Burn even more calories during your walk.

It seems as though the news on walking gets better and better with every step. Not only does walking burn about 100 calories per mile, it gives your heart a great workout, too.

According to Maggie Spilner of Walk For All Seasons, the University of Illinois recently discovered during a study that "regular walking might even make you smarter by improving the connectivity of important brain circuits.

The American Heart Association suggests that brisk walking for a minimum of 30 minutes per day for five days per week is a great target for beginners. One way to improve your success rate of meeting or beating the aforementioned goal  is to join a walking group.

Not interested in walking with strangers? Start your own walking group by asking co-workers, neighbors, family members or friends to join you at a mutually comfortable area or post an ad on Craigslist to get a foothold on forming a walking group.

Lower your blood pressure with celery.

Fresh celery. Photo courtesy of
www.commonswikimedia.org

For centuries, "celery has been used in Asia as a folk remedy for high blood pressure," according to Prevention Magazine. Researchers at the Univ. of Chicago Medical Center actually tested this ancient remedy after one man persuaded them. His persistence paid off in spades! Within one week of participation in the study, his blood pressure plummeted from 158/96 to 118/82.
 
Later, the researchers began testing the celery theory on lab animals. Once again, within one week, the animals' blood pressures dropped an average of 12 to 14 percent! Celery was found to relax the muscles of the arteries that regulate blood pressure allowing the vessels to dilate.