How can I possibly lose weight?

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  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
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    I lost almost 60 pounds in almost 6 months without exercise. Just took commitment to learning how to feed my body.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    edited November 2016
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    I was confused about the same thing until I did a lot of reading and research using the Getting Started pinned threads. I had NO idea how to figure out what was a maintenance calorie setting vs. how to get that deficit. I also thought you had to exercise away 1500 calories to get it. I even posted an "am I doing it right?" thread because it's kind of a trick to get the hang of it.

    OP, you are not making excuses...hang around and we'll help you figure it out. I PROMISE you can do this without exercise unless you WANT to exercise. In fact, I set up my whole plan around losing weight if I did absolutely zero exercise because I am truly a lazy person. I do some (like, I walk my dog), but that's it, and I've lost 30+ so far. You can do it!!
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,986 Member
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    jigglyjones wrote: »
    Machka9 wrote: »
    You burn calories just existing.

    In order to lose weight, you simply consume fewer calories than that.

    Exercise just helps the process a long a bit, and makes things a little easier, but isn't necessary to lose weight.

    Ok, so I don't have to exercise and burn that many calories? How do I know how many calories I am burning? I've tried eating 800 calories before, but I didn't lose weight because I was in starvation mode. I don't know how to do this.

    I strongly recommend that you get a food scale and be sure you're choosing accurate database entries for the food you eat, because if you thought you were consistently eating 800 calories and you weren't losing weight, then, like many people, the methods you have been using to estimate the calories you are consuming are not accurate. There is no such thing as "starvation mode" in the sense that you are using the term (not losing weight because you are eating too few calories).
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
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    I lost 72 pounds without exercising beyond a little walking. There are other health reasons to exercise, but you don't need to for weight loss.
  • CurlyCockney
    CurlyCockney Posts: 1,394 Member
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    @jigglyjones As others have said, the calorie 'burn' includes those used just by existing. Having said that, if your back injury makes you less mobile than even sedentary allows for it's even more important that you calculate your input as precisely as you can, as you may not have the wiggle-room that more active people have. Weigh, on a digital scale, absolutely everything that you eat. Double check the food database entries that you use against the package or an external website (USDA or the manufacturer or store/restaurant for example). Keep to 1630 for 4-6 weeks and then adjust if you're not losing at the predicted rate.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    jigglyjones wrote: »
    I am very new to this site. It says I get 1630 calories.

    I've always heard that you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. I have a back injury and I can't really exercise, especially not enough to burn more than 1630 calories a day. So how the heck do I lose weight then? What can I do to burn that many calories? My doctor wants me to lose weight to help my back, but if I can't exercise, I'll never lose weight. I don't know what to do!

    You get 1630 calories?

    Eat 1630 calories

    End of
  • Kamperd
    Kamperd Posts: 10 Member
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    Have a proper diet, control the food you take and do swimming. It can help you lose weight easily while not sweating. Swimming in a pool will help you to avoid injuries because water will help you with your body weight.
    Last option is to do some walking for about 30 minutes-2 hours before the sunrise. Don't forget to drink more water before meal and right after the exercise, water is good to loose weight.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    jigglyjones wrote: »
    I am very new to this site. It says I get 1630 calories.

    I've always heard that you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. I have a back injury and I can't really exercise, especially not enough to burn more than 1630 calories a day. So how the heck do I lose weight then? What can I do to burn that many calories? My doctor wants me to lose weight to help my back, but if I can't exercise, I'll never lose weight. I don't know what to do!

    Eat 1630 calories. MFP gave you a calorie deficit without including any exercise. You do not have to exercise.
    Burning every calorie you eat through exercise would leave you no fuel for your daily life functions. You don't want to do that.
    If you do exercise with MFP you would log it and eat some of the calories earned from exercise. Most people only eat half to account for overestimations of calorie burns.
  • Kenda2427
    Kenda2427 Posts: 1,592 Member
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    You don't "need" to exercise to lose weight. You need to eat fewer calories and make wiser food choices.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
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    jigglyjones wrote: »
    I am very new to this site. It says I get 1630 calories.

    I've always heard that you have to burn more calories than you eat to lose weight. I have a back injury and I can't really exercise, especially not enough to burn more than 1630 calories a day. So how the heck do I lose weight then? What can I do to burn that many calories? My doctor wants me to lose weight to help my back, but if I can't exercise, I'll never lose weight. I don't know what to do!

    I finally just processed this.

    It's just backwards. the whole thread is based in OP just getting this backwards (well, wrong order, wrong counting word).

    You have to EAT FEWER than you BURN. Not "burn more than you eat."

    While it may seem like its two ways of approaching the same thing, its really not.
    "Burn more than you eat" makes you think you have to count what you ate and then exercise like crazy.
    "Eat fewer than you burn" emphasizes that you have to do the math on how many calories you burn per day (not just with exercise) and then keep your consumption below that.

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