Exercise and weight loss

jaxluvthebeach

Hi everyone! I just wondered what do you do for exercise everyday and does that help you to lose weight, have energy, be healthy, etc. I am 52 years old and post menopausal. I used to be a straight cardio girl, I would do 60 min of either treadmill walking at 5mph or aerobics 6-7 days a week. And I was tired and gaining weight! So I modified my workouts so that I would not be burnt out or get injured. So now I do 3 days a week of cardio for 40 min and 30 min weights and then 2 days of walking on the treadmill for 60 min at 4.7 mph. I gave myself two days of rest and this has helped my body to recover. I just recently started to measure my food and track it as I think this is the culprit in my weight gain/belly fat (besides menopause). Also I need to get more sleep 5-6 hours a night is probably not enough! Hoping this will help get me back on track to lose weight and just have more energy! Would love to hear other stories of being healthy and fit!

snowflake954

I'm 68 with OA--stiff and achey. I exercise everyday. I do Tai Chi almost everyday with my husband and a small group of Chinese in a park near our home in Rome, Italy. It's a great start to the day near the Roman ruins, under the palm trees, with the various birds and animals waking up with first light. After a month and a half I can see a great difference in my mental and physical health. It's calming.

Then I do Yogaflex-once a week, acquagym-twice a week, swim-3 times a week, and walking all over the city.

I have to say the Tai Chi has been a big surprise.
I need to work in some gym time. It's been abnormally hot here and now that it's cooled down I'll be doing that.

jaxluvthebeach

That sounds wonderful and very serene! I have been wanting to try either tai chi or pilates to help with the stress in my life . Hope you continue to have good health thanks so much for sharing your story!

cwolfman13

Exercise can aid in weight loss, but ultimately one's diet is going to be far more impactful. There are loads of people who exercise regularly and maintain their weight (me included) because they eat at a maintenance level of calories. If exercise just defaulted to weight loss, millions of people who exercise on the regular would just wither away and die. Exercise also doesn't burn as many calories as people tend to think...unless one is truly an athlete and training like one, the calorie expenditure from regular exercise is relatively paltry compared to the calories expended merely existing and go about one's day to day.

Regular exercise has tremendous health benefits so yes, I exercise regularly. I walk for 30-40 minutes Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I do 30 minutes of interval training on my bike on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I do calisthenics with my 13 yo son on Tues and Thurs evenings and we go to the gym to do kettlebell work on Saturday mornings. On weekends I try to engage in physical recreational activity like mountain biking or trail riding, hiking, kayaking, etc.

AnnPT77

I'll be 68 in a couple of weeks, and have been in menopause since 45. I wasn't routinely active at all until my late 40s, after cancer treatment (the whole bundle of surgery-chemo-radiation followed by 7 years of estrogen agonist drugs). I stayed overweight/obese for another dozen years despite a good workout schedule. Then I lost from class 1 obese to a healthy weight at age 59-60. I've been at a healthy weight since, and still active.

For me, weight loss was all about getting my calorie intake where it needed to be, mostly by adjusting portion sizes, proportions of various things on my plate, and frequency of calorie-dense foods (like treat foods, fried foods).

In summer, I row on water 4 days a week, and usually bike or walk outdoors another couple of days. In Winter, I usually alternate stationary bike and rowing machine for 6 days most weeks, and throw in some kind of strength training (lifting, kettlebell or bodyweight, or some combination.

I do find that I do best if I have a real rest day once a week (maybe some mild activity, but nothing demanding), and if I mostly don't do the same activity day after day steadily, but rather alternate different activities.

I think I'm reasonably healthy and fit, especially for my demographic. Blood pressure is good, cholesterol good, no blood sugar problems, etc. I do have osteoporosis (in part caused by the cancer treatment, we suspect), osteoarthritis, and various other annoying stuff, but it doesn't particularly limit my being active as long as I'm selective about what I do.

herblovinmom

I lost a majority of my weight with diet changes alone. I just recently added in consistent regular exercise. I’m very close to goal weight and exercise will help me maintain. I will exercise for an energy boost or a mood boost. It’s good for longterm health 👍 I walk 30-45 minutes 4 days a week, I do 20-30 minutes of strength training M, T, TH, F.. I try and add in yoga on Sundays, not consistent with that yet, and do something fun activity wise on Saturdays like a bike ride or walk around the lake..I also take a couple rest days. I’m trying to increase my pace and get to a place where I can walk/jog intervals. Then advance to running. This has been a longtime goal and one day I might be a runner.

jaxluvthebeach

Hi and thanks so much to all for responding I love to hear your stories and Ann that is wonderful you are cancer free and healthy!
I am finding that diet is playing a bigger role than I thought in this whole process so I have been logging my food the past week and it’s been a real eye opener for sure! Just have to stay on track with that and also with better sleep and stress management!

csplatt

The calories consumed matter so, so much more than all that cardio. Get a digital food scale!

zebasschick

i'm 66, and i weigh less now than i have in about 20 years.

tracking calories and foods so i could get a better idea of how many calories i was eating was so, so helpful. knowing lets me alter my food, not only for weight loss but so i make sure i'm getting the protein other stuff i need to get healthy. it's helped me change my lifestyle, not just diet and lose weight.

jaxluvthebeach

Thank you for both responding and zebasschick good for you that's awesome! I am noticing now that I am 20 days in that calories consumed matters especially in menopause even though I am exercising. Posting it has been a real eye opener as I definitely was overeating. Haven't really lost too much weight but my clothes do seem to be fitting better so happy about that!