Has anyone been successful without becoming a Gym Bunny?

MogwaisGrandma

Not that I am looking to become a lazy so and so ( again) but this question has rolled round in my head for a few days now?

T34418l3angel

Define gym bunny

Gallowmere1984

It depends on how you define successful. The amount of effort you put in is proportionate to the results you achieve.

Without busting your *kitten* in the gym and at the dinner table, 'average' is the best you can hope for. For most, that's good enough. However, why settle for just passable?

stephdeeable

My mom lost 70 pounds at age 53 and she never joined a gym. She did change her eating and walk/run almost everyday.

So I don't think it's a must, but it can help people a lot.

I'm currently still too afraid to work out in front of people so i'm just walking for now until I build up enough confidence to join one.

EmmaM2211

I feel a bit like a broken record on this one...I refuse to join a gym - I hate them. Even at the peak of my fitness in my late teens I hated it and refused to go.

I have a stationary bike or DVD's at home for if its dark or bad weather but generally I go outside to workout. Jogging, cycling and walking mostly. I've also got some weights at home and I do body weight exercises too.

I dont see any reason why I'll ever have to join a gym - if theres ever something on offer there I want I'd be better off buying the equipment at home - it's a better use of my money most things you can get relatively cheap second hand on ebay and for the price of 2-3months gym membership I've got a gym at home I can use at any time for free forever!!

sarahcuddle

I don't belong to a gym but I do lots of exercise, walking , running (couch to 5k) 30 day shred and at the moment lots of swimming (I'm doing a swimming challenge so going to the pool more than normal). I'm only a couple of pounds up on you but it is coming off now. I don't think you need to go to a gym, it depends what suits you. I would like to do more strength training and I think that is more of a challenge if you don't go to the gym

Nix143

Also define successful

There are lots and lots of stories on here about people losing weight by eating healthily and/or walking/running working out at home/using DVDs etc

If successful is losing weight then answer is yes

If successful is getting fit then answer is yes

If successful is even building muscle then answer is yes - you can lift weights at home or even do body weight exercises.

The gym isn't the be all and end all - but sometimes the kit there can make your journey more efficient - if you want to build lean muscle mass and have no weights at home you're probably going to achieve faster results lifting at the gym as opposed to doing what you can at home.

Horse for courses init

TavistockToad

i dont gym and i have lost weight sufficiently.

there are plenty of things you can do at home with just minimal equipment.

CassieReannan

I havent stepped foot ever in a gym. Look at my ticker :laugh:

pinkraynedropjacki

Have not stepped one foot in a gym. Not ever.

I have all I need at home... small things. Kettle bells, hand weights, foot weights, resistance bands, balance board, fit ball, foam roller, zumba dvds, total flex (cost me a packet & I hardly use it) & running shoes (for my running)


no need to go to a gym at all. I've lost all this in almost 8 months & toned up great. Don't waste your money on a gym if you can help it.....

Hiccup90

You have to figure out what is best for you. Currently I do Zumba. I've lost about 14 in 2 and a half weeks with it before. I just do it in my bedroom. I have the dvds and the game on the wii.

Some people need to go to the gym because they need the motivation. To see a girl with a stunning body running on the treadmill infront of you and they say to themselves 'I want to be like that' so it pushes them.

The gym is expensive but it's got a lot of different equipment and classes. I used to go to the gym and I enjoyed it but I think you can get the same results from working out at home too.

stephenjswann

Portion control, alcohol reduction, walking and cycling... ticker is ticking along nicely and I only started this regime 11 weeks ago. The gym has played no part in my weight loss.

anemoneprose

I found that you can do a lot at home while losing. Gyms are useful to maximize body composition (heavier weights), and for low impact cross-training.

I'm so happy, though, that I can do things with weights at home when I only want to spend 30 minutes on working out (and not 1.5 hours, which it costs me for a 50 minute workout, counting travel, changing, etc. And I always want to extend those 50 mins, at the gym. I'll want to do a ten minute spot on a rowing machine, or work in an extra leg exercise, that kind of thing.)

kimmianne89

I don't go to a gym. I have a weird thing about working out in front of other people, I don't have the money to join a gym anyway.
I own a crosstrainer (£15 from ebay) and DVDs. I'm always walking because of my dogs but I go running and I have weights at home and also do body weight exercises. I don't think you need a gym

MogwaisGrandma

Success in this question to me is losing the amount of weight you wanted/got down to the size or shape you wanted/ changed your fat% to the healthier range you wanted.

Gym Bunny to me is a person who goes to the gym at least 3 times a week, usually 5/6. I would even go so far to say someone who does not go to a gym but exercises more than 3 times a week.

pinkraynedropjacki

Gym Bunny to me is a person who goes to the gym at least 3 times a week, usually 5/6. I would even go so far to say someone who does not go to a gym but exercises more than 3 times a week.

Well then I'd be classed as a gym bunny without every going to a gym? I workout 7 days a week...have done the whole time.

EvgeniZyntx

Gym is a relatively inexpensive/efficient way of getting exercise of different types - but if you do not enjoy it, it's a waste of time and effort. I'm mixed about it because it can mean I need 2/3 memberships with all my travel. I still go, or get hotels with access.

But it's a cheap health insurance and compared to my addiction to bikes, waaaay cheaper.
I think I could buy myself 3 lifetime memberships if I sold all my bikes.

You can get healthy, fit, ripped, lose weight without a gym - just like you can put a nail in the wall without a claw hammer. But a claw hammer is a mighty fine tool. Choose your hammer and then hammer!

Edit: by the def. above I'm a gym bunny. Lol.

Yogi_Carl

I don't do gymn. I use my own body resistance to maintain muscles, apart from some warm-ups I do with home dumbbells and I follow the Insanity Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs but don't follow the whole Insanity DVD suite. I attend yoga classes twice a week and homoe practise yoga every day.

Weather and conditions permitting I get a barefoot beach run of 30 minutes and run stright into the sea and swim for about 30 minutes - I need the run before the swim to get hot enough to stand the sea temperature!

So - no gym, no lifting barbells and I have lost a stone and one and a half stones to go.

EmmaM2211

Success in this question to me is losing the amount of weight you wanted/got down to the size or shape you wanted/ changed your fat% to the healthier range you wanted.

Gym Bunny to me is a person who goes to the gym at least 3 times a week, usually 5/6. I would even go so far to say someone who does not go to a gym but exercises more than 3 times a week.

So what you're really asking is can you be successful without exercising. By you definition of successful the simple answer is no. You can lose fat AND muscle and end up looking weedy but at your goal weight without exercising yes, but you cant get the size/shape and body fat % you want without exercise.

Sorry.

Yogi_Carl

Success in this question to me is losing the amount of weight you wanted/got down to the size or shape you wanted/ changed your fat% to the healthier range you wanted.

Gym Bunny to me is a person who goes to the gym at least 3 times a week, usually 5/6. I would even go so far to say someone who does not go to a gym but exercises more than 3 times a week.

So what you're really asking is can you be successful without exercising. By you definition of successful the simple answer is no. You can lose fat AND muscle and end up looking weedy but at your goal weight without exercising yes, but you cant get the size/shape and body fat % you want without exercise.

Sorry.

^^^ What Emma said.
Why would you want to anyway?

MogwaisGrandma

Success in this question to me is losing the amount of weight you wanted/got down to the size or shape you wanted/ changed your fat% to the healthier range you wanted.

Gym Bunny to me is a person who goes to the gym at least 3 times a week, usually 5/6. I would even go so far to say someone who does not go to a gym but exercises more than 3 times a week.

So what you're really asking is can you be successful without exercising. By you definition of successful the simple answer is no. You can lose fat AND muscle and end up looking weedy but at your goal weight without exercising yes, but you cant get the size/shape and body fat % you want without exercise.

Sorry.

No need to be sorry.

Maybe I should have posted this on a different board and asked if anyone had done, rather on here and ask if it could be done.

Another day maybe

20shan08

I've lost 76 pounds in the past year without stepping fit in a gym... I work out at home, I started with just 5 minutes on my elliptical every day, slowly went up to 30 mins. But I hate the elliptical, I found I dreaded doing it. So I did a round of Jillian michaels 30 day shred, then ripped in 30, and 6 week 6 pack. Now I just pick one work out video/level 5 days a week to maintain. I only have a couple pounds left to lose.

My big thing was that I wanted to do something I could keep up with. I know I'm by the type of person to spend two hours a day at the gym every day so I didn't bother trying. I do 20-30 minutes of exercise a day, that's all

alpine1994

I'm with most of the others when I say that the gym just isn't for me. I spent years and years on the dreadmill and horrible eliptical and lifting weights in front of the meatheads and I'm alllllllllll set. I still pay for my gym membership because I have a contract and they won't let me cancel and I haven't been in 5 months. I have everything I need at home (lots of DVDs, a great running neighborhood, a bicycle, weights, and resistance bands) and along with eating healthier, I lost 18 lbs since May and am more fit than I've been in my whole life.

I think a part of it is that I can work my hardest (grunting, sweat flying all over the place, sometimes a few tears haha) without being embarrassed or judged by anyone. Plus when you're working out at home, there are NO excuses to skip a workout.

MissAnjy

I've never seen the inside of a gym, and have never hired a personal trainer. I do Turbofire, Chalean Extreme and next is P90x.
Being a part of a gym doesn't make sense for me when I work full-time and am a single mother to 2 4 year old twin boys. I concocted a home gym, and I work out that way. I've been very successful.

tmos512

My dad lost ~50 lbs. just counting calories and doing about 30 minutes on his elliptical every day. :happy:

sgthaggard

Gym Bunny to me is a person who goes to the gym at least 3 times a week, usually 5/6. I would even go so far to say someone who does not go to a gym but exercises more than 3 times a week.

Of course you can lose weight without any exercise at all. The real question is, once the weight is off, how happy are you going to be with your body?

gemmalouise85

ive lost 31lb so far without anymore exercise than walking get children from school and cleaning - i have just brought a cross trainer because i wanna up the exercise and tone more but thats my choice dont NEED to - also im JUST calori counting im not eating vg and salads everyday i still eat chips and every sat i have a takeaway etc.

those 31lb ive lost in 3 months too x

kristen6022

Lost 45 pounds without ever walking in to a gym. In fact, I rarely exercised. If it was nice out, I'd walk for a hr. If it wasn't, I'd do a workout video 2-3 nights a week. I also bought 8 & 10 pound dumbbells and would use them and do AB work once in while. But I was "ANAL" about my calories and the quality of the food that went in my mouth.

I've been on maintenance since May - might do exercise now once a week - I know people, it's not "healthy", but I don't understand why people insist on killing themselves in the gym 6-7 days a week just to lose weight. You can do it with diet alone and just being active. Instead of sitting on the couch all night, go take a walk. Or get on the floor and do push-ups and sit ups. I rarely even counted the exercise I did when I was losing - it was just bonus.

Edit: PS...I'm very happy with my body. It's the best I've looked naked in years - I look better now than I did in college and I'm almost 34!

BaileyP3

In Jan 2009 I weighed in at 192 and was miserable, stressed, fat! Funny thing is that my job was stressing me and when my company relocated to another state I decided to get healthy. By summer 2009 I was walking (sauntering actually ;-)) 2.5 miles a day and slowly but surely the weight fell off. I've never been a fast food/processed food fan so I added more produce, lightened the white carbs and by Summer 2012 I was 157...and I was walking 5 miles a day.

I've always been a morning exerciser and here in NY it's dark at 6:30 am this time of year and of course soon enough the weather will be less than accomodating so....October 1 I joined the local gym :-)) It seems like the next logical step. I'm in the suburbs so a 6:30 -8:15 workout means that the place is virtually empty and I can become familiar with the machines at my own pace.
I've tried to create a strength training program at home but it wasn't giving me the results I wanted so I'm committing to at least 6 months at the gym to see how I enjoy it.

So currently my stats are

Female
48 yrs old
6'

HW 226
CW 157.4 (24.5% Body Fat)
GW 144

barky586

Me. I'm a gym bunny. In my 18th month now. Lost 185 pounds so far.

Victoria2448

No gym for me EVER!

I do everything in my own home...I got amazing results with some cheap adjustable weights and a pull-up bar.

Clean, easy, convenient and fun...