It’s not always easy to fit in exercise every day. But if there is one simple thing that you can do to improve the way you look, feel and function, it’s exercising.

“Other than quitting smoking, there is nothing more powerful you can do to promote healthy living than leading a physically active life,” says Dr. Tim Church, director of the preventive medicine laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. Official recommendations suggest that every American should get in at least 30 and, for weight management, up to 90 minutes of activity on most days of the week."

A few ways to sneak in a little more physical activity into your day:

1. Plant exercise cues: Leave your clothes out for your workout the night before. Write it down in your calendar as part of your daily schedule.

2. Change your exercise mentality. go the extra mile...park as far from your door at work pr when shopping as possible. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Ride your bike to work. These movements count as exercise and add up over the course of the day.

3. Walk your dog...on a short leash so you have to pick up your pace.

4. Walk while you talk. Not just on cell phone calls, but at home too. Just don't sit and gab, move around.

5. Rethink your social life. All you and your friend do is sit around and eat and drink? Find a sport or new hobby - tennis, golf, surfing. Go dancing! Instead of going to a movie and sitting, take the kids and dogs to the beach and walk, shell seek, dig in the sand.

6. Scrub, sweep, push, and pull. Clean your house with fewer electronic devices. Sweep and vacuum rugs and floors. Scrubbing bathrooms and kitchen sinks use all of your arm muscles.

7. Give yourself 10. 10 deep breaths when you feel stressed. 10 situps, squats and pushups to start your day, 10 minutes of solitude, 10 heel raises in line at the grocery store, 10 jumping jacks during commercials of your shows.

exerpts from http://www.msn.com/ Picture: Charlotte Knight at the Shrimp Festival Parade