Lose weight without being active

Chic_geek31

I am currently 194lbs 5’5. I started dieting 3 weeks ago. I have lost about 3 lbs in total. I am eating 1200-1400 cals a day. I am mostly sedentary. I do not exercise. This week I didn’t lose any weight and I feel like I’m starving myself. My goal is to lose 1lb a week. Am I being unrealistic?

wunderkindking

Yes,, but not because you have to exercise to lose weight. I am the same height, started at 190 and didn't intentionally exercise until I'd lost 30lbs. Then, not surprisingly, I got more active because hey it's a lot more fun to exercise when you're not as heavy, but even so I lost that 30lbs with no exercise and I eat probably 75% of my exercise calories back anyway.

What is unrealistic is expecting to lose weight every week. Unfortunately, that isn't how it works. Sodium, how much food is in transit through your system, stress, sleep, travel, soreness, hormones if you're a woman with a cycle, and other things all lead to water retention and that means scale weight doesn't drop even with fat loss going on. Stay steady, it'll let go eventually.

Weight loss isn't linear. Unfortunately you'll even see the scale spike up some pounds sometimes. Gotta learn to just look at an overall trend, and not take the weight on the scale too seriously. If you're doing what you're supposed to do and on track the scale will catch up. Don't worry until you've spent a month without the scale dropping.

janejellyroll

Expecting to lose a pound a week, every single week, regardless of what else is happening in your life or body isn't realistic. Weight loss isn't linear like that, even when you're doing everything right.

NorthCascades

My weight any given day is basically random. Long term trend is down. That's how it works for everyone.

cwolfman13

Chic_geek31 wrote: »

I am currently 194lbs 5’5. I started dieting 3 weeks ago. I have lost about 3 lbs in total. I am eating 1200-1400 cals a day. I am mostly sedentary. I do not exercise. This week I didn’t lose any weight and I feel like I’m starving myself. My goal is to lose 1lb a week. Am I being unrealistic?

Yes...you aren't going to lose weight every single week...it's not a linear process or some kind of exacting science. The human body is far more dynamic than people seem to realize. Weight management is ultimately about long term trends...individual weigh ins are just data points along a much longer trend line that needs to be analyzed. Three weeks is also not a significantly relevant period of time for trend analysis. Losing weight is a slow process and requires patience and consistency over the long haul.

Shy_Yogi

What everyone else said. And yes, you’re right. It is very realistic to lose weight without exercise. If you feel like you’re starving try eating more low calorie high density foods (veggies, whole fruits, protein, etc) to help satisfy your hunger.

ChickenKillerPuppy

Chic_geek31 wrote: »

I feel like I’m starving myself.

This is the part that concerns me. If you feel like you are starving yourself, you are not going to maintain this for very long. You need to eat at a level that is sustainable.

I’m guessing you don’t want to hear this advice, but you might want to switch your MFP goal to .5 pounds a week so you can eat a little more. It will take longer to get to your goal but that is better than feeling like you are starving yourself, quitting, regaining, and starting over. You have to think big picture and long term.

Plus I agree with others that you can’t expect to lose weight every week, even if you are doing everything “right.” Good luck!

spiriteagle99

The advantage of being more active, aside from simply being good for your cardio-vascular health, is that you get to eat more so you don't feel like you're starving all the time.

Theoldguy1

Chic_geek31 wrote: »

I am currently 194lbs 5’5. I started dieting 3 weeks ago. I have lost about 3 lbs in total. I am eating 1200-1400 cals a day. I am mostly sedentary. I do not exercise. This week I didn’t lose any weight and I feel like I’m starving myself. My goal is to lose 1lb a week. Am I being unrealistic?

You can lose weight without exercise but some additional movement would help with weight loss and your overall health. Is there any medical or other reason you're sedentary?

lemurcat2

Many women find that their weigh loss varies by time of the month even if everything else is the same, and there are plenty of other reasons you might lose nothing one week, more than 1 lb in another week.

If you are starving, you might want to change up what you are eating or the eating pattern you are following -- experimenting and seeing how it affects you can be helpful. Some find volume helpful, some find upping protein and fiber helpful, some find it helpful to cut back on carbs -- it varies, which is why I say to experiment.

Even mild exercise can also earn more cals and be beneficial to health -- just something like walking more -- but I agree that it's not necessary for weight loss.

Annie42019

I lost 75 pounds in 10 months without any exercise in my late 50’s. . But I think you have to be a very very stringent recorder of calories. Weigh and measure everything. Record all the BLT ( bite licks and tastes. [

kshama2001

spiriteagle99 wrote: »

The advantage of being more active, aside from simply being good for your cardio-vascular health, is that you get to eat more so you don't feel like you're starving all the time.

Yes.

Also, when I'm active I sleep better, and without good sleep I make bad food choices.

Before I lost my job last year, I did some form of exercise at lunch time. I was more productive in the afternoon and had no urge to boredom-eat. Moderate exercise is a mild appetite suppressant for me.

My body also feels better when I'm active, especially my lower back.