If we acknowledge that global warming is real, we also understand that exercise can become more difficult or unpleasant as things heat up. In any case, exercising in the summer, with or without global warming, requires some determination and creativity.

If you are lucky enough to live near a pool, lake or ocean, by all means try to spend some time in the water every day. Water's natural resistance makes almost any activity into pretty good exercise; even just hanging out in the water will burn a lot of calories. If you are in water with a child, you know the meaning of "working out" while staying cool.

Unfortunately, most of us just aren't that lucky.

A good alternative is a walking program. Walking has many attractive qualities:

• No equipment is required
• It's easy to start slow and increase speed and duration
• Almost everyone can manage a short walk
• Walking can fit into even the busiest day
• It's free!

Many years ago, I owned a large dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog named Dylan who weighed about 80 lbs. He was a very lovable companion, but he hated exercise, especially in the summer. He had long black hair and poor knees and hips so our daily walks consisted of me dragging him along all the while encouraging him to keep up. It was terrible exercise for me but at least it kept him moving and his weight stable.

After Dylan died at age 10 (a ripe old age for his breed) I decided to keep the daily walk in my routine. The difference was that I finally could increase the speed and distance so it became a very good aerobic workout. Now, I perform the Dylan Memorial Walk just about every day.

A good walking program can start with ten minutes of brisk walking three times a week. Even this minimal commitment will provide benefits. Once this modest workout is part of your routine, you can add minutes and frequency to increase its benefit. Add one more day per week until you are walking 6 or 7 days per week. Take the duration of walks up slowly by adding just a minute per week to their length. Your goal should be to do 30 minutes of brisk walking at least 6 days per week.

Let me share some tips with you that may help establish a good walking program in your life.

• Ask your doctor
  If you have any doubts about your physical shape due to age, weight or length of time since you last exercised, please see your doctor for a complete checkup, especially if you are over 50 years old. Your doctor can give you a good idea about where to begin your program and how much exercise is safe for you.
• Don't think about it
  I don't think about whether or not to brush my teeth in the morning or comb my hair before leaving for work. Walking is not something you should think about - just do it. It's one of the most important grooming and health habits you can establish. Just accept it as part of your commitment to being alive.
• Take a friend along
  It helps to find a friend or family member who is also eager to start a walking program. Walking can be boring (see below) so having someone to chat with during the walk is helpful. Furthermore, expressing your commitment to walk regularly and asking a friend to share in that commitment both reinforces the decision to do it and makes it harder to skip. If you can't enlist a friend, use your walk as a meditative exercise. The rhythm of your walking is very conducive to clearing your mind for some great thinking or just zoning out while reducing stress.
• Choose the place carefully
  Where you walk is very important and can make the difference between life and death - literally. A recent study found that many people who live in poor neighborhoods in cities are afraid to walk outside regularly. If this is your situation, try to walk during the day and never alone. Most of us are near a school or playground where walking is safer. Ideally, you should find a place to walk that puts you in touch with nature - trees, bugs, birds and flowers - all of which are important to our understanding of planet Earth. Connecting with the Earth is also a good way to feel "grounded" when you are having a busy day.
• Do more than walk to make it more interesting
  
  • Carry a plastic bag along and pick up bottles and cans along your route.
  • Take the time to view the wonders of nature - spring and summer are great times to notice changes in plants and trees, increased bird activities or different cloud patterns that correspond with the weather.
  • Interact with others along your route. If you walk in a neighborhood, take the time to say hello to strangers and even stop to visit your neighbors for a chat. We seem to be more isolated than ever and chatting with people will make you and them feel good. Remember that wellness can be a community goal.
• Use a pedometer
  If you are a competitive type, use a pedometer and set goals for the number of steps you want to take every week. Then compete against yourself by increasing your goal each time you reach it. If you are trying to lose weight, this is a great way to make sure that you are burning more energy than you are taking in. Various online calculators let you figure how many calories you burn with a specific number of steps measured by your pedometer. Keep a food diary with a goal of eating a set number of calories per day and calculate how many calories you burn walking to predict your weight loss. It really works!
• Conserve fuel
  If you are lucky enough to be able to walk to and from work, you are adding world wellness to your goals!

Walking (exercise in general) is good for us in many ways - no one disputes this. Actually, I read about new ways that exercise improves our lives every day -- better heart health, improved arthritis symptoms, relief of chronic pain, prevention of dementia, reduced fatigue, faster weight loss, healthier pregnant women and their babies, more control of type 2 diabetes, improved mental fitness, even avoidance of gall stones -- these are all mentioned in news headlines since the beginning of this year.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

We know that wellness is easier to achieve when weather is nice. In the Northeast, the long winter, piles of snow and reluctance to be outside challenge us in many ways - how to get enough exercise, how to avoid eating out of boredom, how to keep ourselves mentally upbeat and others. One of the positive aspects of cabin fever, though, is that we have much more time to think about and plan for our futures. As the Executive Editor at SeekWellness, I've spent this past winter and spring thinking about how we can make our website and company more relevant.

Until now, we have mostly focused on ways to strive for wellness in spite of any personal challenges. We made the commitment many years ago to help people to aspire to better lives through development of certain characteristics:

• High self-esteem and a positive outlook
• Strong foundation philosophy and a sense of purpose
• Strong sense of personal responsibility
• Good sense of humor and plenty of fun in life
• Concern for others and a respect for the environment
• Conscious commitment to excellence
• Sense of balance and an integrated lifestyle
• Freedom from negative or health-inhibiting behaviors
• Capacity to cope with whatever life presents and willingness to learn
• Grounded in reality
• Highly conditioned and physically fit
• Capacity to love and an ability to nurture
• Capacity to manage life's demands and communicate effectively.

What I've been mulling over is that wellness doesn't stop at us. Besides doing all the things that translate into wellness, we also must be aware of the consequences of our actions. Consider the old adage about throwing a pebble into a pool and watching the concentric ripples spread out. Our behaviors influence others and it's helpful to realize that our own pursuit of wellness creates effects at many levels or spheres:

	Individual - by improving our own quality of life
	Family - by guiding our children and other family members through example
	Workplace - by initiating discussions, programs and changes toward wellness
	Community - by making careful choices about products, leaders and programs
	World - by protecting our Earth and encouraging leaders to seek wellness

My staff and I promise that SeekWellness will partner with other wellness seekers by:

1. Continuing to find and publish good information about wellness issues and ideas.
2. Responding to visitors through our editorial staff or customer service department.
3. Seeking and offering high quality products and standing by them.
4. Contributing 1% of our income (more as our business grows) to "we can solve it" (www.wecansolveit.com) - the new campaign to help solve the global warming crisis.

Please start looking for our new spheres icons throughout our website to learn how you can impact wellness at each level. Let us know what would help us all achieve our new mission - as always, we love to hear from you.

Andropause is the result of low testosterone, which can produce a wide range of symptoms. By the time men are between the ages of 40 and 55, they can experience a phenomenon similar to female menopause, called andropause. Unlike women, men do not have a clear-cut signpost such as the cessation of menstruation to mark this transition. Both, however, are distinguished by a drop in hormone levels - estrogen in the female, testosterone in the male. The bodily changes occur very gradually in men and may be accompanied by changes in attitudes and moods, fatigue, and a loss of energy, sex drive and physical agility.

More importantly, studies show that this decline in testosterone can actually put one at risk for other health problems such as heart disease and weakened bones caused by lack of calcium. Since this all happens at a time of life when many men begin to question their values, accomplishments and direction in life, it's often difficult to realize that the changes occurring are related to more than just external conditions.

Unlike menopause, which generally occurs in women during their mid-forties to mid-fifties, men's "transition" may be much more gradual and expand over decades. Attitude, psychological stress, alcohol, injuries or surgery, medications, obesity and infections can contribute to its onset.

Although with age, a decline in testosterone levels will occur in virtually all men, there is no way of predicting who will experience andropausal symptoms of sufficient severity to require medical help, nor is it predictable to determine the age at which symptoms will occur in a particular individual. Each man's symptoms may be different from the next.

Andropause is not a new phenomenon. It was first described in medical literature in the 1940's. Our ability to diagnose it properly has improved since then. Sensitive tests for bio-available testosterone weren't available until recently. Prior to this development, andropause went through a long period where it was under-diagnosed and under-treated. Now that men are living longer, there is heightened interest in andropause and this will help to advance our approach to this important life stage which was identified so long ago.

Any male in his forties or fifties may develop Andropause. The first step to diagnosing it is the ADAM quiz, which can be taken by clicking here (provided with permission from Morley et al). The ADAM (Androgen Deficiency in Aging Male) Questionnaire is a series of questions that can reliably lead clinicians to the possible diagnosis of low testosterone. If the answers to this quiz indicate that a low testosterone level is possible, a report of symptoms will be available for you to print and share with a physician.