Everyone has a health & fitness-related New Year’s resolution to keep, be it to lose weight or break a bad habit. A study reveals a very simple trick to keep your resolutions: take a walk to lessen your cravings.

A brisk walk - quick, but not too tiring - should help distract you enough from your cravings, be it food, sweets, cigarettes, or even the internet. It’s not a very sophisticated weight-loss strategy, but it’s a good start to help you cut back and boost your willpower.

The 2008 study used chocolate lovers, or people who ate at least two chocolate bars a day, as test studies and had them abstain for three days. Then they were divided into groups and given tests to raise their stress levels, and then presented with chocolate bars.

Test subjects who walked briskly for 15 minutes on a treadmill were less likely to crave chocolates.

The same test was held for active smokers, and showed the same results. Another study found that these brisk walks lessened cravings as well as reduced smokers’ withdrawal symptoms.

Maybe it’s simply the distracting nature of walking the helps our minds think of something else to do. It could also be the relaxation that comes from just walking. Either way, science has shown that a brisk walk does wonders for our bodies.

So if you’re sitting on the couch or in front of the computer, wondering how to start taking your New Year’s resolutions about weight and cravings seriously, why don’t you get up and take a walk? Enjoy the outdoors, and if you’re thinking about eating that last piece of pie, take a walk to lessen your cravings.

The NYTimes.com shares more details about the study and results.

Image courtesy of losexweight.com.