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

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

mlh156

Absolutely. I'd love to be doing all the other stuff... and I plan to... But in the meantime, I know I'm doing something positive for my health by dieting. I'm losing weight and it just has to be healthier for me to not be carrying around all the extra weight I used to have. I refuse to feel guilty.

dme1977

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE INPUT...
Im just glad its not just me :flowerforyou:

as far as the "skinny fat" my legs and lower stomach are getting there but ill deal with it when I get to it...:bigsmile:

McKayMachina

Me.

I've lost what now...79? ...pounds by cutting calories. I don't have an exercise routine but I'm not exercise-phobic either. I just don't like to devote 30-90 minutes of my life everyday to ****ing cardio. Shoot me.

::shrugs::

I'd like to get more active but I can't see a future for myself where DAILY prescribed workout routines would make any sense.

Huffdogg

I'd like to get more active but I can't see a future for myself where DAILY prescribed workout routines would make any sense.

No one needs to do hours and hours of mindless cardio. 45-60 minutes of strength training 3x a week will make a DRAMATIC difference in your lean muscle, which increases your BMR, which makes your body naturally burn more calories, which of course makes you burn even more fat.

tekiegirl

When I fist came on MFP I didn't exercise that much, but over the past 6 or so months I have been exercising a lot - about 5 times per week, 200kcal + per session.

I did lose a lot of weight to begin with, varying each week and sometimes stalling, but over the past couple of months my weight loss has ground to a halt. The only weight I lost was what I put on over Christmas! Good, but not great.

Over the past week I have only exercised twice, about 450kcal in total, and I have been really careful to keep to my calories. I have lost 0.9kg/2lb this week!

Why the difference? I think there are a few reasons:

1. I am being more careful about counting calories. I think I used to underestimate my evening meals, and changing to quinoa instead of rice has made a big difference! I really recommend it. Quinoa is about 1/3 of the calories of the same dry weight of rice, and probably goes further too! You can get it in supermarkets. I have found it in the 'Free From' section in Sainsbury's and with the seeds and nuts in Morrisons. I'm sure others sell it too, in the UK and overseas.

2. If I am not planning to exercise I know I cannot eat what I want now and burn it off later. I probably used to eat a treat and then not completely burn it off later.

3. My body had got used to what I was eating and the amount of exercise I was doing. I plan to start mixing up the amount of exercise I do every few weeks, and also the type of exercise I do. I like my DVDs and they have a good variety of weight training and aerobics on them.

4. I understand that exercise can cause you to retain water, so this probably has made a one-time difference in weight as well.

I think the real key is portion and calorie control. The exercise is to tone your muscles, make sure you don't lose lean muscle, and generally keep your healthy. (I would recommend mostly weights for this with a little cardio/aerobics, from what I have read.) Exercise can be used to balance out over-consumption of food, but I find it is best not to rely on this.

Good luck all!