The American Heart Association is recommending walking 10,000 steps a day for heart health. You can purchase a pedometer for relatively cheap, strap it on the left side of your waistband and off you go.

It is surprising how much (or little) you walk per day. Take an average of 3 normal days totals and then try to walk at least 100 to 200 more steps each day. This can be simply done and incorporated into your normal daily routine. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park at the edge of a parking lot and walk further to the store. Get up and walk through the house at each commercial break if you are watching T.V. Get on a treadmill and just walk.

Now if your goal is to lose weight and get heart healthy, the recommended steps increases to 12,000 to 15,000. Obviously, this takes some rearranging of your schedule to get that much walking in, but it has been proven to help you loose weight. And the best part is that walking is the safest form of exercise you can perform.

So ladies, instead of waiting until December 31 to make your New Year's Resolutions, why not start now?

Buy a good pair of walking shoes and do your heart a favor: walk, walk, walk.