Because you can eat the wrong foods, exercise and still lose or at least maintain your goal weight, you may not be healthy, but lack of exercise is worse than cigarette smoking.

But then you may ask: "How does exercise prevent diseases?" "I don't like to exercise; I can't breathe." "I am just meant to have flabby arms." "I am way too stiff in the mornings to even think about exercising." Here are a few things that does the body good with exercise...

- Disease prevention. Yes...exercise does prevent disease. The risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure are reduced due to exercising.

- Improves stamina and physical endurance. Exercising builds up your body's strength gradually. If running is your favorite exercise, you are able to run in circles around someone who does not run and has to stop to catch their breath.

- Muscles strength. When using weights while exercising, your muscles become larger and stronger. Your strength is improved and your grip is firm. Posture improvement is noted. It is noteworthy that your muscles burn more calories. Another good reason to work on strengthening them.

- Flexibility. A wide variety of poses are engaged in when exercising and your muscles become more flexible. Stretching exercises also are important because the joints can move around more with no stiffness noted. The incidence of fractures substantially increases when the joints are more flexible.

- Weight loss. You simply cannot lose weight if you don't exercise. Your body fat is burned when you exercise. If you have already reached your desired weight, you are able to better maintain that weight loss with exercise. Even if you were to eat less calories per day, your weight loss will be better realized if exercise is incorporated as a daily routine.