I didn't lose ANYTHING because I didn't exercise??

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  • Hi everyone. I'm just a bit frustrated this morning!! I had an insanely busy week. I work full-time and go to school nights (and the drive one-way is an hour), so as you can see I stay very busy. I was at school 4 nights this week so obviously I had zero time to work out! By the time I got home, it was SO late and I had to be up in hours to go to work and do it all over again. I did great food-wise all week, but I got on the scale this morning and I hadn't lost anything at all. I wasn't expecting a big loss, but just a little one! Not even that! I graduate in a little over a month so I'm excited to have more time to work out and stuff. The end of the semester is full of projects, papers, and presentations to prepare for so right now I guess I will just hope to not gain any weight until I have time to work out more often.

    Am I the only one who has to exercise in order to lose weight?? Not that I am complaining about exercising itself, I enjoy it, I just wish I had more free time.
  • I totally understand. I have to work out and watch what I eat religiously to see any changes! I work full time and go to school full time as well as volunteer my days off and mornings to ending domestic violence and sexual assault. I use to think that I needed more hours in the day to get everything done, its not true. Maximize time by making everything a workout. Walk more places! Eat more veggies! And you'll find if you take a look at your schedule that you can almost always fit in a 30 minute something... and if not? Then 15 is better than nothing! Chin up, girl, it can be done!
  • It's just a guess but I think because you are SO CLOSE to your goal that it will take a lot more to take it off. So yes you might HAVE to exercise to get rid of that last little bit.

    GREAT JOB of 52 lbs lost so far! That's awesome!!!!
  • I know that they say that it's mostly diet that will get the job done, but that's just not been true for me. Exercise has always been the key for me. Maybe if I was one of those girls who could get by on 1400 calories I'd be able to lose without exercise but that's just not been something I've been able to do.

    HOWEVER--it's possible that you might also just be hitting a plateau. Sometimes weight loss is like that; I recently spent 3 weeks at the same weight. So sometimes it's just the luck o' the scales; hang in there and keep doing all the right things and you'll start losing again. And like Reddalice says--even sqeezing in a couple of 15 minute sessions of something like walking can make a difference.
  • Even though you aren't exercising it sounds like you are really active working and going to school. Are you sure you are eating enough?

    Maybe you can try a workout DVD that's 20-30 minutes for when you are busy. something like Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred that packs a punch in 20 minutes.
  • If you have no weight loss after only one week, it could be ANYTHING! As we are very fond of saying around here, weight loss is NOT linear. You can do the same thing from week to week. Some weeks lose, some stay the same, some gain. While weight loss IS about calories in vs calories out, our bodies are pretty complex. We want to lose fat, but are composed of so many more elements. Frequently, water weight is to blame...

    But if you are talking more than one week (or two or three) then yes, you might have to shake things up even more to lose.
  • Yup, I have this exact same problem.... Hmm I think I'll take a day off and maybe have a pudding cup. What?! A two pound gain?? Frustrating.
  • Exercise is the absolute key to my success. When I don't exercise - it doesn't matter how much or how little I eat - the scale is NOT kind.

    Gotta make time in our busy lifes to include at least 20 minutes of cardio 5 days a week. It's the only way I can stay on track.
  • I just wanted to say I'm impressed with your loss with that kind of schedule. I did my last 2 years of my bachelor's degree at a pace like that (working full time, school full-time, driving round trip 2 hours a day). I wasn't good about my food and ended up at my all time high weight by the time I graduated.

    Congrats on your success, both with your weight loss journey and academics!

    ~Onyx
  • I know your pain. I'm at uni, working part time and have a medical condition to deal with too. Between the three, finding time to workout is very hard. I'm especially busy now I've got assignments to do.

    This all spells disaster as I don't lose weight easily if I don't get exercise. I either lose a minuscule amount or don't lose at all. If I lower my calorie intake I'm miserable. I don't really know if I have answer but below is what I've done.

    Part of my solution was to go with a couple friends to the gym. This allows me to skip some social outings etc., without everyone thinking I've turned into an antisocial hermit. I've considered waking up an hour early so I can get to the gym but I'm in the middle of a major sound complaint and I'm lucky if I get 5 hrs uninterrupted sleep. If I wasn't, I'd probably do this. Instead, on days or weeks that I knew I wouldn't be able to hit the gym, get off the tram a stop or two early and to go the long way 'round to my classes. I also take the stairs and lift cans of spaghetti or peaches while I do my readings for the week.

    It's not perfect. I know I don't burn as many calories as I do at the gym and my weightloss doesn't seem as much but it's better than nothing.

    MN.
  • Count me in the group "If I don't exercise I don't lose". If I don't exercise, I might lose weight, but it is VERY S-L-O-O-O-O-W. Music helps me with the workouts though; sometimes I will hear a song and it puts me in "the zone" so to speak, and it makes getting through my workout ten times easier.

    Congrats on your success, by the way! Great job!
  • interesting.. I guess I was hoping if I could get a hold on my over eating and pigging out I wouldn't have to worry about exercising so much. But exercise alone also won't make me lose weight without my eating being in control.

    It sounds more like 60% diet/ 40% exercise... but so many places on line say it's 85% diet... do yous think that info is false?
  • Well.... maybe it's true calorie wise (half an hour jogging only burns 300 calories, which isn't a lot of food), but since exercise also boosts your metabolism for the rest of the day, maybe it makes more difference than you think. And maybe people with low metabolism (such as myself) needs to exercise to lose weight, to get their metabolism going and lose weight.

    Just a theory..
  • I've started to realise that exercise may be much more important than I realise for my weight loss, now that I'm coming closer to my goal.

    I lost the first 50lbs of my weight fairly easily, at a fairly steady rate, without really exercising. For the first time, I've hit a plateau with my weight, and despite eating at a calorie deficit of around 500cals a day, I've been stuck at the same weight for two weeks. The scales have not moved a single pound, and this has never happened before. I've had a small amount of exercise, but I've not set out to exercise, if you know what I mean. It's just been brisk walking to places I've needed to go to. I'm pretty confident that this isn't enough for me anymore, and as I've lost more weight and become a bit fitter, I need to exercise properly.

    I don't have a great deal of difficulty controlling myself when it comes to diet. I don't really struggle with willpower too much, and I'm quite restrained even when there's plenty of unhealthy food about. Even when I've had a bad day, I haven't found it at all hard to get back on track. However, exercise has always been the thing I've struggled to do, which is silly, because when I'm exercising it's not as though I really hate it. It's just finding the motivation to start that is hard!

    Well done with your loss so far!
  • I'm going to chime in with Heather. It could be many things.

    A stall can have to do with food, fluids, salt, exercise, hormones ... and something we don't even know about yet. How does stress affect weight loss?

    You're doing fine. Stick to your guns. In a month when your load gets lighter, you'll be glad you did.