cowtown

30 minutes on the stationary bike 4-5 times per week, followed by 60 sit ups and some light upper-body weights for a few minutes. It's quick, and I can fit it in during luch hour. God knows I'm way too lazy to get up early to work out.

swmic

You have to find something you like to do that keeps your heart rate up for an extended period of time, plus eat healthy. The biggest thing is that you keep doing it for the long haul. I started lifting weights and running, ect.. when I was 15. Thirty years later, I'm still at it and guess what? I still weight what I did at 15. Ok, I'm five pounds heavier and was a big kid (195) at 15. It also helps if you have good genetics, but there is not a whole lot you can do about that.

dhicks

You have to find something you like to do that keeps your heart rate up for an extended period of time, .....posted by swmic

.....now what could spring to mind......Adrienne......the flight is nearly booked!!!

mborkow

the current thought is that an extended period of time is about 25 minutes (this stuff changes all the time though)

pcar964

It doesn't really matter WHAT exercize you do... if your goal is to lose 15 lbs, you need to burn more calories in a day than you take in. Pick your favorite activity and have at it!

Jack of Hearts

Windsurf--preferably in 20 knots and big waves.

Deanriffs

I run for 20 minutes and do 15 minutes of upper body free weights, both 3 times a week. This has been my routine for about 10 years now, and it's just enough to keep my weight down, posture decent, relieve stress and sleep well.

If it's really hot out, I might bike for 45 minutes or swim instead of the run to mix things up a bit.

Related to stress, work-related stress always impacts my diet. During busy times, I eat more junk and consume more calories. That is something to try to control, if you run a tight schedule like so many do these days. Sleeping well helps control the appetite also.

Hope this helps.

dhicks

Jack of Hearts....agree.....great fun and very calorific!!! But difficult to do here in MD..

jackb911

My fitness program: Girlfriend that is 14 years younger than me.
____________________
Cheers,

Jack
'96 993

Flying Finn

I play Ice Hockey twice a week and go to work with bicycle almost every day, and when possible, snowboarding.
And I do all kinds of house stuff: mowing the lawn & other,more heavier stuff that maintaining 70+ years old house needs.

And, I'm on a "Surfside Diet" which differs from popular "South Beach" diet in few crucial ways.

Little info of "Surfside diet":

Allowed food: potatoes, sweet potatoes meat, sausages (pork fat does rule!), dark rye bread (the real deal Finnish bread) all kinds of seafood , chicken, rice (brown and white), pasta, vegetables ice cream and other food that tastes and makes you feel good.
Allowed beverages: Beer, wine, diet sprite, water, Gatorade, Scotch, mohito and other drinks that taste and makes you feel good.

I love to cook and good food, to me they're more important than worrying about some pounds or about the fact that eating good stuff you'll day couple of years earlier.
Being grazy fat is a different thing though.

Key to me (and the main rule of "Surfside Diet") is this:

Eat and drink good stuff you really like but move your *** out of the chair often enough too.

And for the record, I'm 5' 7" and about 180 lbs (very rarely go on a scale, could be 175 or 185 but who the hell cares) and been that way for a long time.

Flying Finn

"Life starts at 20", right?! (or was it at 40?).

I still have my board but haven't been on it for years... Damn I miss it.

Joe S.

A lot, mainly the gym, weights/cardio, miss the Versa Climber a lot, that was the best piece of cardio equipment ever, snowboard, wakeboard and mountain bike. The key is consistency in activity and diet, and try not to keep starting and stopping. If you want to get a pretty decent book on diet and exercise try Hot Point Fitness, pretty basic info and you can follow it at different levels and it works.

Trader220

3 nights a week on the ice in leagues and sunday morning 7:30 am pick up at the rink ( keeps you in at a good hour the night before) all year long and I am 41!

sidned

Make sure you treat yourself once a week. As long as you eat right for the other 6 days and exercise (cardio is best) at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes or more you should allow yourself your favourite meal and a bottle of wine or a few beers one day. This gives you something to look forward to and is a reward for your will-power.

I also find splitting your main meal into two smaller ones reduces the inclination to snack later on. You have half the meal at your normal time and the other half an hour or so later. You eat the same amount of calories, and it's surprising how full you'll feel after eating just half your normal meal size. It takes 15 minutes for your body to realise it is full, so be patient!

Another good tip that has become habit is to fill my drawer at work with fresh fruit on a Monday morning and nibble away until it's all gone on Friday. It saves going to the vending machine and you can eat as much as you want. Also drink loads of water - bring a 2 litre bottle of spring water in every morning and glug away!

It's an eternal struggle, but if you adopt some good habits, it'll be automatic to eat right.

planeguy67

A few years ago, I weighed about 195 (I'm 5'9") and was looking at my first pair of size 36 pants. I said to myself, "THAT'S F$&*ING IT!!!! I'm losing weight starting NOW."

I blew the dust off my road bike and started riding. After about 1 year and 2,000 miles, I was down to 170 pounds and a size 32-33 waist. I got a new bike (a Specialized Allez Comp) and have put over 2,000 miles on it in less than a year including 2 century bike rides (100 miles in one day). I also started weight training. I'm now up to 182-185 pounds and my waist hasn't gone up a bit.

Besides the exercise, I do the following with my diet:
-Got smart about nutrition. Learn what all the crap on the food label means.
-Keep fats, especially saturated fat, low. That stuff turns to cholesterol, the bad kind.
-Avoid trans fats at all costs. That $hit should be banned. It kills your HDL (good cholesterol) The government now requires that it be listed on all labels. No more than 1 gram of that stuff a day if you can't help it. More than 1 gram??? You don't eat it.
-Eat breakfast everyday. I usually eat lowfat cottage cheese with some fruit, a PB&J sandwich and maybe an egg white or two.
-The rest of the day, be smart about what you stick in your mouth. Get the small burger or chicken sandwich. No mayo, maybe a slice of cheese.
-If you have to have fries, get the smallest size.
-Start every lunch or dinner with a salad. Romaine lettuce and spinach is better than iceberg any day. Easy on the dressing, too.
-Grab a box of raisins or fruit smoothie instead of a candy bar when you get the munchies. Don't want any freekin raisins or fruit??? Fine, get a 3 Muskateers bars (lowest in fat) and make sure it's the normal sized one. Share it with someone if you can (half the fat that way).
-Protein before and after a workout. I make an Oreo cookie protein shake after I get back from the gym:
--3-4 scoops of fat-free plain or vanilla frozen yogurt
--about 1 cup of nonfat skim milk
--one serving vanillla protein powder
--2 tablespoons ground flax seed
-----Blend until smooth, THEN add
--2 "Reduced fat" Oreo cookies (NO TRANS FATS) with the white goop scraped out
-----Quick pulse just to break them up and distribute them
--Drink and enjoy your super lowfat treat.