Sometimes, it’s the little things that add up.

According to new research, simple, daily activities such as walking to the photocopier and fidgeting while sitting a desk can improve cardiorespiratory fitness.

Of course, as with all exercise, duration and intensity of the physical activities are related to their effectiveness, with intensity being particularly important.

Just a 30-minute increase in moderate physical activity can offer significant benefits for fitness and long term health, the researchers said.

“It’s encouraging to know that if we just increase our incidental activity slightly, we can really benefit our health in the long-term,” said Ashlee McGuire, lead researcher and a graduate student in the Canadian School of Kinesiology and Health Studies.

“Best of all,” she added, “these activities don’t take up a lot of time, they’re not difficult to do, and you don’t have to go to a gym.”

Other incidental activities, besides fidgeting, include doing housework, climbing stairs, or walking around the office.

However, the researchers said, it is still important to keep up healthy diet and exercise habits in order to combat obesity and improve general health.

The study was published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

New research indicates that walking on a treadmill at a comfortable speed and for longer duration is the most effective exercise to improve mobility in people with Parkinson’s disease.

“Difficulty walking is the greatest cause of disability in people with Parkinson’s disease,” said Lisa M. Shulman, MD, with the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “These results have important implications for how we manage Parkinson’s disease, since low-intensity exercise can be done by most people with Parkinson’s, and our patients frequently ask what type of exercise they should be doing.”

The study compared low-intensity treadmill exercise (lower speed, longer duration) against high intensity treadmill exercise (greater speed, shorter duration) and stretching and resistant exercise for effectiveness among Parkinson’s patients who had difficulty walking.

The results showed that at the end of three months, participants who were assigned to low intensity treadmill exercise three times a week had more consistent improvements in gait and mobility and performed better than the two other groups on the distance and speed tests.

Stretching and resistance training, however, was the only exercise that improved the ratings on the Parkinson’s disease scale.

“Contrary to evidence suggesting that high intensity exercise is the most effective, our results suggest that a combination of low intensity training and stretching-resistance training may achieve the greatest improvements for people with Parkinson’s disease,” said Shulman.

The research was presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

It’s the time of year where it seems like everybody’s increasing their focus on diet and exercise in order to get ready for swimsuit season.

But if you’re getting less sleep in order to exercise more or stressing out about cutting your favorite foods for your diet, you may actually be hindering your weight loss progress, a new study suggests.

So this year, instead of being miserable and cranky for the next few weeks, try this list of simple weight loss tricks in order to drop those pesky five pounds and look great for summer.

1. Portion your food

You don’t have to give up your favorite snacks or sweets – but you do have to practice moderation.  If you’re the kind of person who can’t stop once you crack open a bag of chips, then don’t buy the big bag.  Buy the small sizes instead, so you’re less likely to accidentally binge.  And when it comes to ice cream?  Never eat straight out of the carton.  It’s almost impossible to put the spoon down.  Take the time to actually scoop out a (reasonable) portion into a bowl.

2. Incorporate more vegetables

Vegetables are great for you, and they can be really filling too.  Also, unlike fruit, they’re not packed with sugars that can actually work against you when it comes to weight loss.  When you’re fixing your dinner plate, try halving the amount of carbs (eg. rice, potatoes, bread) and doubling the vegetables for a lower calorie meal that will still satisfy you.

3. Drink more water

While it’s hard to cut anything from your diet if you really love it, sodas – and other high-cal, sugary drinks – are simply unnecessary.  Experts warn that prohibiting yourself from certain foods can lead to a diet breakdown, but let’s be realistic.  You’re much less likely to suddenly binge on a drink eliminated from your diet as opposed to a food.  Also a warning to fruit juice drinkers: your favorite juices often have just as much sugar and calories as soda, and usually only a fraction of the nutritional benefits of actual fruit.  So, whenever you’re thirsty, try going for the water bottle instead.  After a week or so, you probably won’t even miss the empty calories.

4. Exercise in front of the TV

Mindless exercise is the best kind of exercise for most people.  It’s hard to push yourself out the door and into a gym – but it’s not nearly as bad in the comfort of your own home.  Try doing sit-ups or planks in front of your TV next time you’re watching your favorite show.  Because your attention is split, the routine become becomes mindless instead of a struggle.  If you have a treadmill, position it in front of the screen so you can walk while you watch.

5. Sleep more

New studies suggest that more sleep equals more weight loss.  Sounds counter-intuitive, right?  But actually, there are a number of reasons why sleep helps.  For one, when we’re tired, we’re much more likely to grab an “easy” meal (read: fast food, junk food) as opposed to cooking something healthy.  Research shows that people who don’t get enough sleep eat an average of 300 more calories a day – and then they’re too tired to work it off.

6. Stress less

This one seems to be interconnected with sleep, researchers say.  When we’re tired or stressed, we’re generally too preoccupied to focus on making important behavioral changes.  This can hinder weight loss progress.  In a recent trial of nearly 500 obese adults, researchers found that participants who weren’t impeded by sleep deprivation or stress were more likely to lose weight than their over-stressed counterparts.  More than anything, these results have shown that weight loss should be a holistic process.  Focus on on making yourself healthier as a whole – mind and body – and the results will speak for themselves.

One recent survey of Americans on body image found that more than half of all men and women would rather lose their job than gain an extra seventy-five pounds. And nearly 20 percent of the population would give up, or consider giving up, 20 IQ points to have the perfect body.

Obviously, weight and the way we are perceived is an important factor in our daily lives. It’s not surprising then that dieting is on the minds of so many people these days, particularly as people get on in their forties, when the metabolism begins to slow and the pounds begin to add up. So which diet is best? I’ll tell you.

First, let’s look at some of the big blockbuster diets that have appeared over the past decade or so—the South Beach Diet, the Atkins Diet, the Mediterranean Diet, and so on. Each one of these diets has simply incorporated a different method of teaching you about nutrition in order to get you to lose weight. Each one gives you something to focus on, a behavior to motivate you, which is great because, after all, to lose weight you have to change your thinking.

But if you look at the fundamentals, the underlying theme of each diet is calories. Whether you do Atkins, South Beach, or Dr. Phil, it’s really all about calories.

When reviewed carefully, most diets are really nothing more than low-calorie nutrition plans disguised by clever marketing gimmicks. Scientific-sounding “facts” and hocus-pocus “research” are just ornaments on the diet tree. Diet-plan marketers go to great lengths to explain how their diet can work for everyone, or claim that it is carbohydrate intake or fat intake—or whatever the bad intake of the day is—that’s the culprit.

However, the bottom line is that the only way to lose weight is to have a caloric deficit, which occurs only when you burn more calories than you consume.

The average American today consumes 300 more calories per day today than did the average American of 30 years ago. Today’s average American also burns 260 fewer calories each day due to increased automation, technology, and sedentary occupations. Put those numbers together, and it becomes rather obvious why America’s waistline is growing at an alarming rate.

Check Your BMI

The BMI can tell you if you are underweight, normal, overweight, or obese. Adults 20 years old and older can calculate their BMI with this formula:

BMI = your weight/pds divided by height/in x height/in x 703

You are UNDERWEIGHT, if your BMI is below 18.5.

You are of NORMAL WEIGHT, if your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

You are OVERWEIGHT, if your BMI is between 25.0 and 29.9.

You are OBESE, if your BMI is 30.0 or more.

So here is Dr. Manny’s Freedom Diet. If you really want to lose weight, you have to do two things: eat fewer calories and burn more calories. This is not an optional “either/or” plan but an “and” plan. Of course, the calories you eat should be healthy calories. That’s all. Eat less. Exercise more. It really is that simple.

Fight obesity. Spread the word.

Exercise

People spend an enormous amount of time trying to find the perfect exercise, and while they’re doing that, their clock is ticking. Any physical activity is great, though the best kinds of exercise for you are those like walking, swimming, running, hiking, and skiing—all of which have a “global” impact on your body and mind.

Most important, you should stick to the exercise of your choice and do it regularly. If you adhere to those two principles, you’re going to burn calories, feel better, improve your metabolism, and benefit your health.

Any activity you do during the day—from climbing stairs, to housecleaning, to watching TV—will, of course, burn calories. But those activities don’t provide the necessary continuity, and I think the essence of getting into shape and having a good metabolism has to do with a continuity of exercise.

In other words, it’s better to burn 120 calories a day, seven days a week, doing your favorite exercise, for example, than to burn 800 calories doing the housework once a week. It’s the exercise regimen that has an impact on your health, not necessarily the intensity.

Burn, Baby, Burn

Estimated number of calories burned per minute based on an individual weighing about 150 pounds:

Sitting: 1

Talking on phone: 1

Sleeping: 1

Driving: 2

Housework: 3

Cooking: 3

Washing dishes: 3

Stretching: 4

Sex (active): 5

Walking (3 mph): 5

Calisthenics (moderate): 5

Ballroom dancing (fast): 6

Gardening: 6

Swimming (moderate): 7

Aerobics (low impact): 7

Hiking: 7

Jogging: 8

Stair step machine: 8

Bicycling (12 to 14 mph): 10

Basketball (full court): 12

Running (10 mph): 20

To easily calculate how many calories you burn in a day, go to www.healthstatus.com and click on “Calculators” then “Calories Burned.”

It is also very important to drink adequate amounts of fluid when you exercise. You need to drink about a half cup of water for every fifteen minutes of vigorous exercise. People think that muscle cramps during exercise are caused by a shortage of electrolytes, but that’s not true. You get muscle cramps because of water loss and dehydration. Drink that water!

Forget the personal trainer.  Your dog can give you a workout for free.

Several studies, including a recently published one from the University of Michigan, show that dogs can act as powerful motivators to get people moving, the New York Times reported.

Dog owners are both more likely to take regular walks and be more active overall compared to people who do not have dogs, according to researchers.  Some studies even indicate that dogs are better than humans as walking companions, so far as motivation is concerned.

Michigan State University researchers surveyed the habits of 5,900 people, including 2,170 dog owners, and found that two-thirds of the dog owners took their dogs for regular walks.

Of those who took their dogs for regular walks, 60 percent met federal criteria for moderate or vigorous exercise and nearly half exercised an average of 30 minutes a day at least five days a walk.

Meanwhile, only a third of people without dogs got that much regular exercise.

Dog owners were also more likely to take part in other leisure-time physical activities such as sports and gardening.  On average, dog owners exercised 30 minutes more than people without dogs.

However, owning a dog did not guarantee physical activity.  The owners in the study who did not regularly walk their dogs reported less exercise than dog walkers and people who did not own dogs.

Click here to read more from the New York Times.

Patients who have knee replacement surgery are still active 20 years later, according to WebMD.

Researchers conducted a survey of 128 patients to determine the long-term success of knee replacements and found that, despite age-related declines, most patients were able to keep up fairly active lifestyles.

“If you have a good knee replacement and are blessed with good health, you have an excellent chance of walking as much as you want and doing activities such as swimming, golfing, and riding a bike, into your 80s,” researcher John B. Meding, MD, said.

The results surprised Meding, who hadn’t expected former patients’ activity levels to be so high.

Seventy percent of the sample could walk at least five blocks, half believed their walking capabilities were unlimited, and all but one could climb stairs – though some did rely on the assistance of rails.

On average, 581,000 knee replacements are done every year in the U.S., according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.  The surgeries are usually performed after the knee is significantly damaged by arthritis or injury.

Click here to read more from WebMD.