Is walking in hard-soled shoes for 30 minutes as good as walking in tennis shoes? You can walk faster in tennis shoes, can't you?

Well, yes. But you have to learn to seize the opportunity when it occurs, especially if you are not in a regular habit of exercising. If you find yourself parked on the street and it's a beautiful day and your choices of how to get to your next destination are: 1) a 10-minute drive or 2) a 15 minute walk, get walking. One mile walked, run, or meandered is 100 calories, period.

One client has exclaimed in exasperation, "I don't want to have to constantly remind myself of what to eat and how much, when to exercise and how to do it all of the time! Will I always have to keep this at the front of my mind?"

The answer is yes. Don't let yourself become a lazy, complacent adult.

I was at my brother-in-law's 50th birthday party one evening this winter. I was walking outside with a handful of nieces and nephews when suddenly my eyes diverged to the trampoline. Some tall teenager was doing flips.

"Wait, did Chase just jump off the 10-foot handrail onto the trampoline?! No one was there a second ago."

"Yeah. What's the big deal?"

Just like kids do things for the fun of it, and seize the opportunity to be playful, we must too.

When it comes to horse play and back yard games, I'm the aunt that wants to give her teen-age nephews a challenge. If my 12-year old nephew Josh is playing two-square with 11-year-old Christopher and 10-year-old Nicole, I'm there. And I'm the last one standing. So what if I hurt their feelings? My philosophy is I want them to realize that you don't have to be out of shape, sagging, and without energy or imagination just because you get older. I'm 36 now and I want them to think the same when I'm in my forties and fifties too.

I believe in taking every opportunity to be active. When 17-year-old Bryce and 15-year-old Chase are in the back yard at family gatherings with a plastic ball and bat swinging because it's fun, I'm there. To me, playing catch is life. A game of horse on the basketball court, I'm a final contender. My shots might be easier and less daring, but who's still standing? Me! Want to talk snowmobiling? I'm gunning it with the rest of them! I may not be as reckless, but I'm in for the chase because it's thrilling and I want to be invited back!

Sharon Eldredge, a Paralegal in West Seattle, has lost 25 pounds while raising two boys and finishing her bachelor's degree. One of the things that helped her was taking the boys to Alki with their bikes and scooters and walking alongside them for 30 minutes. You can either let your boys play in the back yard or you can all hop in the car and play together. Which is more fun?

Let's say you were just about to pick up your gym bag and head to a workout when you receive a call. You have to make an emergency visit to the hospital. While these times are very nerve racking, once things settle down you can start to think about yourself while you're in that hurry up and wait mode. Walk the halls on every floor if you have to. Browse the cardiac floor, the renal section, psychiatric floor, and orthopedics. Get down on the floor in the waiting room and do stretches or even a circuit. Jumping jacks, push-ups, jumping jacks, plank, jumping jacks, crunches, jumping jacks, wind mill.

One time I was on a business trip to Vancouver, B.C. I had an hour wait for the train. I walked a lap (about 20-minutes) around the neighboring park with my briefcase strapped over one shoulder and portable easel and dry erase board in the other.

The thought going through my mind was I climbed Mt. Rainier with a 45-pound pack. I can do this. Twenty minutes is not much, but more than many business travelers get in a day of travel. I've done mini jumping jacks and lunges in the bathroom of the airplane lots of times too.

Why do I do this and why should you follow my lead? Because if you don't move it, you will lose it. For vitality. To get out of your head and to feel the euphoric hum of your body.

Annette Herrick can be reached at annette@fitnessforvitality.com