Take steps towards a healthier life style Published July 13, 2006 By 2nd Lt. Christina Sukach 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- "These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do." These lyrics shot Nancy Sinatra to the No. 1 Billboard musical slot in 1966 where she stayed for 14 weeks. In roughly the same amount of time, those lyrics can help us improve our Air Force fitness scores. As part of the "Fit to Fight" program, we all are required to pass our fitness tests with a score of 75 percent or above in the combined categories of push-ups, crunches, waist measurement and 1.5 mile run. For those who score a 74.9 percent and below, walking is a good way to ease into improving scores. Let's face it. A lot of us work jobs that are fairly sedentary, and for us to just hop up and run 1.5 miles in the prescribed amount of time is a stretch. We can ease our way toward that goal by walking. I know what you're saying. You barely have time in your day for lunch, let alone walking. Check this out. Walking just 10 minutes each day - reaching a target heart rate of 130-155 beats per minute - can do wonders for those of us who would rather sit than move, says Sharon Hawkes, exercise physiologist at the Health and Wellness Center here. We can eat up - excuse the pun - ten minutes walking to and from lunch, not to mention the time we'd add if we walked to and from our daily banking and dry cleaning retrieval errands. In fact, if we separated lunch and each of those errands into separate trips, we'd probably get close to the Surgeon General's recommendation of 30 minutes of daily exercise for health. Scheduling the time for those errand walks is as easy as taking them instead of a mid-morning or mid-afternoon coffee break. Exercise will refresh and pick you up and won't leave you jittery, says Hawkes. Chances are, your errands are already a priority on your daily calendar. All you need to do is walk to complete them. "But I need my car to run errands," you protest. We all love our cars. But consider how much those quick errands cost us. According to www.commutesolutions.org, our vehicles depreciate 28.6 cents per mile we drive, and fuel, oil, maintenance and tires cost us 11.8 cents per mile. One errand of just one mile costs each of us 40.4 cents. If we drove that same mile-long errand each day during the work week for a whole year, we'd each be spending $105.04. If we were to walk those errands instead of drive them, in addition to the fitness benefits we'd receive, we'd also have the cash to cover a new set of boots to reward our feet for trekking us to and fro. I can see that you're still hesitant. You're worried that you might get injured while doing all this walking. "There is a slim possibility for injury when walking, it's an activity with almost a nil injury rate," says Hawkes. In addition, she says, walking is something we can do anywhere and is also one of the best ways to loose weight - especially for those of us pushing the fit test limits with our waist measurements. By following a healthy diet and walking daily, Hawkes says we can easily shed two to four pounds a month. She also tells us regular walking, as little as three to four times a week, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels and lowers blood sugar levels in diabetics - and that's just the physical benefits. Walking is a benefit to our mental health, too. Rates of depression are lowered and self-esteem and self-confidence increase when we walk, says Hawkes. So if the results of your Air Force fitness test have put you into a category where you'd rather not be, it's time to walk your way out of it. With very little hassle, you can be on your way to those 75 percent and above categories in no time at all. Nancy Sinatra said it best, "Are you ready boots? Start walkin!"