It just seems too good to be true. Study after research study consistently promoting the endless benefits of exercise. Couch potatoes everywhere are waiting for the other shoe to drop, telling us that all of those scientists were wrong and we should remain as sedentary as possible.
Yet four additional studies released recently each give the same prescription for improving some aspect of your health: exercise.
They add to recent evidence that regular workouts can improve old brains, raise kids' academic performance and give a brain boost to everyone in between.
Better bonesOne study illustrates the effect of exercise on preventing or limiting osteoporosis, which affects more than 200 million people worldwide. Researchers at the University of Missouri found that while both resistance training (lifting weights) and high impact exercise (running) both help build needed bone mineral density (BMD), running is the better choice.
"Exercise programs to increase bone strength should be designed using what is known about how bones respond to exercise," said Pam Hinton, associate professor and lead author. "Only the skeletal sites that experience increased stress from exercise will become stronger. High-impact, dynamic, multi-directional activities result in greater gains in bone strength."
The study was published in the February issue of the Journal of Strength Conditioning.
Less painIn a related study, exercise seemed to be one of the few successful remedies for those that suffer from low-back pain. In the February issue of the Spine Journal, University of Washington physicians summarized 20 different clinical trials that promoted different solutions to alleviating pain.
"Strong and consistent evidence finds many popular prevention methods to fail while exercise has a significant impact, both in terms of preventing symptoms and reducing back pain-related work loss," said Dr. Stanley J. Bigos, professor emeritus of orthopaedic surgery and environmental health. "Passive interventions such as lumbar belts and shoe inserts do not appear to work."
Better eye healthAlso, vigorous exercise has now been linked with significantly reduced onset of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. In the study, detailed in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, researchers reviewed the eye health of 41,000 runners over seven years and found that both men and women had significantly lower rates of these two diseases than the general public.
Men who logged more than 5.7 miles per day had a 35 percent lower risk than those that ran less than 1.4 miles per day. While the correlation is strong, the reason is not clear.
"We know some of the physiological benefits of exercise, and we know about the physiological background of these diseases, so we need to better understand where there's an overlap," said Paul Williams, an epidemiologist in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Life Sciences Division.

simple steps to get back in track!

Don't drink your calories: This is the most important rule to follow. Try not to drink anything that has calories; only drink water! Do not wait until you are thirsty to drink, being thirsty is the first sign of dehydration. Drink enough so you are not thirsty, but not so much that you feel bloated. The common belief that one should drink 8 glasses of water a day is without scientific basis.
Be Natural: This means only eat natural food. Don't panic now! Natural or naturally occurring food or food products are those which are minimally processed and remain as close as possible to their whole, original state. Natural foods are generally much better and more nutritious than their refined counterparts.
Feed Your Body: You have to feed your body calories - good calories. It is very important to eat several meals a day. Do not go more than 4 hrs without eating, unless of course you are sleeping. You may not even need to limit how much you eat at each interval. Smaller, frequent meals will increase your metabolism, maintain your blood sugar, and prevent you from overeating.
Eat at Home:Dining out is great, but do not do it all the time! While this can be difficult if you travel a lot, if you do go out to eat, try your best to stick with the above rules.
Sugar is your Enemy: Surely you have heard this one a thousand times, but it is true. If you love candy, cookies and sweets, you should do your best to give them up - at least for a short time. Stay away from the sweets, especially until you get to your goal weight. It really can be done!
Set Your Weight Goal: You need to set goals in order to be successful in anything. Set a weight goal, but NOT a date goal! It is not important how fast you achieve your weight, so dates are not important. Health is always better than speed!
Get up and move: Exercise is a very important part of getting in shape, but sometimes you might miss a workout. Even if this happens, you could pick some exercise - such as push-ups - and do that consistently no matter what interferes with the rest of your workout plans. Try doing 20 push-ups every morning before you get into the shower. Make it part of your daily routine. It may seem insignificant, but after some time you will actually see a significant change in your body shape.
Start exercising: Take walks, join a gym, go jogging, or take a dance class – whatever you prefer. Instead of making it your New Year’s Resolution each year to exercise more, make each Monday a new chance to get on track. A non-profit national public health campaign called Healthy Monday associated with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health advocates using Monday as the day to commit to all things healthy.
Relax on the Weekends: It is important to follow the rules above. However, it's okay to relax on the weekends. This means, do allow yourself to go out to dinner and eat some sweets on the weekend. This may sound contradictory, but it's the real deal. If you have a craving, go for it. Anytime you have a craving for something that does not really conform to your diet rules - such as pizza, sweets or fried chicken - wait for the weekend to have them; make them your weekend treats. You can still follow the rules, but modify them a bit to fit in your cravings. A day or two of eating more than you're supposed to can actually make your metabolism kick in and cause a net weigh loss. Do not, however, use this as an excuse to binge eat, or else you will undo all your hard work.

Vegetables

It's a fact: most of us hate eating vegetables.
Since early childhood, most of us have told to eat vegetables because they're "good" for us. Usually, the vegetables in question were boiled, colorless, lifeless and tasteless vegetables like lima beans - or even worse - brussel sprouts.
The dinner-time pattern was always the same: dinner was served, we eagerly ate the meat and potatoes from our plates, and then came the showdown: the vegetables sat untouched on the plate until the very end, and stared us down like a nemesis awaiting the final conflict - the final clash of wills