As I stated in another thread, you ARE exercising. Being active is a form of exercise. Exercise is not just going to the gym or running, or using machines at home. Exercise is movement. If you are walking to the market, playing with your kids at the playground and getting out a stop early on the subway to walk, those are all times you have chosen to exercise versus sitting down.

THIS is what more of us need to do - exercise with a purpose. Riding our bike to the store. Walking our kids to school, etc. If we all did that, we wouldn't be as unfit or as fat.

Yes thanks, I think that's my point too. People are very sedentary in our culture. Ever see the people in the airports like at Heathrow that are going on the moveable platforms?? (they're like escalators but move across the floor lol). I'm thinking, I've just been sitting still on a plane for 6hrs and this is my chance to move lol! I think these conveniences need to be used by the elderly and the disabled but too often you see able-bodied folks doing nothing but plopping around.

I often get intimidated by exercise- or any new activity, really- because I can be a perfectionist. So if I don't feel like I can do things exactly how I imagine I should be able to do them, then I tend to just avoid the heck out of the activity all together. I've made a lot of progress in dealing with those perfectionist tendencies with my food choices, but I'm still working on it with exercise. Some days I really have to force myself to move beyond the fear that if I don't deem my efforts "good enough" per my (often unrealistic) expectations, then it doesn't count. It's nonsense, but that's the human mind for you. :)

I've exercised on and off over the years, but never managed to establish a permanent routine. I find it helpful to have a goal to work towards, like a race or hike. Then I know there will be more immediate consequences if I don't do my workouts regularly.

I like the moving platforms in airports because it helps me get from point A to point B faster. This has been especially helpful the few times I've been held up on the bus on the way to the airport or by security. I can run down a moving platform faster than I can run down the floor next to it.

I also think being sedentary is an issue, but I believe at one point you've said you're from New York? Please do correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, that city culture is a LOT different than rural areas of the US. I've never been to New York specifically but other big cities like Chicago and Denver. In rural areas it's very difficult to bike places (no safe passages away from 55 mph + traffic, no bike lanes) or walk places. Areas are just too far away. In one area where I lived it was a 20 minute drive to get to the nearest grocery store.

In cities like New York, there are many opportunities to walk as you do. In fact it's basically required. In rural areas though, there are fewer of these opportunities and even if one did want to bike/walk, it might be impossible. And it's impossible to take the stairs when most places are one story buildings.

I think exercise is necessary for all, not just those looking to lose weight. It improves your lung function, flexibility, endurance, heart function, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and can give you an overall feeling of well-being. I get so angry with my husband because he will see a thin woman walking or running and say "She doesn't need to exercise." EVERYONE needs to exercise.

Having said that, I usually have to really push myself to exercise. I say to my self "I will walk for 15 min" but once I get going I get into the mode and do much more. And after I'm finished I feel exhilarated! Then the next day comes, and I have to push myself to do it.

Yes you're right, I do live in a city where walking is a necessity. I grew up in a suburban area and I know what you mean though, driving was a norm, one story buildings, no stairs, no public transport, very large distances making biking and walking virtually not an option for transport.

But there are ways, do you need to find the closest parking spot possible at the mall? When you go grocery shopping don't go down aisle by aisle. Go from aisle 1 to aisle 12, then back to aisle 2 then to aisle 11 etc. Lunch hour? Drive to the park and walk. At the mall? Shop in one store then take your shoppings bags out to the car and go back to the mall to continue shopping, do that for everything you purchase. Need to drive to a friend's house? Park a couple of blocks over. This would actually be a good topic for a thread of its own. How to increase our daily activity in a city where walking is impossible?

I agree. I've been exercising regularly for the past 2.5 years, but before that my track record was spotty at best. I don't think it's immoral to decide, for whatever reason, that exercise is not a priority.

F.

For the past 2.5 years I've been exercising at a moderate-to-high intensity four days per week, and I'm still not one of those people. Exercise tires me out and makes me need more sleep. I've always been this way.

F.

I think when people are considering jumping into an effort to lose weight they see exercise often as something they would have to add to their already busy lives. Whereas changing your diet is just adjusting something you already do. So it's reassuring to see diet as a larger part of losing weight.

To me it's the same as when people decide to eat lean cuisines in an effort to eat better.

They probably know going to the kitchen and cooking for themselves would be one step better, but that's ADDING something else to do. Whereas eating a processed lower-fat/carb product is just an adjustment from eating a conventional processed product but at that time it's SOMETHING they can do.

For myself, exercise is 100% of my weight loss. It's WHY I change my eating. I stop eating to indulge myself (or stress eat...yay chocolate) and I start eating to fuel my body. I was very active as a child and enjoy exercising so I'm lucky in that regard.

I use those...and walk on them at the same time! Just like I'll get on the escalator and climb the stairs on the escalator. I never turn down a chance to get somewhere as fast as I can...and it feels like I'm walking super fast. :D

Absolutely. Even adding things into your daily routine like parking farther away and zig-zagging through the grocery store take up more time (especially when you already spent 20 minutes driving to the store). And what if you have kids that you're lugging around with you? It's not as simple for everyone to add even the littlest bit of movement into their daily lives.

I know for me, as someone who has no kids and only works 40 hours a week, I have to put other things on hold in order to exercise. My house is a wreck, and I used to be a neat freak. That's a sacrifice I made so that I could incorporate more exercise into my life, but it's not something everyone would or could make. Just another perspective. But again, I don't think the people I'm describing are the ones who the OP said "hate" on exercise (I've never seen this?)

I should add, that on the topic of exercise, I run (see siggy) and no daily activity like walking or leisurely riding my bike gives me the feeling I get from running. I'm excited about running. It makes me feel strong and accomplished. I am a runner. It feels good to say that after having an sedentary life. And after a run my mood is calm and happy. Its like a natural mood enhancer. I just don't get that incredible feeling from a walk.

I need to exercise for my mental health. It calms me down and makes me feel happy.

Also I can probably eat 1000 more calories a day than I could if I didn't exercise at all to maintain.

Same here.

And people do discredit exercise to aid weight loss, I've seen it a million times but I say nothing because it has zero impact on me. I do my own thing, they do theirs.