When most people in their 40’s and 50’s look at pictures of themselves when they were in their twenties, they not only notice how nice and smooth their skin was, they also usually notice how much trimmer they were. The average person gains one pound  a year between the ages of 25 and 55, resulting in a weight gain of 30 pounds!

A new study published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association followed 34,000 women starting at age 54 for 13 years.  Only those women who did 60 minutes of exercise daily were able to maintain a healthy body weight defined as a body mass index less than 25.  (You can check your body mass index in the Tools section of my website).

This study doesn’t tell us how much exercise younger women need to maintain their weight.  And other studies have shown that men typically require less exercise to maintain body weight (perhaps because they have more lean muscle mass which burns more calories even at rest).  We do know the federal government recommends a minimum of 150 minutes per week to lower the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer. And they also recommend at least 300 minutes per week to lose weight or maintain a weight loss.

The women in this study were averaging over 400 minutes per week–that might seem daunting, but remember exercise is cumulative. You don’t have to do 60 minutes all at once: a twenty minute walk on your treadmill in the morning, a twenty minute walk at lunchtime, and a twenty minute walk with your dog in the evening works too!