[QUOTE=sontaikle;4182641]You don't lose weight by exercising. You get fit by exercising.
I keep forgetting that! The idea of getting fit is somehow more positive to me than of losing weight; I'm so tired of the weight thing. I'm going to work on getting FIT by getting in a half-hour of exercise (min) every day, and honoring my fitness when I eat. Thanks!
I do yoga 3x week, private pilates 2x week, and about 90 minutes cardio (4 mile uphill hike loop) per day. Some days I double the cardio (8 miles of hiking) and I usually take 1 day off. It's a lot of exercise - maybe 15 hours per week- but a year ago I got only about 1 hour per week and my weight loss and body looked a lot different. My exercise has played a HUGE roll in my weight loss and without it I would have certainly failed at dieting. It changed the way I think about myself (now I'm "athletic") and the way I think about food (it's "fuel"). It also transformed my ideas about portions and calories. A year ago I had to use willpower to eat 1400 calories a day, but now it doesn't take willpower because I really understand that food is energy and I'm able to match the amount of food I need to my intake in a way that doesn't require exerting self control or willpower. I don't even think about food some days! Because I exercise so much, junk foods (fried, fatty, sugar) don't tempt me because they make me feel sluggish and gross. I have a lot more confidence because I'm fit and strong (not just skinny), I carry myself more upright, and I'm proud of myself in a way I wouldn't be if I had just cut portions and lost the same amount of weight.
I exercise 5-6 times a week because I LOVE TO EAT! I can't do it just by diet, and true you don't need exercise to lose weight but exercise does help me to stay accountable to what I'm eating. When I workout I watch extra carefully what I am eating, but I do eat more cause my hunger does to up in the evening if I don't stack my calories through the day. I do strength training (I lift heavy) Mon, Wed and Fri, and do cardio classes at my gym Tues and Thurs and sometimes on Sunday I do both...or one or the other.I need exercise, it not only makes me feel better I don't feel SO bad if I do have a treat etc...cause my calorie intake is higher. Without exercise I'd have to eat 1200 cals a day, I'm HUNGRY on that and honestly I HATE BEING HUNGRY! So now I eat around 1500-1800 depending on my day and workout and I've been losing...
I exercise about an hour every day. I find it really does help with weight loss. I can't say how much has been because of exercise, and how much because of diet. When I exercise hard I am less hungry than when I just go for a light walk or something easy. I am also more motivated to eat better because I don't want undo my efforts in the gym.
I do 35-55 minutes 6 days a week. Like others have said, what you eat accounts for 90% of your results. Exercise accounts for the other 10%. I saw someone had in their signature,
"Diets make you look good in clothes, exercise makes you look good naked."
I used to be one of those 'I eat what I want cuz I exercise' people. I did that for many years, eating normal (not dieting) and I only maintained, but made me more fit I suppose. I do believe with a lot of running you can lose without dieting. That's how it has been for me in the past. It wasn't a real consistent loss, but every now and then was a pound.
So for me, I do zumba 3 times a week, 3 times a week weights class (30-60 mins) and pilates or yoga once a week. I feel like I need to step it up though.
I'm not doing enough. The ONLY thing that has worked for me in the past was running and spinning classes. So, I know what I have to do to get this weight off.
When I'm at univeristy, I do fencing three times a week and C25K 3 times a week. I get Sunday's off I also do a minimum of 20mins walking a day to and from campus.
When I'm at home I work 3-4 8hour shifts on my feet and try to go to a zumba class if I'm off. I'm going to try and continue the C25K when I go home and take one of the dogs with me
I do cardio 5-6 days a week. I mix it up everyday though so I don't get to used to the same thing. And I do have to disagree with people stating that exercising dosen't help you lose. I was stuck at a plateau and the only way I could break through it was upping my calories and exercising. It is mostly about diet though.
I had been doing cardio-type exercise (walking, then fast walking, and now usually a mixture of elliptical/treadmill walking on an incline/rower) for 80-110 minutes per day, depending on the exercise. I just try to get in six miles, whether it's walking or elliptical.
Recently I added weight training and am still trying to find a schedule that doesn't kill me. Right now it's cardio only on Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Saturday for 85-110 minutes; Tuesday is half an hour of weights and 45 minutes of cardio; and Thursday and Sunday strength training for about half an hour. But this is too much.
I want to cut back a bit, but am worried that the weight loss will slow or stop if I drop cardio down to 4 days a week or strength training to 2 days per week.
For me, exercise is EVERYTHING as far as weight loss success goes. I'm the opposite of people who use the fact that they exercised as justification for being able to eat more. In my case, when I have exercised, I feel less inclined to overeat or eat unhealthy foods because then I would feel like I just wasted all that hard work exercising for no reason. When I exercise, I stick to the eating plan. When I do not exercise on a scheduled day, I feel like I might as well cheat because I've already cheated by not exercising.
I'm doing WW online and tracking points - I had a week of business travel where I got NO exercise (other than walking into the office everyday) but I managed to stay on track with points - I lost less than a pound that week (I think it was .7 or .8).
On normal weeks, I do 3 60-minute Zumba classes (2 of which are very high intensity) and 2 more gym work-outs (normally some circuit training w/ weight lifting, pilates class or a cardio-strength class) and I walk everyday at lunch for 25-45 minutes (and we walk our dogs twice a day). Last week, when I tracked points correctly and logged 8.47 hours of work-outs (according to WW tracking) - I lost 3.8 lbs.
I also do a minimum of 20mins walking a day to and from campus. 
