anyone else just reduce cals and not excercize that much???

dme1977

Look, I know and understand this site is for those of us who are trying to change our lifestyles and be healthier and lose weight in the process BUT is anyone else out there like me doing more of a food portion change and less of an excercize change?
Dont get me wrong, I ride bike everyday with my son, we go to the park, we take walks, and the regular stuff you do around the house/yard
but I am not all out on the excercizing...
maybe once I lose the weight I'll want it to be more toned but for right now I guess you can call me "lazy" because Im OK with what Im doing.
I look at what other people do everyday and Im like DANG... WOW...and sometimes HOLY MOLY!!!
IM PROUD OF YOU ALL FOR GIVING IT YOUR 1000%
but its taking ALL 100% of me to eat portion sizes, eat when Im hungry, and to not get obsessed with my food diary and spend every waking moment being food crazy on the computer. .

AM I ALONE IN THIS PART OF MY JOURNEY???

1shauna1

Nope, I don't really exercise aside from walking the dog, which isn't really exercise. Definitely exercise helps in being healthy but in weight loss it's (mostly) about the calories. I don't see anything wrong with it!

bigredhearts

do what works for you. it sounds like you are pretty active and being active and eating better is what will make you healthier.

MissKell4201

No exercise here really either. I just clean the house here and there which burns a few cals and sometimes go for a short walk on my lunch break. I don't really have time for exercise. Full time job + 3 kids!!

Super_mom

Sometimes I feel the same way. I have been at this weight thing for about 2wks. I workout when I can but my main focus right now is getting in enough calories. Its really hard since I have been skipping meals for years, eating what I want and sometimes only once a day along with drinking. It's been tough and I still have not met my 1260cals per day but I'm trying really hard to get there. I dont know how long it will take but hopefully it will happen soon.

lindamac101

I had back surgery and could not exercise and still lost weight but I had to eat just 1200 calories a day and that is tough. I just started back riding my bike at a very slow pace, but I get to eat an extra 183 calories yeah!

TheUnwritten

As long as you in a calorie deficit then it shouldn't matter.

Huffdogg

lots of people do. We call those people "skinnyfat" eventually

If you reduce cals and make them GOOD calories, then it can have an overall health benefit for sure. But honestly, people need exercise to be healthy. If you just reduce calories and don't exercise, you lose valuable muscle along with fat, which has a whole other host of health issues associated with it.

bander21

I'm a nursing student, studying for my clinicals, right now exercising has kind of been put on the back burner. You can do it! Friend request sent!

taso42

No I don't think you're alone. You're making positive changes, so it's absolutely a good thing. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

hbrittingham

I think that it's likely that many of us started of just watching our calories and idly working out. I know for me, it took me about a year into watching my food intake to really start working out. I used to walk the dogs 2 miles 5 days a week and work out for 20-25 minutes at the gym 3 days a week. Then I started to see results. Muscles building, weight coming off faster and moving down sizes and I kicked it up another notch.

Now I work out at the gym 7 days a week most weeks, for an hour to an hour and 20 minutes each time. Still walk the dogs 4 days a week and I love every single minute of it! I have muscle definition, I can buy clothes off the rack and look good in them and I feel great.

So yes, it can be done without exercise, but exercise will make you look and feel even better.

FitForLife81

Absolutely can be done. Its 80% diet 20% exercise. I did most of my work with both but for a few months I hurt my foot and couldnt do anything and the lbs still came off!

roselover58

I TRY to excerise, i really do, but the time I get home, I'm done. I do walk at lunch (about 20 minutes worth), and I plan on doing that more, but I am just doing the healthy choices. Slower, but doable.

SeaStar

From personal experience I found the few times when I wasn't exercising and just watching calories, it was much easier for me to lose weight and eat less. However I don't ever want to be stuck in skinny fat mode, so I try to stay away from that game plan. I eat 3-400 calories more each day when I workout regularly (Which is normally what I do... 3-5 times a week for 1.5 hours at the gym), but I feel so much better about myself because I am toned

anfmusicgrl

I started my weight loss by changing the quality of food I ate, cutting out sodas & artificial sweetners/sugars, and cutting back on portions. So, yes....

HOWEVER, Out of the 58 lbs I've lost, 37 were before I began working out. 21 have been since. I notice 100x more difference in inches shrinking, firming up, and just general body transformation from those 20 lbs than the first 37! I do lots of strength (heavy weights) training, and now, I feel pretty sure I'm not losing muscle, and this is really helping my body look better. I am losing pure fat...where as that first 37 lbs I lost from just diet/calorie deficit would have been both fat & muscle.

If you don't like to do cardio...I would say controlling your calories by diet is ok...however, if nothing else, perhaps you could do strength training? To help your body preserve muscle..

970Mikaela1

my "exercise" is a daily walk.......thats all and i weigh my food as accurately as possible and so far It WORKS!!

DorothyR87

I personally don't exercise. I actually hate working out and will avoid the gym if possible. I am sure at some point I will plateau or want to tone up and in that case I will start working out.

DixiedoesMFP

I exercise because it relieves stress and it creates a bigger calorie deficit so I can eat more. It by no means sounds like you are lazy....I think all the activity and playing with the kids really adds up. It's all about changes you can stick with in the long run!

hallensd

I am not really focusing on working out, either. I have been closely watching what I eat, but exercise isn't easy for me being that I am about 100lbs overweight. I do plan to start exercising more when I lose a bit more so it isn't such a strain. I have tried to exercise when I first started but it just is crazy right now. I have 5 young kids and my youngest is 3 months old, so my hands are often full and my days hectic!

rudzud

I'm doing that as well. Mostly just calory counting. My line of work (corrections) does have its physically strenous days.

Happymom12

lots of people do. We call those people "skinnyfat" eventually

If you reduce cals and make them GOOD calories, then it can have an overall health benefit for sure. But honestly, people need exercise to be healthy. If you just reduce calories and don't exercise, you lose valuable muscle along with fat, which has a whole other host of health issues associated with it.

I understand the "skinnyfat" thing. I have been toned in the past but recently the last few years I fell into the "skinnyfat" I would say that I looked like I was in better shape than most but look is the thing honestly I wasn't and was probably in worse shape than some overweight people so I made my mind up to start watching what I was taking in my body and also focus on being healthier with working out as well.

10acity

Exercise is really important. But there's nothing wrong with tackling one thing at a time. I bet once you lose some weight and are able to do more than you ever were before, and once you see some visible results, you'll want to make even more positive changes to your body.

I am too impatient not to exercise-- I want the weight off yesterday. And too hungry, hahah. But I've been sick, so I just watched my calories and didn't work out but 2-3 times (and lamely). I lost nearly 4 lbs in just about 2 weeks.

Gottastop

Nope not at all. I barely exercise. When I first joined I put in that I would try & do 20minutes 3 times a week......don't think I've done that once. Yeah, I might be seen as lazy, but I hurt all the time (car accident in 2008) & refuse to be on narcotics for the rest of my life to deal with the pain. I'm hoping once I've lost about 25lbs (10% of my body weight) my knee & ankles might start hurting less & then I can start exercising more. I plan on starting the 100 push up challenge too
I'm also eating about 1500 calories I'm doing this to slowly change my lifestyle I figured it took me 12yrs to get this bad I can take at least 2-3 to get better & learning new better habits takes a while

Feel free to add me if you want

Griderrr

I have gotten like a marshmellow since surgery- lots of bat wings flab n wiggly stuff, I am shocked at how soft I am- cause I was heavy but tight... now... wow, --need the work outs.

happilyeveractive

The weeks I work out I lose weight. Recently when I haven't gone (due to my now 4 jobs) I haven't lost weight. So frustrating because I have been following the 1200 calories guideline religiously!

cherrytulips

Look, I know and understand this site is for those of us who are trying to change our lifestyles and be healthier and lose weight in the process BUT is anyone else out there like me doing more of a food portion change and less of an excercize change?
Dont get me wrong, I ride bike everyday with my son, we go to the park, we take walks, and the regular stuff you do around the house/yard
but I am not all out on the excercizing...
maybe once I lose the weight I'll want it to be more toned but for right now I guess you can call me "lazy" because Im OK with what Im doing.
I look at what other people do everyday and Im like DANG... WOW...and sometimes HOLY MOLY!!!
IM PROUD OF YOU ALL FOR GIVING IT YOUR 1000%
but its taking ALL 100% of me to eat portion sizes, eat when Im hungry, and to not get obsessed with my food diary and spend every waking moment being food crazy on the computer. .

AM I ALONE IN THIS PART OF MY JOURNEY???

I am with ya, sister!

I've lost 40 pounds in 2 years by just lowering my intake and walking more (stairs instead of elevator, parking farther away, etc.) and that's it. I also do some yoga here and there, but that's it. I do believe it is possible!

realrayne10

I lost my first 50lbs with just dietary changes but I still hated the way that I looked. I started running and while my weightloss has slowed as I am near my goal, the difference in my body and self esteem has been huge. For me, exercise is essential now as I have a lot of loose skin on my stomach that is driving me crazy!

That being said, to change every aspect of your life at the same time is not realistic. As the changes that you have made become more of a habit than a conscious decision, it will be easier to incorporate exercise.

Good luck on your journey!

cbh142

I haven't done much excercising yet, but I do run around a lot at work. i know from past experience that when you do get on a workout routine, it actually feels GOOD and is not a chore like it may feel like now.

felice03

That is how I started....reduced portion size, made better choices, very little exercise. And it did get me a long way....but at a certain point it became clear that, at least for me, I needed to include exercise to get to where I want to be. Now, that doesn't mean I'm a workout Nazi, but I do what I can as much as I can. What it boils down to is you have to do what works for you...

j1wright

I don't think working out means you have to join a gym and work out two hours a day. You say you bike with your children. Just build on that. Go on walks, take your kids on hikes, this summer when you go to the pool, do a couple of laps. I am work full time and have two kids I take an aerobic class on Saturday mornings and try to fit in walks through out the week and I plan on doing other fun things this summer but I am not hard core about it. I have been before and I have lost weight doing it, and I am also losing weight this way too. If that is called skinny fat, so be it.

Sandytoes71

Bump