How much did you exercise and how much did it play a part in your weight loss? I looked over at the exercise thread and it seemed that there is a lot going on over there but I wanted to know from people who maintained their level of exercise over time. In 2005 when I lost a lot of weight, I exercised very little. I happen to like exercise, though. So now, that I am giving calorie counting an honest, life changing not diet, try, I am incorporating exercise, too. Yesterday, I did 40 mins on my treadmil at 4.2mph with 2.5% incline (2.35miles). When I got off, it said some pittance of calories burned and fitday says 210 calories. Am I not doing enough? My plan was to do cardio (similar to yesterday) 3 days a week and weights 3 days a week and rest 1 (similar to Body for Life workouts). I really want to help my weight loss and I know it helps to keep metabolism up and all that, but should I add more cardio? What worked for all of you?

It's more about how much you move each day, not just the "exercise" you do. If you sit on your butt for 8 hours at work, you burn next to nothing. If you are up and down doing this and that and rarely sitting, you burn a lot.

I've learned to not look at easy exercise, say a 45 min walk, as a waste of calories. I'm excited to get that 250 calories tacked on to my daily caloric burn. Do that 2x in a day and now I have an extra 500 total. Go dancing in the evening, and for a few hours of fun I will burn another 500 calories.

If I only looked at the cardio workouts I do, I'd have only 300-400 calories here or there. Ugh is what I'd think, just as you did.

Move more ALL the time and you will get much more benefits.

A good book to read: Move a Little, Lose a Lot: New N.E.A.T. Science Reveals How to Be Thinner, Happier, and Smarter by James Levine

I started calorie counting with no exercise at all. Added exercise in about four weeks later, nothing but cardio. I had an elliptical machine and my goal was 30 minutes per day, four-six days per week. I moved that up to 45-60 minutes, added in a few short yoga videos after about six weeks of all cardio. Averaged five days per week. Added in light strength training when I was close to goal. Since reaching my goal I've actually seriously upped the strength training and started running, so I think I actually exercise more now than I did during active weight loss.

And, Alright is correct - any calories burned are good, I don't look at any as 'measly'. I look at them as more than I would have been burning two years ago while sitting on my bottom eating cheetos.

Cardio 3 days and weights 3 days is a good plan. You may want to try intervals on your cardio to boost the impact - vary the speed and incline during your walk instead of staying flat. There is a good chart on HIIT training in the BFL program, I just can't find the link right now. I'll see if I can find it for you. Also, I've started following my weight training with light cardio immediately after, 20-30 minutes of steady just to cool myself back down, keep things loose. I like it.

Good luck!

During my first weight loss attempt, I did not exercise at all. (I also gained all the weight back, plus more.)

When I decided again to lose weight, I incorporated exercise right from the beginning. However, I didn't do that much at first. I ran/walked 3 days a week, starting out with only about 10 minutes total and working my way up as my stamina increased. After that I signed up for a Pilates class and so I was doing some strength in addition to cardio (which at that point was a combo of running, elliptical, stationary bike, and stair climber, for about 30 min 3x/wk). After that I started doing some strength after my cardio during my 3 workouts per week. Eventually I added a circuit training class on the 2 days I wasn't already working out, and did that until I hit my goal weight and for a little while after that until I finished school, moved and got a full-time job.

I had some injuries/health issues so I had to lay off the weights for a while. For a while after moving to Indy I workout out 3x/week for 30 mins on an elliptical. Then we joined a gym and I worked out 3-5x/week for 30 mins, usually elliptical/stationary bike and some weights as I was able.

Then we got a dog and couldn't go to the gym after work since we had to come home to take care of him. Around the same time, my health issues were finally resolved, so I started the couch to 5k running program since my knees didn't hurt anymore. I took the dog with me. Then I decided to train for a triathlon, so I added biking and swimming to the running for a total of working out about 5 days a week for 30-60 minutes each time. After the triathlon, I added a bootcamp class and weight lifting with the New Rules of Lifting for Women book's workout plans.

In any case, right now I do NRLW weight training 2x/week, and cardio (running/swimming/biking) about 2-3x/week (I aim for 3 but sometimes get only 2).

That's probably way more info than you wanted. Suffice to say the first time I lost weight I didn't exercise and I gained it all back (I'm not solely blaming the exercise, I also ate like a pig once I got to my goal weight!). The second time I incorporated exercise from the beginning, and during maintenance if anything I've increased the amount of exercise I do.

As far as calories go, honestly, I have never counted my exercise in my calorie counting. I lose weight when I eat less. If I ate the same amount and just exercised more, I probably wouldn't lose much weight, if any. The reasons I exercise are: (1) I like feeling strong and fit, (2) I get sick of sitting all day at my job, and (3) exercising helps me stay motivated to eat right. If I don't exercise, I eat crap. If I do exercise, I eat well. I can't explain why, that just seems to be the way of it.

So I would say don't pay too much attention to the numbers that the treadmill, elliptical, etc. report for calories. If you want an accurate count of how much you're burning you probably need to get some kind of heart rate monitor (but I don't totally believe in those either since my heart rate is always high). I guess what I want to say is that exercise would still be important even if you burned 0 calories doing it.

The thing about exercise isn't that it burns a lot of calories by itself. It's that it improves your fat-burning and energy-utilizing metabolism overall. It also de-stresses a person, and often leads to lower blood glucose, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, etc.

During my weight loss periods, I exercise no fewer than 5 days a week, for an hour and a half per day. 30 minutes is walking outdoors, 30 minutes is a cardio machine, and 30 minutes is weights (different muscles each day), stretching, core exercises. I do the walking outdoors separately from the other session.

During maintenance, I still go to the gym 4 or 5 days a week. Lately I've dropped that down because of some health issues.

ETA: I did try tracking my calories burned, but the estimates for that are so variable that it's not worth it, I think.

Jay

I exercised all throughout my journey, and do today. It helps me in a LOT of ways...extra calorie burn, reduced stress, reduced depression, better sleep...all of THOSE help me in weight loss and maintenance. So I've always done about an hour a day, 5-6 days a week, of cardio, and for the last 2 years, 2 hours of strength training per week.

Okay, thanks everyone. I am going to try to incorporate more. With 3 kids, a side cleaning job and full time school (restarting in September), and a husband that works 2 jobs (and because of that is needy and also puts me in charge of all the yard/ house stuff) I'm not sure I can fit in 90 mins but I am going to try to get in at least a half an hour. Hopefully my house cleaning business will keep it up a notch, too!!

I think regular exercise was a key component to my loss this time around. Unlike previous weight loss attempts (when I waited until I lost weight to start exercising), I started working out 5 days a week from the very beginning.

First I started by alternating weights and cardio.

Then, as that became routine, I added in pilates, walking, yoga, dance, Tae Bo, etc.

I found that it is much easier for me to fit in exercise when I break it up a bit. I did 30 minutes of pilates/yoga/weights in the morning before work, walked for 15-20 minutes at lunch and then did 20-30 minutes after work of cardio/dance/WATP. I strived to do this at least 4-5 days per week.

Now, I try to incorporate more activity throughout the day, and continue to exercise 45 minutes 5 days per week.

I think good bodies are primarily made in the kitchen, but I exercise regularly for more reasons than just creating a calorie deficit. I do about an hour a day of various activities (running, biking, swimming, walking, kayaking etc.).

I just added weight training as a new activity.

I've heard that losing weight is 90% food, and only 10% exercise. However, I know that exercise will help reshape your body, and leave you fitter. I originally a lot of weight in 2000, and unlike other times, I did exercise most of the way through my journey. I have continued to exercise, but it was not enough when I wasn't vigilent enough with my food. Now I'm working on losing what I've gained back, and still exercising. Of course, I'm in my 60's and want to keep going for many more years, and I know that when I stop exercising for awhile, I stiffen up and get way less flexible....

I never exercised before weight loss, was a moderate exerciser during weight loss (45 minute aerobic DVDs 5 days a week) and don't exercise now (although know I should).

While it is a significant part for me, I've always been active. I've always had "spells" of going to the gym. I didn't lose a single pound until I fixed my eating.

It serves many purposes now, though

I started with exercise before anything else, but not a lot. Just one hour, three days a week with a personal trainer. We did fairly light, beginner-type workouts. Probably a fair amount of muscle endurance and cardio.

Then I started counting calories. Then I started adding in 30 to 45 min of cardio on three of the days that I wasn't working out with my trainer. Eventually I ramped it up to an hour, three days a week.

Then I got a new trainer, who significantly ramped up the intensity of my workouts. We started doing a lot of explosive cardio and lifting heavier. At the same time, I started doing HIIT on my off days.

Eventually I added a seventh day of exercise (more cardio) and doing longer and longer cardio sessions, including a lot of HIIT. I also started doing some stretching and yoga classes. It was a lot of exercise and I started getting sick a lot. There could have been a lot of reasons for this, but I had some of the worst viruses I've ever experienced and I got a lot of them--just one after the other. Eventually, I also started experiencing overuse injuries--the worst being in my knee and hip flexor.

So last last year I backed it off to just six days a week and cut back on the amount of time I spent exercising. I didn't get sick once this winter (knock on wood) and my injuries are much improved. The problem is that I struggled to stay on plan with my eating. The first six months of this year were just a disaster.

So recently, I've ramped it back up a bit. Not quite as much as before. But I seem to be a lot more in control of my diet when I do some form of exercise every day and when I'm able to run at least 20 min of HIIT three days a week (I also think the HIIT really helps with losing weight). I'm trying to find a happy medium.

My exercise routine has not changed from dieting to maintaing. I consider it a life long struggle/challenge not just oh I'll only exercise and watch what I eat when I diet. I think that is why I've been one of the very very few people who have actually successfull kept the weight off. Most poeple gain the weight back plus more after a few years.