I've never heard of needing 60 to 90 minutes of exercise to MAINTAIN. Sometimes it may be needed to drop those last few pounds, but 30 minutes for 3 days a week is a decent amount of exercise for someone if that's just all they can commit to, and will help you to maintain your weight as long as you eat right.

Like others said, start small. Add just one or two of the ideas here and work on them for a week or two, then add another couple ideas. Some of what I do...

Park far from all entrances like others mentioned.
ALWAYS return your shopping cart.
Walk/bike to the nearest store if you need just an item or two.
Replace your chair at your work desk or home computer (or both) with a body ball.
Pace while talking on the phone rather than sitting.
Contract your abs and buttocks while seated.
Tighten abs while walking.
March in place while watching a program you like. Add hand weights for more of a workout, and/or add a step stool.

I like Richard Simmons tapes too. At first I was a little put off by the constant chatter but the steps are simple and easy to learn and in no time the work out is over. Goofy or not, he does make an impression

Tiffanie

I agree what others have said here. And frankly, I wouldn't worry about what Thin for Life said that most maintainers do; you just do what you can.

Okay, here's my other comment, and it's something that's going to sound against the grain, but I'll write it anyway: If you absolutely cannot get yourself to exercise, then don't. But if this happens, keep in mind that you'll need to lower your calories by about 200 per day to compensate (I'm basing this on some online calorie calculators, but this varies according to the person). My husband has NEVER formally exercised other than the sports he played in high school, and he's NEVER had a weight problem (he eats whatever he wants, but doesn't snack & doesn't have a sweet tooth). He does do yardwork a couple of times a week, but no formal exercising.

I am in no way discouraging you from exercising. As we all know, exercising improves overall health and makes weight maintenance easier. However, I also wouldn't want you to just give up on losing weight because you cannot get yourself to exercise. You can lose weight and maintain without exercise as long as you lower your calories a bit.

Hey gail,

Yes, start with small things. You know that it's important to stay physically fit as you get older. I'm older, too, and I have improved so much in the last 8 months! I'm not just talking about my weight and maintaining it--I'm talking about being able to walk a few miles, run up stairs if I need to, lift boxes without risking my lower back, climb 50 stories on the StairMaster without feeling like I'm about to die, and so on. So, just do that 5 minutes or 10 minutes to start.

Jay

....that must be why I run

I think I exercise more than the average bear but I just dont have 60-90 minutes every day. I run because it is highly efficient. When I first started running I hated running. I looked at it as "well I have 30 minutes at lunch - how do I get the most bang for my buck" 30 minutes running burned 300 calories, 30 minutes fast walking burned about 200, sauntering along ...150

Start wherever you can..you never know it may eventually hook you...it did me

Hey, gals, thanks for all the great suggestions. Mostly I just needed to hear that not everybody in the whole world is exercising 60-90 minutes a day. Somehow that just hit me like a ton of bricks.

I love the thrift shop, so I will stop by there and see about Richard Simmons tapes. I always thought he was a fun and generous person, I just didn't think it was for me. Why not, I wonder? I guess I just wanted to stay fat and lazy.

I can sort of feel myself getting mentally geared up for this now.

Exercise was also my biggest obstacle, the food part was easy! I dreaded exercise so much and the only thing I could do while exercising was to count down to when it was done. As you can surely guess because of this I did it maybe once every 1 or 2 weeks!! Then I moved and ended up at the edge of the city a mile down the road from a mountain preserve and started hiking, which I totally loved, and that turned into trail running. Now that I've found something that I love to do and makes me feel good I'm addicted. Now I see exercise as my escape from the city life, my getting-back-to-nature time, my "me" time. Being outside in nature is important to me (yeah I'm originally a farm girl from Vermont!) so this is the only type of exercise that is fulfilling in ways other than to lose weight. Try to find something that you love to do. If you don't like to go to the gym then chances are you wont, if you don't like to run, chances are you wont. Even though I run trails and love the running part I still hate to run down the sidewalk in the city and if going to the mountain preserve isn't an option I just won't do anything at all because I hate running in the city.
Good luck!!

Thanks, Wisher. I know you are right about finding just the right thing to do. I actually don't mind a repetitive routine. In fact, I find it comforting...so, I'm going to get there, somehow.

I used to hate to exercise, never thought I would get motivated to do it until I bought some fun workout videos. I started off with the striptease video from carmen electra..its not the best but It got me motivated, I then went and bought the leslie sansone walk away the pounds videos...I looove those. For mothers day my husband bought me an eliptical...b/c I told him thats what I wanted. I don't ride it much as I should but I do it at least 20-30 minutes 5 days a week. I also dance around with music...I have a 2 year old so he dances with me LOL. Exercise can be fun you just have to find what you love to do good luck!

Ha! Striptease! My DH would approve.

Just want to let you all know that my car is parked under the trees this morning and I walked from there to my office. Thanks for all the great encouragement.