Question about a diet
 

Just a quick question, does anyone know if it is possible to eat right and purely rely on your BMR to lose weight? In other words eating fewer calories then what your body would naturally burn. My step mums seems to be doing this with no exersise, just eating healthy and has lost 22kgs within about 3 months. I heard the "apparently" doing it that way attacks the fat where if you were to exersise you would loose it slower, because you gain muscle while doing it. Seems to easy to me, just wondering what everyone else thinks? Thanks

Monique

Yes, you will lose weight this way, no question. This is basically the basis for calorie counting.

However, you lose faster with exercise. If you gain muscle doing exercise, you're gaining 1, maybe 2 if you're working your butt off, pounds a month. If you exercise to burn 300 calories a day five days a week, you'll lose a little less than 2 pounds per month on exercise alone (a pound of fat = 3500 calories), so exercise wouldn't really slow your loss at all, and might actually speed up your losses. Lots of calorie counters do exercise for a lot of reasons, either to burn more calories or to become more fit or get a more toned body.

Maybe you could head over to the calorie counters forum to look around? Oh, and a word of advice on BMRs - most online calculators are WAY off. There are ways to get this professionally measured, but figuring out how many calories you can eat while still loosing weight is more a matter of trial and error, rather than entering your stats into an online calendar.

Monique, that is a good question. If the goal is to become more healthy and not just lose weight the answer is easy. Exercise and sensible eating are important to good health. Bottom line.

There are a lot of people who are not overweight who are also not healthy.

Please don't be worried about a slower course that builds muscle. Muscle is important for so many reasons. And as a bonus muscle really does help you burn calories just by being a part of you.

It is absolutely possible to lose weight without exercise. However, if you exercise, you will also be more toned. Ever seen a 130-pound woman who just looks flabby? Eeww! She may be thin, but she sure ain't pretty. With exercise, you will look much healthier even at higher weights. You're also more likely to lose inches even when you're not necessarily losing pounds on the scale. That means if you don't exercise and weigh 140, you may be a size 10, but if you DO exercise and reach 140, you could be a size 8 or even 6 ;)(just an example, of course, as I have no clue as to your height or build or whatever, but you get the idea)

Personally, I'd rather exercise and be thinner every step of the way than have to wait and lose another 10-20 pounds without exercise to be the size I want.

I have been 165 pounds without exercise...and I have been 165 pounds after two years of working my behind off with exercise (after starting at 211 after my second child) and let me tell you-you WANT to exercise. :lol:

You can lose pounds on the scale...but it is just a number. You can be any weight, really, and still be "fat" with little muscle tone. As in...flabby. You can also be 130, or 150, or 170 WITH muscle tone from regular exercise-and look fantastic.

Diet will help you to lose pounds, but exercise is what makes you firm and shapely. You will never have a "bikini body" without exercise...