Can I lose weight by diet alone ?

mrshazia

Hello Everyone

I am a mom of 4 and have very little free time to myself to workout. I do my house chores regularly everyday and unable to add any kind of exercise in everyday routine.
I am aiming between 1000 to 1200 cals a day . Past five days have not been good on my diet. But I am back on track.
Will I lose weight by only concentrating on diet or do I have a risk of losing muscle mass due to no workout?

I am currently 233 lbs with 5' 6" height. I lost 11 pounds and aiming for 180 pounds as my first realistic target.

Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thank you.

IsaackGMOON

First off, for a person of your size, eating 1000 calories a day isn't really a good idea at all.

To answer your question, yes, you can lose weight by diet alone. However, it's really not recommended. With weight loss, there is a chance that you will decrease lean body mass by not exercising... that's why people lift heavy during a deficit etc.

Azexas

Hi OP, Welcome!

No, you do not need to exercise to lose weight. All you need is a calorie deficit.

At 233 and being 5'6 you can most likely eat a little more than 1,200 calories a day and still lose weight. (I'm 5'6 also and eating 1500) If you set your MFP to 1 pound a week or 1.5 pound a week, it should give you a pretty decent daily deficit.

A couple links for you to check out to get you started:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

You do run the risk of lose muscle and fat if you are not exercising. Lifting weights is a way to help strengthen and preserve the muscle that you do have.

buffalobill41

You can but it will be much more difficult, to lose weight you just need to burn more calories than you consume. How old are your children? Assuming they're not infants it would seem there would be lots of opportunities to burn calories that you would not think of as exercise (chasing them around and such). But even with a busy schedule you could still find time to get some exercise in (you don't have to go to the gym) even just something as simple as squats or wall pushups or even just standing instead of sitting would burn calories. If you want to preserve muscle mass just make sure you're getting protein.

SimoneBee12

I agree with the other two posters, you could definitely eat more, I'm also 5"6 (closer to 5"7) and currently 222lbs, I eat 1500 each day, and I'm losing about 1.5-2lbs a week with little exercise. Without exercise, I'm at about 700 calories deficit a day, my TDEE is about 2200 give or take.

Merkavar

IsaackGMOON wrote: »

First off, for a person of your size, eating 1000 calories a day isn't really a good idea at all.

To answer your question, yes, you can lose weight by diet alone. However, it's really not recommended. With weight loss, there is a chance that you will decrease lean body mass by not exercising... that's why people lift heavy during a deficit etc.

Chance to lose lean body mass? Indy it more an unavoidable side effect of weightloss. Even if you work out and eat enough protein.

Op how old are your kids. Eldest old enough for baby sitting duty?

As far as I am aware exercise isn't needed for weight loss. But it helps. Let's you eat more and keep losing. Helps you maintain muscles as much as possible. Etc

Also 1000 calories is likely too little. Is that what mfp set for you?

schmearcampain

Sweetie, that is the ONLY way you can lose weight. Exercise is a very very poor way of controlling calories. That is, even if you exercise your tail off, if you eat too much, all the effort is wasted.

1000-1200 is far too low for someone of your current weight. Be realistic and make a change you can live with for an extended period. Something like 1800-2000.

LOG EVERYTHING into MFP. Get adequate protein and fat, reduce carbs to no more than 120g/day and you're golden. You WILL lose weight if you track your caloric intake.

Annr

Losing weight is a mental game: Change your mind. Change your body. Diet alone won't help you keep off the weight you lose. I understand you have limited time for yourself, but seeing that you are doing this program (MFP) for your husband sends red flags up for me. I was at 265 in 2009 and my husband said, "you look bad". I took it to heart and I just didn't explode and yell some quip at him. My brain heard it. So I had joined Jenny Craig. I lost weight, but I didn't LEARN anything. I learned that it was bloody expensive though haha. Until I realized that the only person I am losing some weight for is me, not my sons, not my husband, then I truely understood. So you learn not to settle. You learn that sometimes you need your time, even with 4 kids. If your husband is willing, let him watch the clan, and you go and walk. I have realized that I have to lose each and every oze I lose in my HEAD first, before it can truely stay off my body for good. Good luck and happy logging!

slucki01

Exercise isn't a needed to lose weight but, personally, I find that it helps. It allows you to eat more and maintain muscle which, in turn, helps you to burn more. However, setting your calorie goal so low will set you up to fail. Use MFP to help you set your calorie goals and you're more likely to be able to stick to this long term

boxfish100

Sending good thoughts your way because it is no joke to be running a household with 4 little ones. Please think about the advice above to raise calories to a deficit that you can sustain *happily* for the foreseeable future. You don't have to punish yourself to lose weight and get to the shape that you dream about . And exercise can be done in short, bite-size chunks and give you good results. Doing body weight exercises is a great way to start. Leslie Sanson walking DVDs are great too and available for free via YouTube. Your kids might enjoy doing those with you. Jillian Michaels' Beginners Shred is only 20 minutes long (!) and it provides a great workout (that one is not free but it isn't too expensive either). Finding silly stuff that you like to do can be a game changer, even if only in 10 minute chunks. I have a friend who takes half an hour every day to put on her favourite tunes and have a Disco with her kids, where they all dance like crazy and just have silly fun. This burns calories like crazy and the kids love it (they even bring their friends over for it LOL).

ttat0325

Losing weight is not a race, although you do have a goal, there is no rush to the finish line. No matter what you do, muscle loss is given during weight loss.

I'm not sure what MFP has adjusted your goal to, but you should be concentrated on losing max 0.5 kilos per week. You don't have to exercise to lose weight, but it helps.

BeautifulLoser1985

Just like everyone else said, you absolutely do not need exercise to lose weight. Years ago when I started mfp I weighed 180... I lost 40 pounds in just 4 months sticking (with lots of cheating on weekends lol!) to 1200 calories a day. I am only 5'4. I'm sure you need to up your calories a bit, but as long as for the most part you stick to it you will lose for sure. Once I got my weight down from eating a normal amount of quality, nutritious foods, I started exercising since it was easier then, I actually wanted to and was motivated to exercise. Once I lost some weight I had a lot more energy and definitely wasn't as lazy (tired?). You got this!!!

Liftng4Lis

Yes you can lose weight on diet alone. You need to eat enough to provide your body with nutrients, so you don't make yourself ill.

Bshmerlie

I'm 228 pounds and I'm 5'-5". There is no reason you should have to be eating less than 1200 calories. I can eat 1200-1400 and I'm losing weight rather quickly. You can still be losing 2 pounds a week and not feel hungry all the time. You don't have to exercise but if you do you can eat a bit more.

SLLRunner

mrshazia wrote: »

Hello Everyone

I am a mom of 4 and have very little free time to myself to workout. I do my house chores regularly everyday and unable to add any kind of exercise in everyday routine.
I am aiming between 1000 to 1200 cals a day . Past five days have not been good on my diet. But I am back on track.
Will I lose weight by only concentrating on diet or do I have a risk of losing muscle mass due to no workout?

I am currently 233 lbs with 5' 6" height. I lost 11 pounds and aiming for 180 pounds as my first realistic target.

Any suggestions will be helpful.

Thank you.

You need to eat more than that unless your doctor has put you on a strict very low calorie diet, and even then you need to be under doctor supervision.

To retain muscle mass while losing, you need to do some weight lifting. You lose quickly, you will lose both fat and muscle mass.

If your doctor has not put you on a restricted diet, you need to eat more.

If you doctor has put you on a restricted diet, talk to your doctor.

mrshazia

Thank you everyone!

My kids are 6 , 5, 2 and 1

I am mobile throughout the day and whenever I get some time I wish to sleep or to rest. I wake up sometimes during the night for attending to smaller kids.

MFP has set 1300 calories as my goal. I sometimes eat more than 1000 cals. I am trying to eat more eggs , fish, milk and other sources of protein. I am not sure how much it is helping.

I will definitely try to include a little bit of workout into my busy schedule.

mrshazia

Another thing is that I am a pre diabetic maybe.

My fasting blood sugars are always between 86 to 110.

My post breakfast or lunch is perfect within the range.

I am not sure how to control the levels in fasting. I tried rating only protein in the dinner. The level only drops to 86 not less than that. Sometimes it does increase but within 110.

My doctor declared me as a diabetic but I don't want to end up with pricking my fingers twice everyday and eating medicines for liver and pancreas. I showed her my monitored levels without eating the glybeuride. They were in range most of the times after I started dieting.

I am trying to lose weight to stay away from diabetes. Both my parents and their families have diabetic history.
I just want to break the history and stay away from it. Whatever it takes... dieting or workout or whatever !

I have been on a diet since April 18th 2015.

SLLRunner

Has your doctor diagnosed you with pre-diabetes? Not good to self diagnose.

You need to eat more than 1000 calories day.

mrshazia

No my doctor is adamant that I have diabetes and without the medicine my blood sugar will never stabilise
But last month after controlling my blood sugar with diet alone I showed her the results and she said to eat atleast half the dose of glybeuride just to be on the safe side. I am still not eating it. Still trying to control with diet.
I don't know if it is correct. But I want to still try by losing my excess weight and eating right. I want to excercise too but I have not been able to find some time to do that.

mrshazia

I wanted to add that I take my multivitamins regularly.

bkscott5

Yes you can I went from a size 14 to a 6 but it takes forever. I have medical problems so that's why mine is not from exercise. But just doing things with your kids & your house work can be exercise. Add ankle & wrist weights when your cleaning or even just when you are at home. My DD will stand up at work during a phone call & do some exercise & uses the wall at the copier for some others. I only had 3 but I worked full time, & we had 2-3 activities each night & both parents were involved at different levels with all the activities. So I remember 10 or 11pm & sitting in front of the tv & saying I just don't have any time to exercise. I did start doing something during all the commercials (about 8 mins in a half hour show & some standard weekly intros were over a min long). So I know you are tired & don't see any time but just adding something will help & some people say once you get into exercising you actually feel better & less tired when you do something. Maybe try & start with some leg & or arm small exercises every time you stand at the sink & wash your hands or brush your teeth, then add to other times like that. There are so many over weight kids in America now so teach your kids to do the extra movements to start them off with good habits. Good luck!