Poll: exercise frequency

50+ to lose I walk or bike ride daily usually 1-2hrs broken up if its 2hrs..I dont take a rest day because I dont figure it as a hard workout just a casual one to get my heart going.

lotsofowls wrote: »

Hi everyone! I'm interested in how often those aiming to lose weight exercise, particularly those with a significant amount to lose (I'd say at least 50 lbs) such as myself. I've been at 6 days/week for a few months now, and I'm happy with it, but it isn't always easy to get a workout in nearly every day. I'm at the point where if I have to take an unplanned rest day, I get nervous that it'll keep me from losing. So I'm just curious to see how often the rest of you are exercising and how it's working for you!

I run 3x and I lift 3x a week. Typically by the time if the rest day, I really need it, but I am itching to go back the next day, so it is perfect.

I exercise 4 times a week, occasionally if I feel like it, I throw in a morning scenic run during one day in the weekend, although this is rare. I do it as a 4 day thing so that psychologically if I miss a day or I decide to not run one day because I'm lazy/awol/etc I won't feel like I'm adding to a backlog of runs and create/add to some anxiety that may build up. It also helps with motivation because you can look forward to the TGIF day after completing the 4, and have no guilt trip missing one workout because you have that flexibility. Everything else exercise wise I do not count as formal 'exercise' per se but I add in alot of incidental exercise such as walking everywhere as I love walking.
Except for actual injuries, travel (like if I'm on a plane/train) or 'severe female issues' - I've never missed a workout for the past 2 years just because of that one day redundancy.
I exercise for leisure and discipline more than anything because losing weight is 80% diet, 20% exercise. Its a fallacy that one can 'lose weight' only through exercise, as if you exercise but don't fix your diet, a simple coffee with milk can undo one entire workout. So I try to constantly remind myself that and use exercise as a way to achieve feel-good wellness in a fit and active lifestyle in conjunction with a healthy diet.

I have been exercising 7 days a week for the past 2 months. I had a 2-day break in mid-March when I had the flu.

Most of the time my exercise is walking. Some days I walk as little as 20 min ... most days it is closer to an hour ... and occasionally there's a longer hike in there.
Weekends I cycle ... anywhere from about 20 km (the short rides like that are usually at least hilly to make them more of a workout) to 90 km, so far. Building up.

Sometimes I add stair climbing and weights in there as well.

faithyang wrote: »

Its a fallacy that one can 'lose weight' only through exercise, as if you exercise but don't fix your diet

Commonly held idea ... but not true.

About 10 years ago, I was cycling a lot ... roughly 10,000 km/year for several years in a row. In that I was training for and doing randonneuring events. I was also doing a fair amount of walking, quite a bit of weightlifting, and in the winter, I was out snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, riding my bicycle on the trainer (not counted in those 10,000 km), and doing yoga.

I had a really hard time eating enough to keep my weight within the normal range. Ease up just a bit on the calorie intake, and I would slip down into underweight again. I would go to the grocery store and read the labels looking for small foods with the highest possible calories in them so that I could get the calories without having to eat so much ... the very act of eating was drudgery because I had to do so much of it.


You can definitely lose weight through exercise alone ... you just have to exercise a whole lot to do it.