Hour Enough? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

sh3l5 · 01-11-2006, 02:43 PM

is an hour of exercise each day enough? Say perhaps running?

funniegrrl · 01-11-2006, 03:02 PM

Enough for what?

sh3l5 · 01-12-2006, 02:16 AM

To lose weight obviously

Psychego · 01-12-2006, 02:53 AM

I do exactly one hour everyday of cardio and I have lost 57 lbs (whopee!). Of course, combined with sensible meals you will lose the weight. I have now increased my exercise length to one hour and a half juts to avoid, say, a plateau.

jillybean720 · 01-12-2006, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funniegrrl

Enough for what?

heh, my thought exactly! You can actually lose weight without any exercise at all (you might not like your shape as much, but it is feasible, and plenty of people do it), so an hour a day is great. Of course, that's assuming you're eating sensibly--an hour a day won't erase a whole pizza or cake, but I'm sure we all know better here, so that goes without saying

It really depends on your goals--are you only doing cardio (running)? You may want to incorporate weights if your goal is to tone rather than just lose weight, but don't give up on the cardio all together--it's great for you heart!

In any case, the more you exercise, the more calories you burn, and as I think we all know by now, it all comes down to calories in v. calories out

srmb60 · 01-12-2006, 09:14 AM

On a day that I do not work, I try for about an hour split between activity and weights. So far, so good.

The whole deal, like Jill says, is using more calories than you eat.

Sheri~C · 01-12-2006, 10:16 AM

I started my weight loss plan in September and lost weight with no problem without exercise. I was not able to move comfortably and with enough breath to start an exercise program until this month.

I did though do little things to increase my activity, walking further distances, parking the car at the back of the parking lot etc.

You lose weight during exercise if you burn calories. To burn fat you need to exercise moderatly at 80-85% of heart rate which means you can talk but not sing while doing it and you need to be in the heart rate zone for at least 12 minutes.

I started walking outside for 15 minutes and am now up to 25 minutes with 16 of those minutes in my target zone. I also do WATP dvd's which is a 2 mile 30 minute program.

It is recommended that people with more than 50 pounds to lose should exercise 3 times a day for at least 12 minutes each time, include a 5 minute war up and cool down.

If you want to know more about this the best book I have read on the subject is "The New Fit or Fat" by Covert Bailey.

I think one of the reasons I have been so sucessfull this time on my plan is that I have been educating myself on fitness. It is really helpful to understand why our bodies work the way they do and what really helps the body work at it's best.

Tealeaf · 01-12-2006, 12:45 PM

You can exercise for five hours a day and have it still be "not enough" to lose weight if you overeat enough in the remaining hours. You can exercise for 15 minutes a day and have that be plenty if you eat fewer calories than you burn off during the rest of the day. Since losing weight is a function of calories burned off in relationship to calories taken in your question is meaningless.

Ilene · 01-12-2006, 03:59 PM

Here is an article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6816952/

Quote:

The guidelines, revised every five years, largely follow mainstream advice: eat a mix of foods, watch your fats and sugars. They stress the importance of calories in managing weight, directly tying weight loss to consuming fewer calories.

Quote:

Everyone should get a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes each day of moderate exercise — brisk walking or bicycling, for example. Losing weight will require 60 to 90 minutes of more intense daily exercise.

Hope this helps...The article is interesting worth the read...

srmb60 · 01-12-2006, 04:08 PM

The only way you'll ever get the answer to a question is if you ask it. And if the answer means something to you .... the question is not meaningless.

The simple answer is that any exercise you do, that is more than you did before, is wonderful. It's all relative really. That programme called "8 minutes in the Morning" works for some because it's 8 minutes more than they are used to.

I couldn't possibly run for an hour each day (I envy those who do) but if you can and you enjoy it .... go for it.

teahoney · 01-13-2006, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SusanB

The only way you'll ever get the answer to a question is if you ask it. And if the answer means something to you .... the question is not meaningless.

Thank you Susan. That comment offended me as well but I didn't know how to respond to it without coming off nasty. I think the OPs question is very valid and your suggestions are great.

l00py - If you have an hour a day to devote to exercise then I say, go for it. I don't know your fitness level but if you have never exercised or haven't done it in a while then maybe you can start off with just simple walking for an hour and then add in other kinds of exercise as your fitnes level improves.

jillybean720 · 01-13-2006, 10:33 AM

I agree--excellently stated, Susan. I you're unsure or curious about something, then no question is meaningless. If you are unsure or confused to begin with, then of course you may not know which other variables affect the aspect you're asking about, ya know? We just need a little more info from l00py to helpfully answer the question is all

Tealeaf · 01-13-2006, 12:36 PM

Ok, I'll rephrase. The question was so vague as to be hard to answer in a meaningful way. What is the answer to the question "Is an hour of exercise enough (to lose weight)?" An hour of exercise is great, I think we can all agree. But if I eat four or five thousand calories a day, is an hour of running going to be enough to overcome that so that I lose weight?

The question wasn't about what the official guidelines are. And there are enough people out there who believe that if you exercise enough, you can eat whatever you want, in whatever quanity you want, that I think that my pointing out the flaw in this thinking was warrented.

Sorry if I offended anyone. I sometimes am a bit blunter than I need to me.

sh3l5 · 01-14-2006, 04:23 AM

At a push I suppose I eat one thousand calories a day. Im not a big eater anymore like I used to be. I began running for an hour most days after work. In the past week this has lead me to lose 1lb.

Its difficult because I expected the weight loss to be a little more, however I am determined to stick to it. Hopefully I will reach my 10 stone dream!

kathyhegg · 01-14-2006, 08:26 AM

Loopy, you may find that your weight loss is so slow because your calorie intake is so low. Really you shouldn't have less than 1200 cals per day, because your body goes into starvation mode on less than that. Try upping your calorie intake a little and see what happens. Great work on the cardio.

Kathy