What happens if you exercise without dieting?

PlumpKitten

For six weeks, I have restarted daily exercise. However, I have not cut net calories.
If you were wondering what happens when you increase physical activity -- but do not keep a calorie deficit -- here is my experience.

I do circuits with free weights 3x / week. I do cardio 3 x / week. If I have time, I try to throw in some yoga.
My workouts are 30-45 min long - and I go every day.
I am the mother of two toddlers. I'm 5'1" and about 135 lbs. My BMI puts me at slightly overweight.

* As expected, since I have not cut calories, I have not lost weight.
* The biggest difference has been in arms, legs and butt. They look thinner and more toned. I have lost that saggy stuff under the upper arms and on the sides of the thighs.
* I have lost 1" off my hips.
* The parts where I gained the most fat during pregnancy - lower belly and breasts - haven't budged much. Even though my abs are stronger (I can plank for longer), my tummy looks mostly the same - and probably will until I go back to calorie cutting. You can't spot-reduce.
* Weirdly, my waist looks smaller from the back, but the same from the front. (I've only lost 1/2" there so far)
* I have more leeway in my diet. I can eat more and not gain.
* My posture is better - and I think this gives the impression of being thinner.
* My back is stronger and less sore. (Mommies spend alot of time carrying babies and picking stuff off the floor!)
* Because I can run longer / faster, and because I can lift a bit heavier - my workouts are probably more efficient in terms of getting in shape and burning calories.

So there you have it.
If you just up exercise without dieting, you will get stronger, fitter and more toned -- but not necessarily lighter.
There are visible changes - they just happen more slowly than if you cut calories + exercise.

BTW - before everyone bothers me about weight loss -- yes, I know I have to start cutting calories again!

Hope my experience helps other people.

P.S. When I say "without dieting" in the subject line, I don't mean I was eating bacon cheeseburgers all day. I still kept a healthy, balanced diet - I just wasn't deliberately cutting back on food.

michellekicks

Great job! I find if I exercise more without tracking food intake I just naturally eat more because I'm hungrier from the extra exercise. If I want to get leaner I have to be deliberate about my diet.

silentKayak

Thanks, very interesting! Just because it's hard to measure doesn't mean you're not "losing". You're probably losing fat while gaining muscle. I agree that tracking is important. The times I've tried exercise but not diet, I subconsciously eat more (way more than calories burned!) due to the workouts, so I end up still gaining weight.

Sounds like you're doing great. It can't be easy with two toddlers!

llUndecidedll

That is great. You're creating a stronger you. Don't worry about the scale right now.

ronitperman

This is really good job. You can lose weight with regular exercise it is a good habit and it help keeps you fit always. You have also mentioned that you take healthy food which is the right thing. Dieting is not that much important if you understand what is the right food for your body. Keep going.

RHachicho

Aye I don't find this surprising in the least. Well done. Personally I DO Diet but that's because I still have a lot to lose. Wanna be 180 - 200lbs by the end of this shebang. So i still got 20 - 40lbs to go lol. Once I lose a bit more though I may just go maintenance and up the workouts.

KillaKaliKrackerKilla

I think everyone pretty much knows this .. I mean weght training is actually better then cardio for burning fat because you continue to burn fat long after the exercise. . So your saying you didn't change your diet wich was not bad to begin with and started exercising and lost weight? Ok... what did you think would happen? Your going to gain muscle and burn fat duh! Cmon people Its not rocket science. But so I dont sound like a jerk, good job, I guess

skinnyinnotime

You say you had more leeway to eat more and not gain...if you ate like you did previously you would have lost some weight. Stands to reason exercise burns calories but eating them back creates no deficit.

evilscotsman83

This is a great post and answers a lot of peoples questions to why they don't appear to lose weight when exercising. it shows the good things about exercising even if you don't lose anything on the scales which to be honest shouldn't be the be all and end all. proves the numbers on the scales isn't as important as its cracked up to be. well done. if you notice differences in your body, posture, energy levels and mood I say keep it up.

Sonj1973

This is a great post and answers a lot of peoples questions to why they don't appear to lose weight when exercising. it shows the good things about exercising even if you don't lose anything on the scales which to be honest shouldn't be the be all and end all. proves the numbers on the scales isn't as important as its cracked up to be. well done. if you notice differences in your body, posture, energy levels and mood I say keep it up.

Pretty much this......When losing weight it's so easy to focus on the scales opposed to focusing on the other changes that are taking place thanks for the feed back

PlumpKitten

That's not exactly what I said. I stopped dieting, but revved up exercise. So I stayed the same weight, but got fitter.
Of course, this isn't surprising. But the point of these forums is to share our experiences.
I wasn't sure how long it would take to see visible toning without weight loss. And, in my case, it took about 4-6 weeks.

PlumpKitten

You say you had more leeway to eat more and not gain...if you ate like you did previously you would have lost some weight. Stands to reason exercise burns calories but eating them back creates no deficit.

Hi there!
For a long time, I was dieting quite strictly and keeping my calories quite low. Weight did come off -- this was several months after childbirth -- but it was very hard staying to such a lean diet.
So I switched it up and ate more than I was before -- basically moving up to a maintainence level for an active person -- but added exercise.
During this most recent period, my goal was not to lose weight -- I wanted to take a break from that. My goal was to sort of relax the diet a bit, but get stronger and fitter.

PlumpKitten

By the way, thanks to everyone for all the positive relies and feedback!
I hope my experiences help other people.

TeaBea

Great job! I find if I exercise more without tracking food intake I just naturally eat more because I'm hungrier from the extra exercise. If I want to get leaner I have to be deliberate about my diet.

This is me too, but hunger or no.....I just figured why not, I earned it. "Deliberate" is a good word for it.