275 Minutes a Week: Weighing the Need for So Much Exercise

what's the point?

I agree with the first commenter who wonders why dedicate your life to being miserable. Personally I have no athletic ability -- I am clumsy and uncoordinated and I have poor eyesight, which makes me truly terrible at all sports -- and I'm just bored out of my skull by rote exercise like treadmills and bikes. I also enjoy good food. It is one of life's great pleasures. I can't stand the women I know who are exercise fanatics. All they do is pick at their dressing-free salads and talk about their perfect children and their workouts. Yes, unlike those women, due to my sedentary calorie-rich lifestyle, I am about 40 pounds overweight. I have tried every diet known to man (and woman) but can't stick to any of them. I have joined and quit more gyms than I can count. Based on the studies I have read, I will probably always be overweight. I am 42 years old. How likely is it that I will change my habits? Statistics say it's highly unlikely. Maybe if I really, really struggle and am miserable all the time, eat what I don't like, spend my time doing things I don't enjoy, and socializing with people who bore me to tears, I could lose 10-15 pounds and maybe keep it off for a couple years. Sounds great.

Oh dear

So this is what we're doing with our dedicated tax money towards research?

And to top it off, it made the news!

Give me a grant and I'll give you something worthwhile.

Depressing.

exercise

This lends credence to the thought that people who want to achieve a specific health goal just might be able to do it without the pharmaceutical industry or universal health care. Exercise may be miserable for some, perhaps depending on attitude, but others who try it may find it quite enjoyable and the achievement very satisfying. I find that i can eat both for health and for pleasure and thoughts of the donuts i used to love now disgust me. there is probably a high degree of positive reinforcement for whatever it is we eat. That may be a reason it is hard to change eating habits but after doing so the experience is likely to be quite different and pleasanter than one might have expected. As far as finding the time, how much time does the average person spend watching TV, playing video games, etc. Those who exercise don't have delusions about living forever, they just want life now to be better and healthier and more functional twenty years down the road if they are still alive.

Happy workouts!

Weight Loss in General

This all just goes along with the kind of bad news that 'starvation' level is good for longevity. So intensive exercise is necessary for weight loss and maintenance.

My only comment is, why want to live so much longer if, in order to achieve it, you have to be totally miserable?

And don't tell an non-exerciser that exercise isn't miserable....I don't want to hear it.

I think I will eat enjoyably, be VERY pleasingly plump, moderately healthy (bloodwork is fine) and not worry about living forever. Or about being fat.

Thanks!