losing weight faster without exercising ?

amy_marlene

ummm i was wondering has this happened to some of you? it happened to me 4 years ago,i wasn't exercising at all and i've lost 8 kilos in 2 months. now i'm exercising 4-5 times a week and i've lost 4 kilos in 2 months.
why is this so? i want to exercise.
has anybody experienced this?

AimersBee

because by exercising you gain muscle, which weighs more than fat..

amy_marlene

because by exercising you gain muscle, which weighs more than fat..

but can i gain muscle if i eat 1200 cals a day? and muscle doesn't weight more than fat...it just takes less space

amy_marlene

bump

Cocochickdeleted

You probably aren't gaining muscle on a 1200 calorie diet. However, if you have less muscle than you did last time you dieted, you may lose more slowly. Water weight fluctuations play in as well. When I lift, I retain water for a day or two afterward. I'm sure that other exercise has a similar effect on the muscles. Just be diligent and the weight will come off.

michellekicks

You need to eat the exercise calories to lose.

It's easier to lose without exercising because it's a simpler calculation. The more you burn the more your body is looking for fuel. The more you're craving food. Your body is like a machine that needs to be adequately fueled and maintained.

HauteP1nk

As the saying goes....'Abs are made in the kitchen'... I think 70% of what we look like stems from what we eat...the other is from exercise and genetics.

Plus, you're probably gaining muscle while exercising.... Or maybe you weigh less then you did before? I find the smaller I am the harder it is to lose weight because I have less fat.

amy_marlene

You probably aren't gaining muscle on a 1200 calorie diet. However, if you have less muscle than you did last time you dieted, you may lose more slowly. Water weight fluctuations play in as well. When I lift, I retain water for a day or two afterward. I'm sure that other exercise has a similar effect on the muscles. Just be diligent and the weight will come off.

i was thinking about the water weight too but the scale didn't move

mermx

because by exercising you gain muscle, which weighs more than fat..

No 1lb of muscle weighs exactly the same as 1lb of fat.

Fat takes up more space than muscle.

Muscle boosts the metabolism the more you work out and create muscle the more efficient your body will burn fat

AZKristi

You probably aren't gaining muscle on a 1200 calorie diet. However, if you have less muscle than you did last time you dieted, you may lose more slowly.

There's a lot of truth to this statement.

amy_marlene

As the saying goes....'Abs are made in the kitchen'... I think 70% of what we look like stems from what we eat...the other is from exercise and genetics.

Plus, you're probably gaining muscle while exercising.... Or maybe you weigh less then you did before? I find the smaller I am the harder it is to lose weight because I have less fat.

i'm bigger than i was 4 years ago when i lost 8 kilos my start weight 4 years ago was 68 kgs and now it was 73 kgs

amy_marlene

oh and one more thing.
i had an ED for the past two years...can this be a reason that i'm losing weight slower?

Rizabees

Eat back what you exercise. & Make sure you're eating well, not just less.

Cocochickdeleted

This might explain what I mentioned about some muscle loss, which equals a slower metabolism. It may in your best interest to eat more calories and try to build some muscle so that you can burn more in the long run.

amy_marlene

This might explain what I mentioned about some muscle loss, which equals a slower metabolism. It may in your best interest to eat more calories and try to build some muscle so that you can burn more in the long run.

so if i eat back my exercise calories will i be losing faster than without eating exercise calorise?

amy_marlene

bump

Cocochickdeleted

This might explain what I mentioned about some muscle loss, which equals a slower metabolism. It may in your best interest to eat more calories and try to build some muscle so that you can burn more in the long run.

so if i eat back my exercise calories will i be losing faster than without eating exercise calorise?

Many will argue that you should eat back your exercise calories because MFP figures out how many calories you need to burn to lose a certain amount of weight per week. So, for example, if you are set to lose one pound a week, eating the calories MFP tells you to eat SHOULD result in that loss without exercising. Therefore, you exercise so that you can eat more.

I, personally, rarely ate back my exercise calories while I was actively losing weight. I figured that as long as I got at least the minimum nutrition my body needed (calories and macros), the extra burned calories were just icing on the proverbial cake. I cannot speak for others, but I never hit a plateau and I never experienced 'starvation mode'. I ate more when I was hungry, and less when I wasn't, but I never allowed myself to starve.

You will get a lot of advice about this topic. You will have to decide what makes the most sense to you and do that. Good luck!

I have now changed my focus from losing to building muscle, so I am eating back some of my exercise calories to help with the building process.

trelm249

First off, your health and fitness is not a sprint. Don't worry about the scale showing a lower number, taking longer this time than a previous time. The primary concept to get the head wrapped around is to get fit in a sustainable way.

If you are exercising this time and consuming more calories to replenish the added deficit caused by said exercise, you are actually retaining muscle tissue. Just so there is no confusion, that is a good thing.

Previously, when in a caloric deficit and not exercising, your body was shedding both fat and muscle tissue to compensate for the reduced calories. Muscle has a higher biological cost than fat due to it consumes more calories just to sit there. If you aren't using it, the body will get rid of it because it is too expensive to keep.

So yeah. if you are exercising this time, the scale will change more slowly. It is very logical and healthier.

Keep in mind it is about being a more fit you, not a number or a clothing size or looking like someone else. Also keep in mind "fit" encompasses the whole package: weight, body composition, cardiovascular conditioning, strength, balance, etc.

laurajordana

because by exercising you gain muscle, which weighs more than fat..

but can i gain muscle if i eat 1200 cals a day? and muscle doesn't weight more than fat...it just takes less space

right... i think when people say muscle weighs more than fat, they mean if you have a certain amount of space and fill it with either muscle or fat, the muscle would weigh more

woou

same experience here, but i didn't really like the way i looked without exercise.

Hezzietiger1

When I first started.. the weight came off slower but I noticed huge changes in my clothes and the shape of my body. I think I was both losing fat and gaining muscle and they evened out. I added an extra days cardio, paid more attention to macros, and moved from lots of sodium and processed foods (just watching cals) to a much cleaner diet. I lose 2-2 /12 lbs a week regularly on a 1300 calorie diet and 5 solid workouts. I am still building muscle, toning up, and decreasing body fat. My lean muscle mass has increased not decreased. However, I am 5'1. If you are taller.. 1200-1300 calories may not be adequate.

smith176

I've always found that I lose more weight when I don't exercise...

Julieelliott12

Your ED may have a big role in what is going on. depending on whether you were anorexic or bulimic, either one ruins your metabolism. I know that after 6-7 years of fighting with one, trying to loose weight the healthy is not only triggering, but it also takes time fro your body to realize that you aren't going to deprive it. Our bodies were made to survive. Survive meaning what it did for cave men, food not always being plentiful, your body stored the calories that are excess for later. When your body realizes that you aren't going to be throwing up your calories (like after a binge) or just depriving it for the next few days, you body will start letting things go (i.e. fat). It realizes that you are going to feed it frequently and it no longer needs to hoard that excess that it receives.

Also, your lifestyle could play a role, maybe 4 years ago, your hormones were different (age, different birth control, having kids), you were doing other things (like a different job), fidgeting more can even contribute to weight loss. Also, like other have said you could be building muscle, you may not notice the difference on the scale, but the difference may show in you clothes.

Helloitsdan

I'd lose weight fast if i didnt lift weights or exercise.
It all plays into glycogen and water.

Just remember, if the end result is a healthy body, dont continue on this road.

Lift weights and take walks every few days.

Katie3784

Age maybe? It's harder to lose weight as you get older.

DAGRUSSING

Could the fact that you are four years older this time than last time have something to do with it? I find that the older I get, the slower I lose weight.

ironanimal

I doubt you're building much of anything, let alone muscle, on 1200 a day.

hedgiie

younger and healthier folks can lose weight by simply cleaning their diet, the older and out of shape you get the harder it is.

BadgerSensei

because by exercising you gain muscle, which weighs more than fat..

It's actually denser than fat. exchanging a pound of fat for a pound of muscle will result in visible slimming, but no weight drop.

amy_marlene

i'm 20.
i think i'm going to continue exercising and eating exercise calories.
thank you all for your help )

selfishshellfish

Oh yeah, it happened to me. It has happened to me in the past, too (in my teens, when I was a competitive middle-distance runner, and in my 20s when I ran just for fun but quite hard).

I got a regular running habit going last year for a few months and my weight plateaued. Furthermore, my body fat (as measured by a colleague of mine using callipers) started going up, as did my waist measurement.

I ate more but that did not reverse the trend.

I have no clue why this happened, but I have now stopped running and am walking x5 each week and doing very short sessions of HIIT x3 a week. We'll see what transpires!

Some of us may be a bit 'special' with respect to exercise and weight loss. It may be rare but you're not the only one, I assure you!