Getting In the Exercise! You don't have to do step aerobics or run 5 miles a day to be active. Physical activity is about moving your body through space. To get in more exercise, try walking. A few minutes of exercise here and there add up. Here are some tips: Use your lunch break to take a 20-minute walk. Instead of sitting at a cafe, get your coffee to go and take a stroll. Use the stairs instead of the elevator, and always walk up the escalator and on moving sidewalks. During bad weather, use a video, hop on the treadmill, or walk a few laps around the mall. Squeeze in a five-minute walk whenever you can. Take the kids for a walk, or walk with your neighbors. Walk the dog. Walk everywhere you can. Keep track of your physical activity by writing it down. People who spend a few minutes each day to keep a simple record of daily exercise tend to build more exercise into their day.

I. How Active Are You, Really?
When you completed the personal profile section of NutriQuest you were asked to estimate how active you are.

How did you estimate your activity level, and do you think your estimate was accurate? Why or Why not?

The box below contains guidelines for determining your activity level excerpted from the HELP feature of the NutriQuest Personal Profile screen. Complete this exercise to help you determine your activity level. If your calculated activity level is different from the one you used when completing your personal profile return to the Personal Profile section of NutriQuest, change the activity level line, and re-run your personal profile.

NUTRIQUEST ACTIVITY LEVELS Very Light: Typically seated and standing activities, e.g. keyboarding, cooking, etc. Light: Leisure walking, restaurant work, house cleaning, childcare, golf, etc. (30-60 min daily). Moderate: Walking 3.5-4 mph, gardening, cycling. skiing, tennis, dancing, etc. (30-60 min daily). Heavy: Walking 4.5 + mph, stair & hill climbing, active sports such as basketball, mountain climbing, football, soccer, etc. (60 min daily). Performance/Elite Athlete: Performance athlete training in professional or world class events (90+ min daily).

II. How and Where Are You Spending Calories?
A. Next review the Energy Expenditure feature of this program. Note the wide variety of energy-expending activities contained in the database. Keeping the various activity categories in mind maintain an activity log for three days. Transfer the information from your activity log to the Energy Expenditure feature of the NutriQuest program.

B. How does the energy expenditure calculated from your activity log compare with the activity level you estimated for yourself when you were entering data into the Personal Profile screen? In other words, does the amount of exercise you actually perform measure up to the activity you estimated? Don't be discouraged if you overestimated your activity level. Several studies have shown Americans routinely overestimate their activity level by 30% and underestimate their food intake by 40%. Review the guidelines above for estimating your activity level.

III. Run, Walk or Crawl: Does Speed or Distance Determine Calorie Utilization?
A. A basic law a physics states that the energy used to perform a given task is a function of the weight of the object involved in the task, and the distance the object is moved. Given this information would you expect your calorie utilization to increase or stay the same if on Tuesday you ran 3 miles, and on Thursday you walked the same course? Use the energy expenditure function of the NutriQuest program to check your answer. If your initial answer is different from the one given by the program list some factors that could account for the difference.

IV. Trading Places: The Effect of Age and Gender on Calorie Utilization
Body weight and distance traveled are major determinants of calorie utilization during exercise. Age, gender, and fitness level also influence the amount of energy you expend performing a given task, but to a much lesser extent. Measurable changes in your basic energy requirement can be observed by altering the age and gender parameters of your personal profile while holding all other factors constant.

A. Return to the Personal Profile section of the NutriQuest program. Using the edit function change your age by 10 years each direction. How does decreasing your age by 10 years alter your energy requirement? What about increasing your age by 10 years? Next increase it by 20 years and then 30 years recording the change in your calorie requirement each time. What pattern do you see emerging?

B. Next return to your current age and change your gender. How much does your energy requirement change as a result of this shift? Since all other factors (age, height, weight and activity level) are held constant what physiological factor(s) account (s) for the observed difference in calorie requirements?

V. Exercising Off a Snack: How Much is Enough?
A healthy lifestyle is not about absolutes; it is about achieving balance. The old adage "everything in moderation" is what you want to keep in mind as you set out to tune up your health habits. Good health requires a balanced diet, sufficient sleep, exercise, and leisure time. When it comes to diet it is important to recognize the inclusion or elimination of a single food doesn't make or break a diet. In other words, adding a cup of broccoli a day to an otherwise nutrient-poor diet won't give it the necessary balance. Conversely, eating occasional desserts and snack foods won't ruin an otherwise healthy diet, nor will eliminating these foods balance a poor diet. The same ground rules apply to exercise. If a weekend game of tennis is your only form of exercise you need to get moving. On the other hand, missing a day or even a week of exercise won't ruin your overall fitness level. The point of this NutriQuest activity is to help you determine what types of dietary and activity changes you may need to make to achieve overall balance.

A. Review your 3-day food intake log. Which type of snack food and/or dessert did you eat most frequently? Use the Explore Foods portion of the NutriQuest program to determine the nutrient and calorie content of your most frequently consumed snack food. (Explore Foods is in the Explore Center portion of the program.)

B. What percentage of your calories comes from these foods? Are too many of your calories being spent on nutrient poor "junk foods"?

C. Next use the Energy Expenditure portion of NutriQuest to determine how many hours of watching TV, as well as the number of miles you would need to walk, at a brisk pace, to burn off 100 calories worth of food. How much time would you need to spend on the activities listed above to burn off the calories in one serving of your favorite "just -for-fun" food?

D. Everyone's diet has room for some "just-for-fun foods." What types of dietary and activity changes should you make to improve your health while still being able to eat your cake?