Remember that electric/electronic gadget you bought which has been lying in your store room or garage, gathering dust? When you were finally cleaning the place out you 'found; it and thought perhaps you should try it out.

Of course, it did not work - the motor had jammed with rust or the electric fittings had deteriorated, so it just would not come on. All machines have to be used to be usable - it is a different thing that may break down sometime or the other.

The human body - your body - is also a machine. It needs power in the form of food and drink to function. It needs to be used. And that use is not just the involuntary work that carries on: breathing, heart beating, brain functioning and other involuntary stuff that your body is perpetually doing as long as you are alive.

Even if you are eating a good, balanced diet, nutritionally great, perhaps eating all the right foods even, if you spend 8-10 hours a day at your desk and another 8 hours sleeping, plus some time for commuting and other daily habits, you are not left with much time.

That is why most people dread the E word - exercise takes up time, time which you would perhaps spend watching some television or cuddled up in bed or socializing (which means more eating and drinking).

So, okay you have your excuses ready - there is no gym in the neighborhood; the nearest gym is too far away; you can't afford the extra bucks; it is just too much time and effort to go there; it is too boring.

You don't want to go to the gym? Don't go if that is not what you want to do. But you have to incorporate some movement into your life, something extra to burn up the calories, tone your muscles and keep you fit and healthy.

Go for a walk, start slowly and then work up to a brisker pace. If you are a morning person, go in the morning; otherwise go in the evening or even after dinner. Once you can walk at a brisk pace, you can think of running slowly and then jogging. Whatever you are comfortable with.

If you live in a high rise or work in a tower, walk up and down the stairs. You are not expected to go up and down 30 floors of course; just two to three floors to start with and then gradually a little more, going up to six or eight or even ten.

If you do this a few times a day, you have got a good exercise habit in place. Going up and down the stairs is a great aerobic exercise. It also helps keep the legs, knees and ankle joints limber. If you don't have access to either just use stairs wherever t they are instead of an elevator/escalator. Simple isn't it? Doable? Eminently. So just do it.