One of the best ways of keeping fit is simply going for a walk. It is the easiest of all exercises, and far less prone to giving you strain and injury, especially at the joints, which makes it safer than running. Walking is also good as an exercise for burning off fat. A study made at the University of Tennessee in 2004 showed that among women aged 40 to 66, those who spent more time walking had a lower percentage of body fat and a smaller waist and hips than those who did not walk as much.

If you are going to walk for fitness or more specifically, to burn fat from your body, then you will find it more efficient to take a scientific approach. What I'm basically saying is that you will need to keep track of the steps you take in walking. In fact, it is probably a good idea to buy yourself a pedometer, as it will come in very handy if you are going to take walking for fitness seriously, as you should.

So back to counting steps' you have surely heard the saying that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Well, so does the journey to a slimmer, fitter you. It starts with one step. Then another. Then another and another and another, and so on. To begin with, you should set yourself the goal of taking 5000 additional steps per day. This will allow you to burn more or less 200 calories a day. The exact amount you will lose also depends on what your current weight is and how fast you walk.