Hi, how much exersice are people doing? And how often?

Hello.. I am 14 months post op. I do 45 minutes a day on the elliptical at the highest level, highest incline. I do this Mon-Fri, I take the weekends off. Here in Maine it's difficult to get out in the winter months. I was doing weight training 3 times a week, but due to a neck and arm injury, I've stopped that for awhile. I try to burn 550 calories each day. There are days it take me 42 minutes and days it takes me 45. There are also times that I'm happy to stay on until I burn 600 calories. I am older than a lot of folks here and feel that's all I can give right now and feel HAPPY doing it. I use the elliptical as my diabetes prevention med. It also sets my attitude for the day, making a stressful day seem easy.

I heard on the Biggest Loser something that was profound for me. If you were diagnosed with cancer, would you get up each day, head to the hospital five days a week and have your treatment in hopes of saving your life? YES! would be my answer. Then those mornings I'm tired and want to just stay in bed, ( I do this at 4:30 am.) I remind myself, this is my high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol prevention treatment, I MUST get up and prevent myself from dying by those diseases. So I do it,

even with my eyes closed at times. :-)

At a support group meeting I went to recently, the doctor was discussing maintenance and said that we should do a minimum of 300 minutes of "purposeful exercise" a week. It doesn't necessarily need be done at a gym, but he mentioned gardening, walking the dog, golfing, etc.

160 minutes a week is what the NIH recommends. But your doctor will know best