I am wondering how many of you are successfully losing weight through dieting without a lot of exercise?
Life has been really busy lately and I have not had a lot of time to exercise. I am honestly getting sick of it as well because of the pain I experience in my back and legs afterward ( I have several serious back problems). I am also finding that I generally eat more when I exercise so I am not sure its all worth it at this point.
My plan is it stay busy throughout the day and try to get in one or two 40 minute workouts in per week when I can. Once I am about 20 pounds from my goal I will start strength training and toning to avoid "skinny fat". Is anyone else following a similar plan?
I did this from October-February and lost 35lbs that way. I wasn't religiously calorie counting, but I estimated 1200-1800cal/day. That's a big range, but like I said, I wasn't counting and was just trying to eat healthier smaller portions. I actually started exercise and then plateaued. Once I started actually calorie counting and staying between 1200-1600, I started losing again.
So I definitely lost weight without much trouble through diet alone. And while I'm very proud of those first 35lbs that I lost, my body shape hardly changed at all. I was the same shape (same bulges, rolls, outline, etc), just a smaller version. This was unsatisfying for me. Now that I'm exercising, my shape has improved. I'm much more trim and firm and toned. Strength training has been the biggest help in this aspect, and of course, it's still a work in progress
You could still lose weight without doing exercise but as mkendrick mention above, but you have same bulges just smaller version of it. I would recommend that you try as you are going to see better results if you work out.
I personally don't exercise too much. I mean I don't do the whole put-in-a-DVD-for-30-minutes or go to the gym thing. I exercise like the French do lol....
I park my car 1/8 of a mile away at stores like Target. I run up and down the steps to carry groceries in even if I can carry the bags in one trip. I walk to my mom's fairly frequently which is 1.5 miles away, I walk to the shops when I don't have a lot to get which are 1/2 mile away. I swim a lot (I live in a warm climate). I go to nature parks and hikes and such with my hubby and child and we walk all day. We canoe, and ride bikes (well we need new bikes ours are shabby).
So I am moving, but I am doing things that are sustainable for me for life. I would love to add more strength training though
Right now it hurts to do anything more than a short walk, so I'm dieting without exercise for now. I've promised myself that after I lose 25 pounds, my short walk will get longer and longer. I know it's an arbitrary number, but I figure that 25 pounds will lead to some improvement of my joints and I want to start exercising as soon as possible.
I would love to be excercising, but I'm having some physical issues that are making it difficult. I herniated a disk in my back a few months back and it's been horrible. Anyhow, I've lost nearly 60 lbs with nearly no excercise. So, it's possible, but I do worry about having just tons of flab when I get to goal unless I manage to start excercising before then.
I've also lost 20lbs without exercising. I try to be as active as I can in my daily life but it is very hard to find the time to really exercise. I am still trying to lose but I know that exercise would help. So far so good thought with just modifying my diet.
I have lost my weight with very little exercise. I actually like exercise. However, I have a chronic ankle/foot problem that doesn't allow any weight baring exercises. It's even irritated with pool and recumbant bike. Phooey. I often have difficulties with mobility and use a 'scooter' at the grocery store, etc. For long distances, I have a wheel chair.
What I do now are a few stretches and strengthening exercises that were given to me by an physical therapist. I do them laying on a bed. No aerobics, though. I also do some arm weights. (not burning many calories in this )
Later this year I will most likely have a complicated surgery to try and mend/correct the problem.
Last edited by Beverlyjoy; 04-30-2010 at 09:32 PM.
I almost didn't start trying to lose weight because I felt that I was too stressed and busy to try to start. Last time I lost a lot of weight I was exercising a lot and really restricting my diet and I just couldn't imagine doing that. So I just started with diet modification and I've lost about 30 lbs so far! I haven't added any major exercise into my plan though as I get skinnier I feel like moving more (as odd as that may sound).
I calorie count everything I intake as best as I can (even my "off plan" meals). When my efforts stall, I have more time, or a burning desire to exercise I figure I can work it into my life. I too figure that once I get skinnier I might want/need to tone up my body more.
Thanks for the comments , as always
I am wondering about when some of you say that if you don't exercise you will lose fat but keep the same flabby shape. Are you talking about cardio exercise or toning? I have been doing some cardio but I am leaving the toning until later on because I need to focus on my numbers dropping on the scale for now. Just wanted to clear that point up so I know which exercise to focus on more
Thanks for the comments , as always
I am wondering about when some of you say that if you don't exercise you will lose fat but keep the same flabby shape. Are you talking about cardio exercise or toning? I have been doing some cardio but I am leaving the toning until later on because I need to focus on my numbers dropping on the scale for now. Just wanted to clear that point up so I know which exercise to focus on more
Don't delay strength training. Don't delay strength training. LEt me say that again - don't delay strength training.
You're looking to lose FAT, not muscle. You want to lose FAT not muscle. When losing weight it is inevitable that we will lose some muscle. We want to minimize that as much as possible. Don't delay strength training. Do it now. Yes, I'm being obnoxiously repetitive here.
Keep in mind that you will not only be more toned and smaller and narrower, but the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn just being still.
Don't let strength training scare you. Purchase an inexpensive resistance band. Take 15 minutes every other day to use it and amaze yourself.
So instead of focusing on the scale dropping like you mentioned, I would focus on the behaviors. The behaviors in turn is what will cause the scale to drop and for you to be smaller, more toned, fit and HEALTHIER.
Don't delay strength training. Don't delay strength training. LEt me say that again - don't delay strength training.
Keep in mind that you will not only be more toned and smaller and narrower, but the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn just being still.
So instead of focusing on the scale dropping like you mentioned, I would focus on the behaviors. The behaviors in turn is what will cause the scale to drop and for you to be smaller, more toned, fit and HEALTHIER.
Rockinrobin is exactly right. The more muscle you have the more fat and calories you burn, even while you are not moving! Strength training is really important.
When you start, you may see the scale stall for a week or two, but it is because you are losing fat but gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. Picture a blob of lard, and picture a same-sized blob of meat. Which weighs more? The meat. We want to be primarily made up of that meat - even while overweight. That means we are healthy and bonus - we are burning calories all the time!
Last edited by greenfishgirl; 05-01-2010 at 10:09 AM.
Reason: poor word choice
Rockinrobin is exactly right. The more muscle you have the more fat and calories you burn, even while you are not moving! Strength training is really important.
When you start, you may see the scale stall for a week or two, but it is because you are losing fat but gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. Picture a blob of lard, and picture a same-sized blob of meat. Which weighs more? The meat. We want to be primarily made up of that meat - even while overweight. That means we are healthy and bonus - we are burning calories all the time!
Well actually a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. And it usually takes women about a few months of strength training to start actually gaining any. But don't let that number scare you off. That's why we want to start NOW.
You *may* initially see a gain, due to sore muscles retaining some fluid. But you are not gaining any muscle weight in the first few weeks. If only. Because any weight gained due to muscle is a GOOD thing.
Here's a couple of good links to a strength training workouts - very simple, yet very effective:
I do believe you can lose weight very successfully without exercising. In fact, I lose "pounds" more quickly when I don't exercise.
That being said, I would strongly recommend exercise! I feel better when I exercise. For example, my energy level is higher when I exercise. With the proper amount and type of exercise, many of my aches and pains have gone away. My health (heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol) is better when I exercise. In terms of appearance, I think I look better when I exercise and I drop inches faster (when you are shrinking, who cares what the scale says? .
I would never stop exercising for the sake of losing pounds on the scale. My health is too important and exercise has so many health benefits.
Dieting without exercising?
)
.
