By: Ann Arbor News Staff
Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Study Sees Difference in Desire to Be Thinner vs. Desire to Be Healthier

Ann Arbor News, April 26, 2006

From the article:

A University of Michigan study of baby boomer women has found that those who exercise to lose weight or to become toned spend about 40 percent less time exercising than women who exercise for motives not related to achieving a certain body shape or weight.

The researchers say there seems to be a greater chance of maintaining exercise habits when the exercise is for a non-body shape reason, such as reducing stress or for the intrinsic enjoyment of the activity itself for social reasons...

"Don't take up running if you don't particularly enjoy running," says Michelle Segar, a U-M psychology researcher who collaborated with Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, former U-M psychology professor, and a colleague at the Institute of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Los Angeles. "You're better off to find something more pleasurable, like walking with a friend, or to do something you do like and will keep doing long-term as a regular part of your life."

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