improve my overall health and fitness?" (well, I'll at least speak for myself!)

We all know walking is great exercise. It helps the heart and lungs, it builds strong muscle and it's good for our bones!

It's also a good social activity. We can walk with friends, catch up with our lives and if you are like me, walking can lead in just the opposite direction. It can be a time to be alone, with no-one talking, no little fingers tugging at me and no-one asking me what's for dinner! I can smell the air, listen to the geese and feel the breeze. Just me and me.

I can also feel my waist line getter smaller and my legs becoming leaner. And who doesn't want that benefit?

The difference between me being productive and happy versus unproductive and unmotivated pretty much comes down to how much sleep I get. The difference is night and day (excuse any sleep pun).

If I am asleep before midnight and sleep straight through till 7am, I am a dynamo all day.

If it's 1am and I am up at 6 am (newborn, nursing, sick kids, insomnia...name your reason) then I eat badly (I target greasy and salty foods, I have no idea why) and am not a happy person. Everything moves more slowly, my motivation is terrible and I feel down.