If you want to add two hours to your life, all you may need is a pair of sneakers and a little time -- at least according to the American Heart Association. Today, kicks off National Start Walking day. The organization is recommending taking your sneakers to work and getting your colleagues involved. The benefits of walking they say include:
* Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
* Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels
* Improve blood lipid profile
* Maintain body weight and lower the risk of obesity
* Enhance mental well-being

So I've just learned that I'm obese. And I had NO IDEA. But not only that, no one I've shared this with believes me! Not even my team here at EmpowHer! People have been laughing and rolling their eyes at me all day long. And I can't say I blame them because when you see me, obesity is the farthest thing you think of.

So for the last few weeks, I've been playing a game with myself where I try to work in five vegetables a day. This is huge for me as normally I work in one serving about every three days, so obviously, I needed a change. A few of the things that I've actually taken to is substituting berries for syrup on my waffles (whole wheat, of course) and eating sugar snap peas instead of tortilla chips and salsa (and we have some mean salsa in my part of the world.)

Anyone doing something similar that I can steal? Am looking for clever ideas. Thanks.

These restaurants are supposed to have some of the healthiest meals around. Which restaurants do you think have meals that you would consider healthy?

I am forever forgetting the quick & easy way to know if a packaged food is healthy, when reading the Nutrition Label. I try to limit my purchase of packaged foods (which I haven't succeeded in, but it's a nice sounding goal, right?!). The cereal aisle is notorious for being a major place of confusion, as the "healthy" range of cereals is broad. We know cereal should have "low sugar", but how many grams is that, again? If you can remember just two numbers, they will help you immensely while you are standing in the grocery aisle, reading the food labels: 5% 20%

It seems more people are opting for organic, natural food over highly processed food regardless of calorie count.

While food like fruit delivers that one-two punch of low calories and some sweetness, many of my friends are taking the homemade chocolate cake over the 100-calorie snack type foods because they just don't like the idea of eating foods full of chemicals any more.

Has that been your experience as well? Do you find that more people are moving away from so-called junk food?

Because it's Friday -- Would you rather 'splurge' your calories on cocktails or dessert?

Mom constantly nagged at us kids about having breakfast before we left the house for school, reminding us that it's the most important meal of the day. It didn't matter if it was toast and orange juice, or cereal, or something more substantial, there was always something on the breakfast table for us, and it did make a difference in how we met the rest of the day. I know I felt more alive, alert and awake.

People think food like Chipotle and Baja Fresh are health food options.....not so much! Check our the link below: http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=... Have you found any other examples?

What do you think about sports drinks? There are more brands out there, targeting (or focusing on) women. Some have lots of sodium, calories and sugar. Others are low-calorie, and all claim to provide electrolytes lost after exercise. How many of us low-to-moderate exercisers need our electrolytes replenished? Are sports drinks a marketing ploy for us to pay lots of money for something we don't need, or are they really beneficial in helping us drink more fluids after exercising? What do you think?