You don't have to. I lost my first 15 or so pounds without exercising. But eventually you feel it's something you need to start doing, and you do. Or at least it seems like with most people that's how it happens. But no, you don't HAVE to. But you should.

But don't start off with too much too soon. I just wanted to get the hang of eating healthy. Once I felt I got that down, I started walking for 30 minutes 3 times a week. Baby steps :)

I wasn't able to do very much in the beginning so mostly I just used walking as my exercise. I focused much more on the food aspect. As I was able to do things like cardio and strength training I did, but for me I think that my food changes made the biggest difference.

I agree with Lori Bell 100%. Exercise doesn't have to mean you go to the gym two hours a day. Once I'm back to work, I would have to substract that time from my sleep, which isn't healthy either...

And it's not true that your body automatically burns muscle if you don't exercise! You burn muscle if there is no fat to burn anymore, or if you try to lose too fast.

I've exercised in the past, without watching my food intake, and I never lost even one pound. Now I'm watching my food intake, and not "exercising" the way some people here understand it, but not sitting on my behind all day long, either. I decided that this is a lifestyle I can maintain for most of my life - exercising a lot is not, because even after a year of doing it consistently, I still hated every minute of it... and the weight is coming off, slowly but consistently.

Most definately. I lost nearly all of the weight I did without doing any structured exercise. I only started doing 'light' exercise on the Wii Fit AFTER I'd lost over 100lbs. Now I'm maintaining however I do 4 one hour classess a week.

So yes I know it is possible to lose without exercise but to maintain? I don't think so unless I want to be very restrictive with my diet for the rest of my life.

Kitty

Like most are saying, it is definitely possible to lose weight without exercising. I personally have not, but as weight loss is all a matter of calories in versus burned, exercising is not necessary.

However, I agree that without physical activity of some kind, you simply won't be as healthy. That's not to say that someone is 300 lbs and can barely walk to their mailbox should start in at 60 minutes of cardio. I'm not even there yet. But at a certain point, I think most people should pick up and slowly build up their activity level.

I started the C25K (running program) almost by accident. I knew what the first week should be, and one day, on a walk, I decided to try it. I can't tell you how hard it's been at times... or how rewarding that has been. I have so much more energy and a spring in my step that I definitely didn't have when I was just walking. I used to hate exercise. Now it's kind of a love-hate relationship. :yes:

I lost my first ~60 pounds with no exercise. When things stalled out, I knew it was time to add it in.

When I started out, it just seemed too intimidating to try to change that much of my lifestyle. I wanted to focus on one thing at a time to build sustainable habits. For losing weight, diet was more important than exercise so I began with that.

The nicest thing about doing things this way, is that when I started exercising it was so much EASIER than I expected. I used to find physical exertion pretty miserable. With 60 pounds off my back, it was easier on my joints and I didn't get out of breath extremely quickly like I did before.

Exercise is a big part of my maintenance plan, but I'm happy I added it in later because I was able to stick to it better. If there's one thing I've learned at 3fatchicks, though, it's that different things work for different people and you must find what works best for you.

I have lost all of my weight with very little, close to no exercise. I have a mobility challenge. I do, however, do stretches and strenthening exercises several times a week. (all non weight baring)

I've been able to lose almost fifty pounds with very little exercise. I'm kicking myself since one of my excuses before for not starting a lifestyle change was that I didn't have time to exercise. I thought I would have to exercise and modify my diet to see a decent change.

When you don't exercise you really have to be more careful with calorie intake. As you have to be more careful with caloric intake you need to b more mindful of eating healthy, nutritious food.

I'll likely add more exercise at some point for my own health. But I am so glad that I just started with diet modification first. I proved to myself that I could see great results just by watching my diet. As well it was easier to adopt one large change at a time.

This thread is too old but the problem is the same till.

One thing that most people do when they want to lose weight is they stop eating. Not eating anything will not make you slim, but more fat. You will feel tired all day long, have no energy to work, also, you might suffer from depression. Therefore, skipping meals is a big no. What you need to skip is high-calorie food, sugary drinks, junk food, fried or packaged foods. These foods make you unhealthy and fat. Avoid pizzas, sodas, burgers, pastas, fries, etc. as they contain a lot of fat in them. These foods are hard to digest and will make you lazy.

So to get started with your weight loss journey, you can look into the below-mentioned points.

know the effect of the food you are eating on your body. You need to consume the required amount of protein, calories and carbohydrates
Unhealthy foods like pizza, pasta, burgers, soda, sugary drinks, junk food, etc. should be avoided.
Walking 30 minutes a day, every day will give you surprising results.
Eat something at an interval of every 3 hours in a day.
Make a habit of drinking 2 glasses of warm water in the morning on an empty stomach.

I frequently drop like 10-15 lbs in as little as 2 weeks, it's easy when you weigh 336, just need to quit drinking vodka sevens for awhile !

Alcohol is the main reason I'm fat, when I stop for awhile, the weight drops off like magic, 10- 20 lbs anyway in no time !

I always do this before I see my doctor to get under 24 stone.

I love her, she's like 75- 100 lbs overweight herself and can't get on my case too hard about my weight and waistline size

When I was in poverty (glad to say those days are behind me now), I lost weight spending most days in bed doing nothing. It was because I was eating less than my total daily energy expenditure still (which for me was probably around 1400 calories a day).

You can absolutely lose weight without exercise. Of course, it isn't necessarily advisable, being as of course exercise is good and healthy for you, but for as long as you are putting less calories into your body than you burn, you will lose.

Try to lose weight without exercise by changing in my diet that follows a weight-loss program incorporating whole-grain bread, cereals, and other foods to lose more body fat. Also include Low-fat milk and yogurt in my breakfast. Also, try a low calcium diet that helps to lose in a good way. Also go for a lean protein diet Good sources of protein, such as lean meats, eggs, and beans, help keep your blood sugar stable. The result you'll feel full longer and get a boost in energy and that will help you burn more belly fat.

Following things helped me in losing weight.
1-Taking 7-8 hours of sleep daily.
2-Eating healthy foods with low fats and rich in vitamins.
3-Removing stress from my daily routine.

Yes I have lost 25 pounds purely by changing my dietary habits.

yes it is possible to lose weight without exercise