It’s a new year. That equals, for a lot of people, resolutions surrounding losing weight. Cool, if that’s what you want; I have no problems with that. Just please make it more about feeling really well – living really well – instead of size zero jeans. Wellness is what matters. Fitting into a smaller size is a nice side benefit.

With that, you may have created some goals that involve the dreaded E word. Nope, not even going to use it. Instead, here’s my term for it: Movement. Movement equals safe medicine and is an important part of being well. I know that; I know you know that. The potential problem comes when you try to add movement to your life in ways that don’t fit. Trying to force a square peg into a round hole never works.

That’s why one of my favorite get-some-extra-movement ways is using a pedometer. Everyone moves around some and many should move around more. How you do that is up to you. You like hiking, like me? Perfect. You’re a runner? Cool. You enjoy a stroll around the block after dinner? That works, too. You simply want to ignore the whole thing, but you’re willing to park farther away, use the stairs, find other ways to get more steps in so you don’t have to officially exercise? Good to go.

So that gives you one easy way to start moving your beautiful body more. Of course, there are lots of other ways to work movement into your life. And, if you don’t want, they don’t have to involve extreme gym workouts if you’re aiming for health vs. six-pack abs.

I could list many ways to move. But you know I love seeing you come up with what works for you. That’s the only thing that matters. If it works for me but would get root-canal ranking from you, you’re never going to keep it up. Think about some fun, active things you could do. Things you love to do. Things that are fun. Things you enjoyed when you were young. No rules, no restrictions. Get rid of your pre-conceived notions, and dig into what you might seriously enjoy doing. Why? So it doesn’t become: “Crap, I have to go move my body so I can be healthier,” it becomes: “Yes, I’m going to go do (fill in the blank)!”

To motivate you to move, here are a few ways that movement perks up your health (besides the usual like losing weight and gaining energy and strength):

• A more active lifestyle cuts the risk of developing heart disease in half.
• A simple 15 minutes of exercise three days per week reduces your chances of suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s by approximately a third.
• Engaging in a mind-body practice – like yoga – may help you eat more mindfully. This helps eliminate the times you overeat and don’t even enjoy your meal because it was consumed too fast and/or under too much stress.
• Just an hour or two of brisk walking per week can cut the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women by nearly 20 percent. In those diagnosed with the disease, 3-5 hours of walking per week can cut the risk of dying from it by half.
• Aerobic-type exercise (such as a brisk walk) cuts the chances of catching a cold in half for postmenopausal women.

That’s a whopping lot of benefits for something so simple. Start yourself out with something you enjoy. That’s natural motivation. And, then, over time, you’ll find even more motivation because you know how good moving your body makes you feel, day in and day out.