So let's be honest, I got to this point without doing any exercise. All the material I read on maintaining though really stresses how important exercise is. Will some walking do it or do I really need to take it seriously? I am pretty active just in life and do yoga (not the aerobic sort) but I'm not sure I can run very far. You all are the experts here, should I get my butt moving or leave well enough alone?

In my experiences and humble opinion, exercise is critical for long-term weight maintenance and the latest governmental guidelines for weight loss/maintenance agree - check out the quote in my signature. 94% of maintainers in the National Weight Control Registry exercise for an average of an hour per day and the #1 exercise choice is walking. So to answer one of your questions, for many maintainers, walking is serious enough exercise.

Why is exercise so essential? First, exercise is necessary for good health and we're doing this for health, right? Your heart (and everyone else's) needs a minimum of 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three times per week (that's exercise that raises and sustains your heart rate to at least 70% of maximum). And that's just for general good health, not weight loss or maintenance.

Second, it's difficult to keep your calories low enough on a daily basis to keep weight off without the additional calorie burn from exercise. To go back to the NWCR, the average member is maintaining on 1400 daily calories (and remember, that's with the average hour of exercise). Without the calories burned from exercise, that 1400 number would have to be lower and that's tough to do day-in and day-out. Don't be mislead by metabolic calculators showing that you 'should' be able to maintain on 2000+ calories - it's not true for many of us, especially those of us trying to maintain large losses.

Third, when you lose weight without exercising to sustain your muscle mass, up to 40% of what you lose is muscle, not fat. The result can be a normal BMI but an unhealthy body composition (ratio of body fat to muscle mass). Because muscle is the calorie burner in your body (every kg of lean body mass burns 50 calories/day), the loss of muscle will lower your metabolism and make it harder to maintain your weight loss because you'l have to eat so much less. Exercising with weights will maintain and build your muscle mass, make you smaller and tighter, help prevent osteoporosis, and keep your metabolism running high.

Finally - and this one is kind of intangible - I think that exercising keeps you in touch with your body. Many of us became overweight/obese through denial and completely losing touch with how our bodies look and feel. Exercising forces you to use and experience your body. There's a world of lessons about perservance, meeting goals, overcoming obstacles, and inner strength in exercise and they all apply to weight loss/maintenance, goofy though that may sound.

In the end, we all have to do what works for us and obviously what you're doing has worked well for you so far. If 94% of maintainers are exercising, then 6% aren't and maybe that's the group you're comfortable with. But if you want to try to incorporate some exercise, walking is a great place to start. But ... please consider the addition of some weight training also, even if it's just working out with some light dumbbells or resistance bands at home.

And there is the vanity issue if health and ease of maintenance doesn't sway you. I achieved my goal weight with a lot of exercise, but not intense weight lifting. When I added that, I lost 2 pants sizes although the scale stayed the same. Five years and many tons of lifting later, I feel like I've achieved a goal body, not just a goal weight. Muscle just looks better that skin, fat and bone. It also keeps you healthier.

Mel

Hi Joy,

Last time I checked, most forms of yoga were decent exercise. I know the couple of times I've tried I've been more sore than almost any weight training session I've ever done.

Also you say you are active in life. Have you ever worn a pedometer? Maybe you are getting all kinds of exercise and just aren't aware of it because it is so well integrated into your life. You could pick one up and see. It could help set your mind at ease, or give you a place to start from if you decide to pick it up. Not all exercise is about running or lifting heavy weights, although I'm a big fan of both.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of exercise, and when I had 6 months of forced inactivity when I was pregnant, I went nuts (and gained way to much baby weight to boot). It just makes me feel great, less stressed and more confident. Some people find it helps them moderate their eating, although I personally don't find that to be the case. My mother on the other hand has been walking for almost 10 years now and still hates every second, but does it for her health. We got her and Dad a nice mountain bike for Christmas last year, and she does seem to enjoy getting out on that. So there may be some hope even for people who think they are exercise-haters; it may just come down to finding the right activity.

Anne

Hi!

Meg and Mel have already answered this so brilliantly and I am in complete agreement with them. (But of course, I must blab a little anyway )...

I feel so good about myself because I exercise. In fact, my weight bobbles up and down, but knowing I run 4 miles or lift weights for an hour makes me feel GREAT. I was just thinking as I ran this morning in the 19 degree weather... Would I rather be a little chunky and FIT (able to run and lift weights) or would I rather be at my slender ideal and not fit? Not that we have to choose, because we can have both if we persevere, but for me I would rather have the feeling of freedom and accomplishment that come from being fit and able to make my body perform athleticly. I think.

I also don't think we all need to attain a really high level of fitness to gain a lot from a little exercise. Maybe you should consider what is important to you and make some small goals to achieve that over time??

Congrats on your weight loss and maintenance!

Mel, can I please quote this in my sig or something?

Joy, I don't know how old you are, but from my great vantage point of nearly 62, and having just spent a week with my 94 year old FIL, I'll add to everyone's endorsement of exercise. Now my FIL has a heart condition and can't do a lot of strenuous exercise, but I've seen him deteriorate in the 6 months since my MIL died. He sits around a lot more (he used to be her caretaker which involved a lot of moving). Now he needs a walker or cane. But, in a recent hospital stay he was given physical therapy - originally for his knees, but actually incorporating some full body stuff. For the last few weeks he has been riding an exercise bike 15 minutes 2x a day, using elastic resistance bands to do some upper and lower body work, and walking as much as he is able. He is slowly getting physically better and more able to do things. I've read much about aging and bone/muscle loss as we get older, and I do not want to be a little stooped over lady like my mom and MIL were! I want to maintain my weight, fitness and balance (though the yoga helps with balance a lot). I cannot do what I could when I was younger, but I can do a heck of a lot more than many people my age! I really try to exercise regularly - both cardio and lifting. And as Mel pointed out - muscle looks better! You can be smaller at the same weight.

Those are wonderful points, WaterRat. Things I wish I would have thought about when I was younger, but when you're young, you think you're immortal, I guess.

My trainer is a 65 year old woman who looks incredible, and has tons of energy. She swears by stretching every morning before she gets out of bed (although I need to ask her DH how he copes with that!). She is wonderfully flexible, but she works at it every day. She is a master raquetball player who started playing in middle age so it's certainly never too late to try something new.