What about dieting but NO exercise ?

biddee02

I lost my initial 15lbs without exercising just by eating at a deficit. I was feeling so uncomfortable at 200lbs that I decided to try and lose some weight before starting to exercise, now that I'm down a bit, it's easier to move without that extra weight and am now exercising as well.

DancingMoosie

biddee02 wrote: »

I lost my initial 15lbs without exercising just by eating at a deficit. I was feeling so uncomfortable at 200lbs that I decided to try and lose some weight before starting to exercise, now that I'm down a bit, it's easier to move without that extra weight and am now exercising as well.

This is basically what I tell my friend. She and her husband are both very over weight, possible morbidly obese. I see what she eats, and she does eat healthy(at least at work). I know that neither moves much, but that it is also difficult and painful. I tell her to start slow and keep it short, and to use the elliptical or bike if treadmill is too much. The more you lose, the easier it will be to move, and then you can move more, and that in turn helps you lose more weight. And it just keeps adding up. Win, win!

SingingSingleTracker

greta7611 wrote: »

I know it seemed like a silly question, what with a calorie deficit and all. Just curious of the experience of others. I don't like to "exercise". I like to do something constructive that is exercise like cut the grass. I need ideas of things like that that will result in exercise by not calling it exercise.

Weight is lost in the kitchen, not through exercise.

Yard work, walking to get your mail, walking to the grocery store or open air market, cleaning the house, etc...all fit the bill of doing something constructive and you don't have to call any of it exercise.

clparton4

I had to take it easy with exercise at the beginning due to health reasons, but I made sure I was at least walking. I still walk almost every day and I do yoga 3 times a week.
I had to lose some lbs before I could really get moving with the exercise. YMMV.

Francl27

For me? It would have been absolutely impossible. Too hungry and there's just no way I'd last a month having to deprive myself of everything I love. Need the extra calories.

jgnatca

Getting more active was what I enjoyed the most about losing weight. I don't like exercising just for the sake of health, however. The activity has to have some purpose.

I lost my first thirty pounds when I was nearly completely sedentary.

Then I tried all sorts of activities to see what I liked.

I like Zumba, going on runs, Mud Hero, Pokemon Go, and my paper route.

I suggest you try all sorts of activities to see what works for you. You might put out flyers to mow your neighbour's lawns. Earn a little extra money and stay active at the same time.

sunnybeaches105

I would be uncomfortably hungry, lose muscle mass, and put my cardiovascular health into danger. But, yes, it can be done.

VeryKatie

Yep! I lost 20 lbs (of my wanted 30) that way. But I did lose my hamstrings (AKA muscle mass) too lol. Bye bye nice, shapely legs... hello months of weight lifting to get them back...

Wish I had understood and listened to my brother when he mentioned that could happen. But that was before my MFP days where I knew where to ask and what to look up to understand why.

laineybz

I lost my first few stones by simply watching what I ate and stepping on and off my Wii Fit board whilst watching TV.

grannynot

greta7611 wrote: »

I know it seemed like a silly question, what with a calorie deficit and all. Just curious of the experience of others. I don't like to "exercise". I like to do something constructive that is exercise like cut the grass. I need ideas of things like that that will result in exercise by not calling it exercise.

This is easy :-) There's an acronym called "N.E.A.T." - it stands for Non-exercise-activity Thermogenesis. In other words, ANYTHING you do that makes you move, burns calories. You can burn a remarkable amount of calories just puttering around the house; and then you can step it up a bit by adding to your routine. If you're walking up the steps, do a squat or two, or calf flexes. Do some curls with those canned goods you are putting in the pantry. Rake the leaves with gusto. Dance while cooking dinner. It all adds up.

nutty192

I am 74, and losing weight. I feel much better when I walk a bit, swinging arms and stretching, but I seem to go from one problem to the next. It started with sciatica, which kept me in bed for about 2 months. Then arthritis in my knee stopped me walking and swimming. That has now eased, and I am back to walking and stretching. What a relief! Back to dancing soon!

robininfl

I couldn't do that without restricting my diet to an unhealthy low number of calories. If very sedentary, knocking calories down to 1,200 wouldn't do much of anything according to internet calculators.

And throughout life I have found it easier and healthier to manage my weight by exercise than by tightly controlling eating.

People do drop weight when sick and bedridden if they can't eat so obviously it's possible. Not sure it's healthy, maybe if you are so fat it is harming your health then yes better to drop the weight even if by unhealthy means, because the resulting lower body mass will benefit your health more than the harm of losing through a damaging event?

cerise_noir

etruscansunited wrote: »

Lost 8kgs off 83kg within 8 weeks of starting ketogenic diet. Deliberately avoided exercise other than mild walking in order to remove one variable in order to demonstrate the effects of the macronutrient mix to diabetes educator and endo who had no idea of even the existence of ketogenic nutrition let alone the scientific basis for the physiology / biochemistry.

Two memes from publications in BMJ and other medical publications might help to start understanding this option (not a substitute for scientific explanation or personal medical advice):
1. You cannot exercise away a bad diet.
2. A calorie is not a calorie.

The latter refers to the different efficiencies and consequences of whether the fuel for your daily energy needs is stored-fat or stored-glycogen based.

Personally, since becoming substantially ketogenic adapted in under two months I have lost a lot of visceral abdominal fat that had stuck around for years despite exercise, reduced my waistline back to needing trousers stored away years ago, high blood pressure dropped to extent of nearly off meds, avoided all post prandial BGL spikes, avoided most risk of hypoglycaemia, sleep better, feel much better cognitively, eating more food including certain vegetables and expect in my next blood tests much better cholesterol levels and ratios.
I hypothesise that if I continue I will substantially reduce risks of cardio disease, strokes, retinal damage and kidney damage.

Eating is easier than before - in fact I now struggle to eat enough yet I continue to lose weight (fat not water). I have resumed brekkie after decades of skipping it. I have no need to count or restrict calories. I rarely carb count, causing much discombobulation among the type 1 diabetes health care providers. Eating is a pleasure after years of nightmare diet restrictions and calculations.
The food budget is better too.
Without going into all the adjustments, my only special efforts daily are to add flaxseed which I mill onto my food and a daily half teaspoon of a rather singular extra virgin cod liver oil. These are to maintain sufficient levels of omega 3 and aim as close as practical to a daily intake in a ratio of 1:1 of omega 3:omega 6.

Despite those two additional efforts, it has been a dream effort to lose fat and improve overall daily health and hopefully long term biomarkers.

All of the above applies generally even to those without insulin dependent diabetes.

If you wish to explore this, I suggest you initially ignore all fads, celebreties and other pop culture "experts". It might be better to start your exploration by looking into ketogenic diets for epilepsy, cancers, diabetes and athletes. That would tend to expose you first to a more scientifc foundation before having to filter the pop culture pundits.
By the way, "LCHF" and "low carb high fat" phrases are not rigorously scientific (why state what it is relative to a presumed bad diet?) nor does that concept comprehensively deal with all nutritional needs (protein, micronutrients, relative composition, hydration ...) but so long as you bear in mind its shortcomings it is helpful.

As always, your own particular condition must dictate your actual optimal nutritional needs.

But...a calorie is a calorie. a calorie is a unit of energy. Saying a calorie is not a calorie is just like saying an inch is not an inch or a gram is not a gram.

st476

I just recently started exercising (nothing too extreme, just walking) but I lost around 8 pounds without any exercise at all, which is good considering I didn't have too much to lose to begin with. I like being able to eat more calories with exercise though

RainaProske

I lost 123 pounds and exercised only once throughout the loss -- one time when I thought I would continue but didn't. Now, I am ridiculously weak and without muscle.

Someone up there ^^ said to exercise for strength. They are right. I fear that those who exercise for weight loss will be very disappointed, but if you want to get to the weight you want, and have the strength to enjoy it, exercise.

Sure, I did the yard work, walked, cleaned the house, lifted heavy objects, etc., but that was not enough. And I am paying for it.

BeverlyMarsh1986

Started a bit over a month ago and lost as much as you would expect in such a time frame. Haven't really exercised, because we have no space for equipment or exercise videos (I love those) right now and it's 100+ degrees outside with 100% humidity. I will exercise eventually, but so far so good.

JeromeBarry1

grannynot wrote: »

This is easy :-) There's an acronym called "N.E.A.T." - it stands for Non-exercise-activity Thermogenesis. In other words, ANYTHING you do that makes you move, burns calories. You can burn a remarkable amount of calories just puttering around the house; and then you can step it up a bit by adding to your routine. If you're walking up the steps, do a squat or two, or calf flexes. Do some curls with those canned goods you are putting in the pantry. Rake the leaves with gusto. Dance while cooking dinner. It all adds up.

Furthermore, myfitnesspal uses the NEAT calculation to determine your calorie goal for weight loss. Deeper in the weeds is the calculation for "net" calories burned in exercise, and there are enlightening discussions you can find here about that.

Christine_72

I'm curious to what people are classing as exercise?

When people say they do NO exercise, does this mean the usual sedentary level of under 5000ish steps a day and nothing else? Or are they doing plenty of walking around but not classing that as exercise..

When I first started i was in the zero exercise camp, i was lucky if i averaged 3500 steps a day max! Now i aim for 20,000 steps (15kms) 7 days a week. But some people wouldn't see walking as exercise.

I'm wondering if people think exercise and assume this means gym time, weights, gym classes or running/biking for miles etc

druidkat7

jgnatca wrote: »

Getting more active was what I enjoyed the most about losing weight. I don't like exercising just for the sake of health, however. The activity has to have some purpose.

I lost my first thirty pounds when I was nearly completely sedentary.

Then I tried all sorts of activities to see what I liked.

I like Zumba, going on runs, Mud Hero, Pokemon Go, and my paper route.

I suggest you try all sorts of activities to see what works for you. You might put out flyers to mow your neighbour's lawns. Earn a little extra money and stay active at the same time.

I'm kinda like this, too: not wanting to exercise just for health. I think it's a boredom factor. It's why I hate doing treadmills, step machines/step boards (the latter usually having some boring-a%$ cardio DVD to go with it) that go nowhere. If I'm going to do any kind of walking, I want to actually walk someplace and explore my neighborhood and my town up close and personal. I like strength training because I know it burns fat, but I also like the opportunity to test out my new muscle strength by lifting heavy stuff around the house while cleaning. And listening to music while exercising/cleaning is a no brainer.

Oh, and in January of this year, I added Tae Kwon Do to the mix because I always wanted to do that, both for self-defense, and for health. Best. Decision. EVER!!!!

Nikion901

Yep ... slowly but I'm losing. I believe this ... "You lose weight in the kitchen and you gain health in the gym"