4-5 hours a week? 2 hours a week even. depends on what you are doing i guess.

"Stay healthy"

"Stay in the game"

I think these are different goals.

For the first, 30 minutes a day.

For the second, it'll be more. Maybe even much more. But that doesn't mean that it has to BECOME your life.

As for how skinny... Man, what a loaded question.

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15 minutes of exercise for every beer you drink should keep you heathy!

I agree with these guys. You have to think in terms of base / maintenance and then some kind of periodized plan specific to your periodic goals.

For maintenance, an average of 30 min of moderate aerobic activity daily, some strength training and maybe one hard workout a week (tempo or greater) to stay sharp. That's 5 hrs a week maybe. Certainly manageable on a real person's year-round schedule.

The way to fit in the fun challenging stuff without letting it take over your life is to plan for it and train accordingly when it fits in with your schedule. So not during annual report season or school play season or whatever your priority dates are. For a half marathon coming off a decent base maybe you'll only need a 12 or so week build to make for a strong effort and still minimize the damage on race day.

The standard skinniness recommendation (currently - subject to change at any moment along with the food pyramid) is to keep your BMI under 29. Under 25 is even better.

I'd shoot for 10-15kcal per kg of bodyweight. I think around that point is where the diminishing returns are starting to become a factor for people with "lives".

[quote]Similarly, hopw skinny do you need to be in order to stay healthy[/quote]

i was taught (by my trainer, back when i had one) that 8-20% bodyfat is "healthy," 9-12 optimal.