Totally get what you're saying! I've lost 40pnds by just counting calories and no exercise. I recently started walking because I want to build up strength and endurance. I have little ones and need all the energy I can get. Plus there are some activities I'd like to do with them this summer that will require strength, etc. However, I get the whole not needing to exercise to lose weight thing. Sounds like you're doing what works for you and have been successful! Wonderful!

Jen, I totally agree. My mom is overweight and hardly walks anyway. Just doesn't want to, which is fine, but she's older...so when she does become ill or if she were to hurt herself she'd have a harder time in recovery because she wasn't fairly strong to begin with. This was another motivator for me to start walking!

I think this is a great topic. I lost about 100 lbs as a teen almost completely without exercising. maybe a little walking, wasn't very consistent with it. I did weight watchers, and was on a 1200 calorie diet (back in the early 80s).

martini, we're about the same size.

I'm struggling a lot more now with diet, and I'm not going down in weight because of my lack of consistency. I consistently exercise, but am not consistent with my diet. there, I said it, and I'm not happy about that confession.

I personally love exercise, and built up over time. at my heaviest walking was not a fun thing, my legs would hurt, I'd get tired quickly. That's how I started, with walking, and home exercises.

My body is much different now. I do resistance, have worked with a trainer (he didn't torture me, but I will say the workouts were tough).

No one should feel ashamed about where his/her body is as a starting point. I went through a big mental journey both in losing weight, and incorporating exercise into my life. The first time I went to the gym, I felt extremely anxious, like I couldn't do it, wouldn't fit in, would be embarrassed. And that did not happen for me. I saw people of all sizes and in all conditions of fitness.

I think the positives of exercise are so many, that it's worth breaking through the mental blocks to get to the point where you can embrace and enjoy it. the truth is, as I got more fit, the easier it became to exercise, not totally/necessarily as I became smaller. it gives me a much greater awareness of myself physically, and does help me get back on track more quickly with the eating.

that said, I'm struggling with giving up eating the extra calories and goodies that would help me get this weight off!

I don't exercise. I do like recreational activity-I walk every day and I've just started jogging, but nah no exercise. I'll probably buy a pedometer to make sure I get at least 10K steps a day, I used to have one but I put it in the laundry.

in the past ive lost 40+ pounds without excersize .... im more active with evrey pound lost but i cant bring myself to go to the gym im not a hamster in a wheel
i need real life activities i clean my house more often i take myself for a stroll in the evenings to buy my favorite iced coffee or some other small treat ive budgeted for i like to go shopping more and a whole slew of other things but not excesize oh goodness no !! anything but !

I am on and off with exercise. If I force myself too much, I invariably quit, which is no good. So I push myself just a little, just enough, that I exercise regularly some months of the year, and not so much the others. In general, I exercise when I want to.

I don't exercise to lose weight (that's an uphill battle with little benefit unless you're exercising to the EXTREME). I do it to tone, to improve my cardio ability, to aleviate boredom, and for other health benefits.

I wouldn't exercise unless you actually want to (not like day by day, but in general if it's something you want to do for whatever reason). Maybe you'll do it later, maybe you won't. A lot of weight loss is eating anyway.

You cannot deny that exercise is good for your body and your health. If you do not like it and find it painful, try to find some form of exercise that you can enjoy. Maybe something as simple as walking a little in the evenings, or doing some arm exercises using a gallon of milk as a weight.
Can you lose weight without exercising? Absolutely. A few years ago I lost a significant amount of weight by cutting carbs. I gained it all back, but that's another story for another time.
I love exercising, and I wish everyone could find it as enjoyable as I do. It's really hard to get motivated to go to the gym. I am constantly looking for excuses and reasons not to go, but after I do go I feel so much better!

I used to think like this. I lost a lot of my weight only walking (though, I guess that counts as exercise...) but I'm learning that there are benefits of exercising that FAR outweigh the weight loss.

I do it for my heart health. I do it to be strong. I do it to look as good out of my clothes as I do in them . There are VERY valid reasons to move your body.

This is a great thread and came just in time for me, for I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks, now.

I've lost almost 70 lbs without exercising over the past couple of years. I was feeling guilty b/c I was an exercise fanatic when I was young and it was ingrained into my brain that I couldn't lose weight without it. However, like others stated exercise just makes me ravenous and I eat more. I will say that now that I'm at a lower weight and my joints don't ache as much I enjoy walking more and will most likely become more active as I continue to lose. I like hiking in the mtns so that will probably be the way to go for me.

Thanks for helping me feel less guilty about this issue. Some folks look at you like you've lost your mind if you mention that it is indeed possible to lose a great deal of weight without exercise, and y'all have helped me see that I'm not!

Ellie