I never used to see the need. I've always been slim, very active, and I have a small appetite.
- in fact, I didn't eat enough and got a bit too skinny…

But these days I spend all my work time in front of a computer doing graphic design. At home my art and all my other work (like DD) is all done on a computer too, so the same energy equation don't apply anymore:
- Without being active AND maintianing a healthy appetite I WILL put on wieght.
- Cutting back on meals is way too tricky of a ballancing act. Too much and you get too tried during the day and it affects your way of life.
- So the only sollution is regular exercise.
(Still, I tried eating less AND exercise and that really messed me up pretty bad. Don't do that.)

My exercise: Bicycle situps, squats and bicep curls with 5kg wieghts, and pushups. Usually about 150-120 of each, split up into smaller sets.

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So wht acivities do you do to stay fit and why? What works best?

I used to regularly and religiously!! Still do occasionally… But occasionally isn't enough… And you're right that if you don't regularly when you get older it will catch up! I'm still active enough (daily walks and physical outdoor activities on weekeneds) that it's not too bad (yet) but it is getting quite noticeable, and if I don't get back to regular exercising again…
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So many modern jobs require so much sitting down in front of a computer. I need to go back to lumberjacking! :D

It really depends on the time of year for me. I usually end up being almost completely sedentary during the winter because I hate the cold so much. I can never seem to motivate myself to get on the stationery bike…it's just so boring. As soon as the snow melts, though, I'm out on my bike every day. I would probably be a lot healthier if I didn't live in such a cold place.

@Kim- You'd think those sorts of walks would be enough? I hate the need for exercise, I'd rather be doing something more active… But i don't usually have the time.

@Hippie- The reverse is the case here: when it gets too hot you don't want to do anything at all. And even when it's normally hot any exercse turns you into a superheated balled of slimy, sweaty goo… I lower my amount of exercise in the summer or stop completely.
I WILL fix my broken down old bike up eventually and go riding again.

@Ozone: Yeah you'd think…! But the body does something both amazing and maddening at the same time…! The body hates to work any more that it needs to, so if you routinely do the same physical thing everyday (like walking at the same steady pace), your body sort of acclimates to the activity and figures out a way to be more efficient with it; save energy. In other words the activity stops being as good at burning off energy as you'd like it to be.
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So, you have to push the body differently, change paces, different inclines, keep the body guessing, not give it a chance to get used something and figure out how to do it in ‘gas-saving’ mode!
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Back in pre-modern times, it's easy to see how the body maintaining energy was a very good thing - key to survival even… but in the modern sedentary world - not so much…!

I like to bike or walk to work a couple times a week. I also practice yoga and martial arts, and I like to jog and snowboard occasionally. Sometimes it's hard to motivate myself to work out on my own, though. I do better when I have a workout buddy.

Hard mate.. My study subjects and my webcomic hobby completely waste my time.. But I do have exercise climbing hospital stairs up and down though haha

Kind of. Not exercise for exercise's sake. My current job is very physical, we are always walking around, climbing stairs, pushing 100+lb objects around – even if I wanted to add more I'm pretty exhausted by the end of the day.
When I was trying out full-time freelance art work, though, I made sure to walk at least five miles a day.

Pole dancing forms the core of my fitness program. I complement the pole with other modalities, such as yoga, partner acrobatics, kettlebells, hand balancing, and ballet. In my opinion, the most effective training modalities are those that 1) stress the body as an entire system (as opposed to isolative exrecises), 2) incorporate dynamic and unpredictable movement, and 3) force mental engagement. Almost all of the athletes whose bodies I consider aesthetically beautiful are engaged in skillsets that fulfill these criteria. For example: gymnasts, surfers, dancers, swimmers, rock climbers. In diet and exercise, research will be your most effective training tool. This can either be reading lots of books, or (in my opinion much more effective) taking group classes in a complex skillset. An effective fitness program should have three non- negotiable components in it: strength training, endurance training, and flexibility training. Think of them as a tripod: take any one of those components out, and the tripod will fall over.

I WISH I had some sort of skill set… but nope. I'd like to be a dancer but I'm pathalogically uncoordinated. My brain has far too tight a control over my body.