For many, the beginning of the New Year is an opportunity to hit the restart button and kick-start some healthy habits. Every January we are inundated with advertisements for weight loss programs, gym specials, and headlines on the cover magazines at the grocery store checkout stand touting the best ways to accomplish our health goals.  It can be daunting to make sense of all these suggestions and identify fact versus fluff.

The Washington Post recently focused their first Five Myths feature of the year on debunking common exercise myths in order to help readers wade through some of the bad information floating around these days. It can be easy to fall into the trap of fad diets or exercise programs, but as the article points out, good health comes from a combination of dietary and lifestyle changes. Maintaining an optimal weight can simply be a side effect of this healthy lifestyle.