A typical dropout rate of 50% has been observed for exercise programs in general. Maintaining exercise is even more difficult in older women, who have not been socialized into physical activity.

With funding from the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, Dr. Elizabeth Ready and her team from the University of Manitoba monitored the extent to which older women with high cholesterol continued to walk regularly for a one-year period after completing a supervised walking program.

Each of the 29 participants received three follow-up questionnaires, sent 3, 6 and 12 months after the supervised program. In total, 21 women returned all three questionnaires. They recorded the number of days walked, the duration per day and the average heart rate while walking for the previous seven days. They also provided reasons for maintaining or not maintaining a regular program of walking.

Results show that after 12 months, one third of the participants continued to walk for more than four hours per week, 50% walked from two to four hours each week and 20% had quit walking. The decrease was primarily the result of a decrease in the frequency of walks every week (which dropped 33%) rather than the duration of walks (which dropped only 11%, from 54 to 48 minutes).

When asked what kept them walking regularly, the participants cited feeling better or less tired as the principal reasons. Encouragement or positive comments from others also provided incentive, as did looking better, self-motivation and habit. Less important were the walking study, physicians' advice and weight loss. Reasons for reducing the walking program revolved around lack of time, injury and lack of energy or motivation.

Dr. Ready and her team point out that registration in a supervised study may provide the incentive or feeling of obligation necessary for older women to put family demands aside temporarily and do something for themselves on a regular basis. Among the reasons for not walking were "selling the house," "baby-sitting grandchildren" or "helping husband with the business." It may not be lack of self-discipline so much as lack of emphasis on self that kept many women from continuing to walk regularly.

Here are some tips to keep exercising through thick and thin:

• Try to be active every day. Frequency is key to reaping health benefits. It also creates momentum for further physical activity.
• Select an enjoyable activity and focus on the sensations of feeling better and less tired.
• Consider a supervised program. Besides the social aspects, the structure of a program may help you to set aside some time for yourself in order to stay active.