I'd been running for 35 years, recently stopped due to lower back issues. Now I use an elliptical trainer, and in three months have gotten much better results as my BP indicates.
I figure its because its much easier for someone my age to ratchet up the intensity on the elliptical than it is actually running. Its a better workout.
I retired over five years ago and almost immediately started in on the treadmill down the basement three-four times a week, 2-2 1/2 hours a crack walking 8-10 miles. I didn't lose any weight. In fact I started gaining weight. Why was that?
Because when I retired I didn't cut back on the calories. So despite three or four exhaustive exercise sessions a week, I was gaining weight.
Now in the last three months I've cut back on the evening snacks and am finally losing the weight again.
My theory is that is you can go hungry four or five hours a day, you will lose weight. My best time to go hungry is the four or five hours before I go to bed. I don't go to bed starving, but I am somewhat hungry.
The trick, of course, is to keep doing it. Trying not to grab a snack to satisfy a little hunger before bedtime is not easy for me.
But if I can forgo the evening snack, I feel better about myself in the morning. And it is working. Slowly but surely. I do walk either on the treadmill or outdoors but not nearly as long as I was when I first retired.
The combination of moderate exercise and forgoing evening snacks works for me.