Do you do your 30 min of aerobic exercise per day?

[rs0460a]

Does sex count?

Does it last 30 minutes ?

- Ron

 

[honobob]

Does it last 30 minutes ?

- Ron

Do you mean each time?!

 

[Milton]

3 miles jogging ~4 days a week.

 

[rs0460a]

As a type II diabetic, my "running days" are over. Due to possible nerve damage, I'm regulated to a fast walk (on the treadmill - to ensure that I'm exercising at a good pace).

Some days, it's just hard to do. Even though I know I need to exercise (diagnosed back in 2001) and the relationship between exercise and keeping my A1C in "good condition", I still get "those days".

This afternoon, I returned from a trip from a local rehab hospital. While visiting my relative (in physical therepy), I saw a young man (young - since he is younger than me) with a bandaged foot. We got to talking, and he said that he had been there for a couple of weeks, and was going home tomorrow. Being that I did not want to "pry", I asked my relative what the story was. I was told that he was a type II diabetic, and that he had all his toes removed from one foot, and a couple from the other.

Guess what? I've got an incentive to keep walking ...

- Ron

 

[rs0460a]

Do you mean each time?!

Is that more than once in a 24-hour period ...?

- Ron

 

[retiringat50]

now that its been 2 months since my foot surgery im starting to get back outside to walk my hour long walks daily
(i also do weight lifting at the gym)

 

[newlife06]

Jane Brody writes in the NYTimes: Fit, Not Frail: Exercise as a Tonic for Aging

Not only should we be doing 30 min of aerobic exercise 5 times a week, but we should be lifting weights as well. That's a lot of work!

I get about an hour of aerobic exercise a day riding my bike about 20 miles, but I'm semi-retired. My spouse who is working, gets about an hour a month. I just can't see folks really following the recommended guidelines in the article.

Actually, I know first hand how effective 20-30 minutes, five to six days a week can be! We also weight train 40 minutes 3 times a week. If one appreciates the knowledge, can envision the results, believes their trainer...the "work" soon becomes part of a daily or weekly regiment.

I dont mean to sound harsh, but my hubby and I were 70-100 lbs overweight for many years. Once we hired a trainer and realized we needed to incorporate this into our lives, it became a habit and we saw incredible results! I took a fall last summer and it took me 13 months to recover. I hurt three discs in my back. My neurosurgeon told me if I hadnt lost 55 lbs before the accident, I would not probably be walking today or ever!

 

[Helen]

My partner and I just got back from our backpacking trip. It was suppose to be a 22 mile hike around Waldo Lake in Central Oregon. We did all but the last 8 miles. My partner had horrible blisters. The mosquitoes would have carried us away if it weren't for the head nets and Deet (Vietnam level bug spray). We hobbled into a campground on our second day and paid $10 to camp (which burned my @ss to pay to camp) then begged a ride back to our car instead of doing the last 8 miles.

My partner was a real trooper, she had more blisters then I have ever seen, had a leak in her Thermarest (air sleeping pad) - which meant she slept on the hard ground and froze her @ss off, and lost her mosquito head net, but never complained. We were both walking like our feet had been bound since birth.

We fled back to civilization and rented a cheap motel room with a swimming pool. Thank God no one else was at the pool. I was wearing a pair of back and red hearted silk boxer shorts with a polyester t-shirt (cotton kills when hiking). We also cranked up the A/C to sub artic temps and slept on a nice firm mattress. The best part of the weekend was waking up in her arms the next morning. 20 years together and I'm more in love than our first year together. I am so blessed.

We are already planning our next trip and dream of early retirement. On our trip before this last one, as we were hiking out on a Monday we met four early retirees hiking in. I was so envious, they waited for Monday to backpack in knowing they would have the wilderness to themselves as the worker bees sat in their cubicles.

I hope we can stay healthy enough to be able to do this in five years. There are plenty of short hikes we could backpack into and set up a base camp, then do day trips from there.

If any of you like to hike/backpack you must check out the Pacific NorthWest. The waterfalls, trees, lakes, mountains and rivers are absolutely gorgeous. The mosquito season is limited to central Oregon and is basically during the month of July. We don't heartworm our pets in Portland as we don't have mosquitoeshere, it's mainly around the lake areas of central Oregon.

If I upload my photos to a website I'll link to them later. This really is God's Country.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Cool Helen, thanks for the wonderful story--good to see that you and your partner both appreciate that adversity makes for even better experiences! No hotel room is more thoroughly appreciated than the one you have after that sort of experience!

I remember when we lived on our small sailboat one summer in the Bahamas, we stayed in a hotel one night about 2 months in, and it was fabulous. I must have taken four showers and the AC was cold enough to hang meat!

Good that the trip reinforced your FIRE dreams and your love for each other--that is just what vacations are for when we are still w*orking! We'd love to see your pictures--load a couple here if you don't want to upload a bunch to another site!

 

[Calgary_Girl]

I'm in the process of losing weight and so far so good (down 32 lbs. since March).

I've found the trick that works for me is watching what I eat, controlling portion sizes and definitely exercise. I walk a minimum of 20 min. a day with the dog (usually 30 min) but I also walk on the treadmill at least 3x/wk for 1 hour at 3 mph. I'd love to run but I find it hard on my knees and I've read that walking is just as effective as running and you're less prone to injury. I also do resistance training a couple of times a week.

Our local paper had the following story a couple of days ago on the amount of exercise it takes to maintain weight loss and I found it very depressing (a minimum of 1 hour of exercise almost every single day....there's not enough hours in the day as far as I'm concerned )

Keeping the weight off takes twice the work

 

[Sarah in SC]

Calgary Girl, what a lot of truth there is in that article. The maintenance is the toughest part, since your big motivation of losing weight sort of just goes away. I've sneaked back on 10 lbs since we met our goal weight last July, and it is a real bear to get back into the diet/exercise groove. Thanks for the article, at least I know I'm not alone. And I better start jogging to the bathroom to fit in my hour a day!

 

[Helen]

Thanks Sarah, I'll upload some photos from my disposable camera. I downloaded the photos from the digital camera last night onto the home PC but was too tired to move them.

I'm sitting in Portland's airport waiting for a flight to Michigan to visit my family. I'll post them from there.

We decided last night that my partner will pick me up at the airport in a couple of Fridays and we'll head back to Centeral Oregon through Sunday. We have a great new lake to backpack into, it's rated a 10 for swimming.

After that I'll be on call for three weeks, which means no backpacking excursions. I can't wait to kiss work goodbye!

 

[RunningBum]

For anyone taking up walking or running, I suggest going up a size or even 1.5 bigger shoes. They won't feel as loose as you might think, and you give your toes room when they start swelling up as you walk/run longer.

Other tips to avoid blisters--use cool max or smart wool socks rather than cotton; stay hydrated; if you're out a long time and are sweating, also replace your salts; use a lubricant such as Body Glide to prevent chafing. Vaseline works if you stay on the road, but if you get dirt inside your sock as you will from being on a trail, it tends to stick and make things worse. Use moleskin to treat blisters immediately, rather than letting them get worse. Duct tape can work in an emergency.

 

[TromboneAl]

I've gotten back into biking in a big way, and am really enjoying it. DW just got a bike, and she's psyched too. Lost a few more pounds without even trying after adding cycling, and I always look forward to the bicycling days. Low impact, not boring, highly recommended.

We often ride the 8 miles into town for lunch.

 

[newlife06]

Here is an interesting aerobics idea that could be fun too. I am recovering (nicely) from a back injury 13 months ago. I am finally able to return to a workout regiment but I am nervous about aggrevating my healing process to soon. I came across the website www.watergym.com which I discussed with a girlfriend and a local storefront owner here in town. All three of us gals have back issues, the other two have already undergone surgeries. My girlfriend has a pool, so I asked my fitness trainer to check it out and see if he would be willing to help instruct us by reviewing the "kit". So, we are gathering some local interest and hope to be in the pool soon. My trainer thinks this workout would be incredibly safe for us gals and we would probably get an even better workout and results because the water allows us to do more! I am so excited! Check it out!

 

[HFWR]

Helen, what type of shoes/socks are you wearing during hiking?

 

[Moemg]

Here is an interesting aerobics idea that could be fun too. I am recovering (nicely) from a back injury 13 months ago. I am finally able to return to a workout regiment but I am nervous about aggrevating my healing process to soon. I came across the website www.watergym.com which I discussed with a girlfriend and a local storefront owner here in town. All three of us gals have back issues, the other two have already undergone surgeries. My girlfriend has a pool, so I asked my fitness trainer to check it out and see if he would be willing to help instruct us by reviewing the "kit". So, we are gathering some local interest and hope to be in the pool soon. My trainer thinks this workout would be incredibly safe for us gals and we would probably get an even better workout and results because the water allows us to do more! I am so excited! Check it out!

This is the workout I do four days a week and besides it being easy on the joints it is fun .

 

[Linney]

Our local paper had the following story a couple of days ago on the amount of exercise it takes to maintain weight loss and I found it very depressing (a minimum of 1 hour of exercise almost every single day....there's not enough hours in the day as far as I'm concerned )

Keeping the weight off takes twice the work

The research findings in that article match those of the U.S.-based National Weight Control Registry. The NWCR does not study weight loss itself, rather, they are interested in understanding long-term successful weight loss maintenance.

One of their research findings is that 90% of the people who successfully keep weight off long term do exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day. They go on to note that the most popular exercise is walking.

I've been a member of the registry for 2-3 years now. In exchange for filling out yearly questionnaires and evaluations, I get a sneak peak at the latest research findings. This year's findings were particularly sobering. They found that the successfull long-term weight loss members rated the difficulty of losing the weight as "very hard" and the difficulty of maintaining the weight loss as "very hard". Yup, maintaining is not "hard". . . . it is "VERY hard" <sigh> There is a bright spot on the horizon. Another finding is that members find that maintaining their weight loss starts getting easier around the five year mark.

Link: National Weight Control Registry (click on Research Findings to learn more)

It is hard to fit in 1 hour of exercise every day. I have to very creative sometimes. Walk the dog around the neighborhood (15 minutes) + take the long route to the cafeteria (10 extra minutes) + evening walk (30 minutes). Some evenings/weekends I take a 2-hour bike ride so I can have the next day off! I alternate my summer workout and winter workout routines to keep it from getting stale. I'm eyeing a class on kayaking. Thinking about how to fit in enough exericse is something I have to do every day.

--Linney

p.s. Calgary Girl -- congratulations on your weight loss so far, you are doing great!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Linney and CG, I sent the article to my personal trainer, who might be the only combo research geek/bodybuilder on the planet! He found the study abstract and made a few relevant points about the difference between walking for exercise and strength training--primarily that intensity matters. The study--and a lot of the emphasis at the NWC registry (Linney, good to know you enjoy participating--I've got my paperwork but haven't filled it in yet) is on walking, and intensity didn't appear to be defined.
My trainer's commentary was that intensity can vary your results dramatically. I know that if I walk around the track for 30 minutes versus climbing up on the evil elliptical trainer, my calorie expenditure "bang for the buck" is vastly different. So his point was that doing higher intensity exercise several of those days each week can bring your total minutes down from 60 minutes to a more manageageable level of 30 minutes, something I do think is true.
Having said that, I do agree that maintenance is a bear--I met my goal weight back on June 22 of last year (60 lbs lost) and I am right now 10 lbs above that thanks to a careless vacation-filled June and July of this year.
Filling the time with more interesting stuff is tough--great idea about the kayaking class! I have started doing more hooping (hula) and went to a couple of workshops last weekend to get some new moves and a brand new sparkly hoop, plus I start the pole dancing classes on Monday for 6 weeks, in addition to the 2x week trainer and cardio on other days. All in the name of defeating boredom!

 

[Helen]

Helen, what type of shoes/socks are you wearing during hiking?

I've been wearing my running shoes with regular socks and am not getting any blisters. I'm going to suggest my partner try some light weight nylon socks with a pair of hiking socks over them. I've read this can help prevent blisters as the friction occurs between the socks and not between the socks and feet.

 

[Helen]

Here are a couple of shots of Waldo Lake in Central Oregon. It's a 22 mile hike around the lake. This is the second cleanest lake in the world, the lake water is basically distilled:

 

[HFWR]

I've been wearing my running shoes with regular socks and am not getting any blisters. I'm going to suggest my partner try some light weight nylon socks with a pair of hiking socks over them. I've read this can help prevent blisters as the friction occurs between the socks and not between the socks and feet.

http://home.earthlink.net/~barbmurray/boots.htm

http://www.llbean.com/outdoorsOnline/outdoorSports/hiking/tips/choose_boots.html

 

[Calgary_Girl]

I've been wearing my running shoes with regular socks and am not getting any blisters. I'm going to suggest my partner try some light weight nylon socks with a pair of hiking socks over them. I've read this can help prevent blisters as the friction occurs between the socks and not between the socks and feet.

I bought socks that have two layers to reduce the friction and no blisters yet (and I ALWAYS get blisters)....

 

[Calgary_Girl]

My trainer's commentary was that intensity can vary your results dramatically. I know that if I walk around the track for 30 minutes versus climbing up on the evil elliptical trainer, my calorie expenditure "bang for the buck" is vastly different. So his point was that doing higher intensity exercise several of those days each week can bring your total minutes down from 60 minutes to a more manageageable level of 30 minutes, something I do think is true.

I definitely agree. Unfortunately, I also think it's easier (at least for me) to stick with exercising if the exercise is not gruelling (i.e. walking). Personally, I find it easier to walk for an hour than run on the treadmill for 30 min. Plus, my knees thank me in the morning!

 

[Linney]

My trainer's commentary was that intensity can vary your results dramatically. I know that if I walk around the track for 30 minutes versus climbing up on the evil elliptical trainer, my calorie expenditure "bang for the buck" is vastly different. So his point was that doing higher intensity exercise several of those days each week can bring your total minutes down from 60 minutes to a more manageageable level of 30 minutes, something I do think is true.

Hi Sarah,

I see that Calgary Girl replied already but I'll add my 2 cents. I think she has a very good point that intense or grueling exercise can be off-putting and a less intense exercise like walking is one that people can stick with year after year.

My earlier post misrepresents what I actually do for exercise since it shared a walking-only exercise day. A typical week actually looks like this;

Mon: weight training on machines for 1 hour
Tue: walking, 1 hour total, in multiple segments
Wed: hard intervals on the elliptical for 1 hour
Thu: weight training circuit with free weights
Fri: 1 hour evening walk with husband
Sat: 4 hour hike or 2 hour bike ride + evening walk to shake legs out
Sun: gardening or hang loose
​

So I do intense exercise 2-3 times a week BUT my most frequent exercise is still walking. It forms a great core and when I have a bad day (or bad week) I fall back to walking rather than no exercise at all.

My exercise routine is more intense that what is absolutely required to maintain weight loss but I prefer to exercise a little more and eat a little more rather than put hard restrictions on my food intake.

Sarah, I too sat on the NWCR paperwork for awhile before sending in it. You should get it done! I found it useful as another motivator to keep the weight off.

Cheers!
--Linney