BARBARA, arts, educational & cultural consultant: If you’re thinking of walking to improve your fitness, you’ve made a good decision. You don’t need a lot of money. You can avoid an expensive gym membership. You already know how to do it. And, if you start now and keep at it, your goals of fitness and weight loss will be close at hand.

I’ve got a treadmill and that makes walking indoors, in all kinds of weather, easier. But, if you’re like most folks and there is no treadmill at your home, prepare to get out and about.

Besides, spring is here and the spring weather is bound to get here soon. Sherrie Lonker, wife, mother of two and art therapist at the Abington Art Center and in private practice, has been a walker for years. With a schedule like hers, she’s found a workable way to add fitness to her lifestyle. Here are some of her suggestions:

1. Start walking around the block and build on it. Don’t push it or berate yourself. 2. Walk at a regular time of day. 3. It’s nice if you have a companion, friend or dog to go along. 4. Wear good walking shoes and loose clothing. 5. Be aware of your pace (at first). Step that up as you go along. You want to get a good momentum going.

Lonker claims that our region is wonderful for walking. Start walking “in your neighborhood. You’ll get to know parts of your neighborhood you” didn’t know existed. Besides that, The Fairmount Park System is 15-miles long and goes from Northwestern Avenue in Springfield to Lincoln Drive in Philadelphia.” You can walk through Valley Green, Pennypack, Fairmount, and Morris Arboretum. There’s a multitude of species - birds, turtles, and other things you’ll encounter.

So, just do it! Walk! Walk on! Walk! You can go it alone or with others. You can hit the treadmill or the concrete, the trail or the park, the riverside or the hillside. Anyway you tread it, your health and well-being will thank you. Helpful sources: