Can one really lose weight without exercise???

cbstewart88

I don't believe it is possible for ME, at least, to lose weight without exercise. I am a 5'4" 62 y/o female who started MFP at 182 lbs and is now down to 142 lbs. I have about 10 lbs to go.

I have a Fitbit Charge 2. On the days I do not exercise, but take a "rest day" i.e. just go to work or do errands - I only burn 1200-1300 calories in a 24 period, according to the Fitbit. If the least amount of calories I can "reasonably and safely" take in in a day is 1200 - then I will obviously not lose weight unless I add exercise to my daily regiment, which I do.

So I have pretty much accepted the fact that I cannot expect to sit on my butt, eat 1200 calories a day and expect to lose weight, or even be able to sustain that lifestyle indefinitely. I must exercise most days to continue my weight loss, then maintain it.

Any thoughts on this? Am I missing something?

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Have you set your stride length right in fitbit?

BMR would be around 1300, so eating at 1200 would still give you a deficit.

jgnatca

I started out at the same size as you and I lost my first thirty pounds on diet alone. The calories were pretty skimpy but it can be done.

cbstewart88

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Have you set your stride length right in fitbit?

Sedentary BMR would be around 1300, so eating at 1200 would still give you a deficit.

Yes, stride length is correct. However, the point I was attempting to make is: if sedentary BMR is around 1300 - it is correct that eating at 1200 calories/day would still give me a deficit - albeit a very tiny one. I don't believe I can eat at 1200-1300 calories/day every day for the rest of my life. So the kicker is - if I want to up my calories, even a bit, I MUST exercise.

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malibu927

cbstewart88 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Have you set your stride length right in fitbit?

Sedentary BMR would be around 1300, so eating at 1200 would still give you a deficit.

Yes, stride length is correct. However, the point I was attempting to make is: if sedentary BMR is around 1300 - it is correct that eating at 1200 calories/day would still give me a deficit - albeit a very tiny one. I don't believe I can eat at 1200-1300 calories/day every day for the rest of my life. So the kicker is - if I want to up my calories, even a bit, I MUST exercise.

BMR is what your body burns just by living. It doesn't incorporate the activity you do throughout your day, so the calories burned from Fitbit should be higher (provided you're wearing it 24/7).

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

cbstewart88 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Have you set your stride length right in fitbit?

Sedentary BMR would be around 1300, so eating at 1200 would still give you a deficit.

Yes, stride length is correct. However, the point I was attempting to make is: if sedentary BMR is around 1300 - it is correct that eating at 1200 calories/day would still give me a deficit - albeit a very tiny one. I don't believe I can eat at 1200-1300 calories/day every day for the rest of my life. So the kicker is - if I want to up my calories, even a bit, I MUST exercise.

But your TDEE would be higher than that, around 1400.

Any deficit is a deficit you just have to commit time wise.

It is obviously easier to stick to if you burn off more calories allowing you to eat more, but you don't have to and you CAN lose weight without exercise. Which was your question.

cbstewart88

Malibu927 - I am wearing my Fitbit 24/7. Yesterday I took a "rest day." Did not exercise. My total calories burned was 1298 for the 24-hour period. I have been wearing it for 7 months - and this is typical. Is the Fitbit giving me erroneous information???

JeromeBarry1

Try the experiment of eating at a 250 calorie deficit for a month, neglect exercise, and see if you lose a couple of pounds. It has worked for people and the only thing standing in your way is your own willingness to eat at a small deficit.

I also exercise and eat more. I've not tried the experiment of eating at a small deficit for a month. Still, my paraplegic wheelchair-bound friend on here cannot exercise and has lost 200+ lb by learning to eat at a small deficit and being patient with the math. It'll work the same way for any of us if the math and the patience are together.

jgnatca

My resting daily calorie expenditure is 1650 calories. I'm 5' 4", female, fifty-something.

Machka9

cbstewart88 wrote: »

Is the Fitbit giving me erroneous information???

Possibly.

I've read articles that seem to indicate the Fitbit isn't necessarily the most accurate piece of equipment.

I'm 5'6" and my maintenance amount with no exercise seems to be about 1500 cal from experience (not Fitbit or anything else). You're not that much shorter than me, so I'd venture a guess your maintenance would likely be in the 1400-1500 cal range. Therefore, if we have days less than that ... we lose weight.

I can lose weight fairly comfortably on net 1350 cal and more quickly on net 1250 cal.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Machka9 wrote: »

cbstewart88 wrote: »

Is the Fitbit giving me erroneous information???

Possibly.

I've read articles that seem to indicate the Fitbit isn't necessarily the most accurate piece of equipment.

I'm 5'6" and my maintenance amount with no exercise seems to be about 1500 cal from experience (not Fitbit or anything else). You're not that much shorter than me, so I'd venture a guess your maintenance would likely be in the 1400-1500 cal range. Therefore, if we have days less than that ... we lose weight.

I can lose weight fairly comfortably on net 1350 cal and more quickly on net 1250 cal.

Mine over estimated the first month I had it until I got the walking inches and running inches set right. It's been almost spot on ever since. (2 years now)

cbstewart88

Thank you all for your input. My conclusion is: thank heavens I like to work out. It makes all the Fitbit bro-ha-ha moot...

JeromeBarry1

cbstewart88 wrote: »

Thank you all for your input. My conclusion is: thank heavens I like to work out. It makes all the Fitbit bro-ha-ha moot...

Ain't that the truth! Yesterday I finished my second kick-*kitten* cardio session and proceeded to bake brownies, which I had with ice cream, and then this morning logged a 3 lb loss.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

cbstewart88 wrote: »

Thank you all for your input. My conclusion is: thank heavens I like to work out. It makes all the Fitbit bro-ha-ha moot...

And able too

spiriteagle99

If you can exercise, why wouldn't you? Not just to be able to eat more, but because it makes you feel better, helps keep your heart healthier, maintains your muscle mass, and elevates your mood. Some people can't exercise, but if you can, there are a lot of good reasons to do it and few not to do it. If nothing else, those who successfully maintain weight loss over time usually exercise an hour or so a day. Having worked hard to lose the weight, don't you want to keep it off? That's a lot easier if you already have the exercise habit.

cbstewart88

spiriteagle99 wrote: »

If you can exercise, why wouldn't you? Not just to be able to eat more, but because it makes you feel better, helps keep your heart healthier, maintains your muscle mass, and elevates your mood. Some people can't exercise, but if you can, there are a lot of good reasons to do it and few not to do it. If nothing else, those who successfully maintain weight loss over time usually exercise an hour or so a day. Having worked hard to lose the weight, don't you want to keep it off? That's a lot easier if you already have the exercise habit.

I agree 100% spiriteagle99. I exercise for all the above reasons, but primarily because it just makes me feel wonderful.

AJ_G

Can one really lose weight without exercise???

Yes

roadkit

The question isn't could you, but why would you? There are so many more benefits to daily exercise than just losing/maintaining weight.
Don't link your daily walk (or whatever activity you enjoy) to just losing weight. Enjoy being outside, enjoy how it makes you feel.
Keeping your weight at a manageable level is just a positive byproduct.

ninerbuff

You don't have to increase "exercise" per se, but just your overall physical activity. More standing than sitting, park further away from destination, climb stairs instead of elevator, etc.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

TeaBea

cbstewart88 wrote: »

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »

Have you set your stride length right in fitbit?

Sedentary BMR would be around 1300, so eating at 1200 would still give you a deficit.

Yes, stride length is correct. However, the point I was attempting to make is: if sedentary BMR is around 1300 - it is correct that eating at 1200 calories/day would still give me a deficit - albeit a very tiny one. I don't believe I can eat at 1200-1300 calories/day every day for the rest of my life. So the kicker is - if I want to up my calories, even a bit, I MUST exercise.

BMR (basal metabolic rate) is you staying in bed all day. Being active (even sedentary) gives you calories above and beyond 1300.

The number you need a deficit from is TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) : http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

ryenday

I just laugh at the 'you don't need to exercise to lose weight' crowd. Short women have to exercise to lose weight unless they eat at dangerously low caloric levels. ( especially older short woman ) Experience shows me my TDEE currently without exercise is around 1400 or lower. And that will only get worse (lower) as I continue to lose.

Theoretically I could lose 1 1/2 pounds a month (20 pounds a year) by lowering my intake to 1200, perfect measuring and logging, no cheat meals, no diet breaks, etc. To achieve that I would have to be perfect and miserable for two and 1/2 years to reach the midpoint of normal weight for my height.

Realistically, being an imperfect human, if I want to lose weight, yes, I have to exercise, and exercise a significant amount.

Duck_Puddle

Theoretically it is always possible. Any calorie deficit will result in weight loss. Whether or not it is realistic and sustainable is an entirely different matter. If you're smaller/older/less active and have a lower TDEE and need to eat 1200 calories to have a deficit, is it reasonable to assume that you can eat a nearly perfect diet to ensure proper nutrition, weigh and measure every morsel of food because there's minimal room for logging error (on top of the potentially 20% error on nutrition labels), always feel satiated on minimal food and never choose to indulge in "treats" that really don't fit into that lifestyle? Reasonable? Not in my opinion. Possible, but I couldn't do it. Kudos to anyone who can. That doesn't mean you have to workout like a fiend. Just being active in any form increases calorie burn. But being active is what makes it possible for me to maintain the deficit I need to maintain in order to lose.

yirara

Do you have a fitbit with HR sensor? If so it's very possible that your maximum heartrate is fairly low. This means that the fitbit only registers a very small heartrate increase when you move around and thus gives you less calories. Not being so tall and already fairly light, and your age unfortunately plays a role in that. But if you're fitter and stronger than most people at your age then your calorie burn will be higher than what fitbit gives you. Mine is off by quite a lot, and I only use it for general data nerdery.

canadianlbs

cbstewart88 wrote: »

So the kicker is - if I want to up my calories, even a bit, I MUST exercise.

i had trouble working out what the point of the thread was, but if it's this then i guess that the answer is 'sure'. ignoring the specific numbers involved, you're basically saying 'if i want to eat more than i burn, and yet i stlll want to lose weight, then i need to burn more'.

idk what there is to say about that, really. it seems sort of self-evident, or maybe i'm the one who has missed something here. the rest of it seems to be just about what those numbers might actually be.

Tabbycat00

I wouldn't put my trust in any electronic device completely. My first fitness tracker was a Fitbit & if I had eaten what the Fitbit said I could to maintain weight, I would have starved to death. It came back with something like 800 calories. Later, I wrote a review on Fitbit for a tech magazine and I contacted the company regarding my low calorie burn; they confirmed that it isn't an exact science. More recently I did the same experiment with an Apple Watch which came in with a more realistic number. Throughout both I ate the same amount of calories and maintained my weight despite both devices saying I "should have" gained at least a pound. I would take rest days as needed, keep counting calories and logging your food. Use the fitness tracker as a guide but not a definitive answer on calories burned. And, congratulations on how far you've come.