60+ minutes of exercise per day to maintain weight after age 50

[Irulan]

No comment on what kind of diet these people eat? I"m fifty two and am maintaining weight just fine but then again I'm super mindful about not eating too much and not eating crap.( without 420/wk or 60/day)

[PamNY]

No comment on what kind of diet these people eat? I"m fifty two and am maintaining weight just fine but then again I'm super mindful about not eating too much and not eating crap.( without 420/wk or 60/day)

Agreed -- and I am 62.

[emily_in_nc]

They do say it needs to be moderate-level activity (brisk walking or more). My impression was housework would NOT be considered to be enough. Basically, this study debunks the earlier recommendations of 30 minutes 5x a week was enough to maintain weight without cutting calories. This study says, nope, that's not enough, at least for women 50+. They found that for people who got less than the equivalent of an hour a day of moderate exercise, calorie cutting was required to maintain BMI.

I do agree that the 60 minutes doesn't necessarily have to be *every* day, but I'd think that being a slug 6x a week and then blowing it out on one huge weekend event might not do it either.

When I was living in the US, I maintained my weight within a 2 lb. range for 10 years while working full-time, but I did get moderate to high physical activity for 60 minutes most days (gym + walks + running), plus 2-3 hours usually once a week (long bike ride with hills or long hilly hike). Now I'm getting a little less than that except when we travel and do a lot of hiking, and I've gained about 4 lbs. We live on a flat beach, and it's hard to get the intensity needed to burn the calories. Running does it, but between the heat and humidity, I've found it hard to keep up with that. I do yoga 2x a week for 90 minutes each time, but it's fairly low intensity overall.

I'm sure it's not true for every woman -- some are natural ectomorphs and can maintain on less activity; some may need more. This is also not talking about people who are trying to lose weight, just women of normal weight who are attempting to maintain at age 50+. For me it seems to be pretty accurate.

[jyyanks]

AACK- That's pretty depressing. While I'm not yet considered middle age, I can't imagine having the time to do 60 minutes a day. That may change when my child and job responsibilities decrease but for now, 30 minutes a day is what I aim for and I don't even know if you would consider what I do "moderate"!

[Crankin]

I find this to be true, in that I need to exercise 5-6 days a week. I might not do an hour on a couple of those days, but what I do on those days is intense, i.e. 40 minutes of riding, which includes 2 hills with +10% grades. I do an hour boot camp 2 days a week, ride 4 days a week during the season. Right now I am riding outside 2 days a week, doing some hiking and/or fitness walking in addition to boot camp. When the snow comes I replace the outdoor riding with snow shoeing, x country skiing, spin class or the trainer. I usually do some running, too. However, I need to take one full day off and do one day of easy stuff; a light walk or yoga.
I know I can never stop exercising. I've been working out 5-7 days a week since I was 25 years old and it's paid off, because at 59, I weigh about the same as I did in high school. When I did less, I gained weight. But, I do eat very clean compared to a lot of people. As the years go by, I can eat less and less carbs. While I do go out a lot, I generally try to stay somewhat healthy with the eating, even in restaurants.
There's no magic pill. It's hard work.

[Catrin]

I keep reading that, in the end, diet matters far more than exercise for weight loss...but of course we are talking about maintenance once we get to our target weight. If our diet isn't right then we can kill ourselves every day without receiving the full benefit, and they aren't presenting the full picture in such articles/study when they don't examine the diets of the participants.

As for me - I will never be able to stop exercising and eating very clean- and I am fine with that. It's paid off and I am not about to stop now - and the older I get the more important it will be to keep my body limber and flexible.

[shootingstar]

I'll be reading the article when I have time later today.

But for an initial response: For myself, 60 minutes in total in 1 day, nearly daily does manage my current healthy weight. When it's half the amount of exercise weekly and I don't cut back on calories, then I do gain weight.

So how can one do this: bike commute to work /groceries --at the very least for me. Plus add on at least 3-4 more hours of cycling on weekends.

Yea, if I really thought about the effort, it would be slightly discouraging....except we all love cycling don't we?