First Steps to a Healthier Lifestyle
These days it’s becoming increasingly difficult to turn on the television or radio without hearing bad news about the state of Britain’s health. Research tells us that we are becoming a nation of fatties and that this applies to our children as well as to adults. Such a huge threat to health calls for swift action and that’s why organisations like the British Heart Foundation and British Medical Association, not to mention the Government, are backing a campaign to get Britons back on their feet and walking.

Balancing food intake with regular exercise is the key to a healthier future and experts tells us that walking is the cheap and easy way to incorporate this into our daily lifestyle. They say that taking 10,000 steps a day (around five miles) is what’s needed – yet it’s estimated that most of us clock up just a third of that number. Of course you can notch up more steps by changing a few of your daily habits – climbing stairs rather than taking the lift, for example. But the best way, experts agree, is to set some time aside for a special walking activity, one that’s enjoyable as well as healthy.

Get the Stepping Habit
One way to combine enjoyment and health is to take a walking break in one of the UK’s beauty spots. More of us are doing just that, and sales of walking holidays are booming. And where better to enjoy a health-promoting walk than on the Isle of Wight, with its open spaces and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty? Get the 10,000 steps habit on a fresh air break on the Island: choose a walk in its unspoilt countryside – criss-crossed by 500 miles of marked footpath, along its dramatic coastline or around one of its famous attractions, like Queen Victoria’s favourite home – Osborne House. To help you get started, Wightlink has devised eight themed walks, among them The Literary Walk around south coast Bonchurch, the village that Dickens called “the prettiest place I ever saw,” and The Great British Seaside Walk that traces a trail past Sandown and Shanklin, the Isle of Wight’s best loved beach resorts. Ranging from 4,000 to 10,000 steps in length, each of these walks is intended to be taken at a pace to suit you. Each one is blessed with fantastic sights to see and attractions to visit along the way.

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