Losing weight without working out

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  • magairlin
    magairlin Posts: 93 Member
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    Strap your toddler in the stroller ignoring his/her protests and walk for half an hour or more as fast as you can on the beautiful walk you mentioned. He/she can put up with their dislike of the stroller for a half hour and the results for you will be great- go for it- you are doing well and your toddler will benefit from having a fit and slim mother. Good luck
  • lbk1969
    lbk1969 Posts: 10
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    I've never been able to work out at night, but once my little ones were old enough to sleep through the night most nights, I started getting up ridiculously early to work out.

    If your child won't stay in the stroller, is he or she small enough to wear in an Ergo? (~3 or younger). Any time you spend with a 3 year old strapped to your back should count as a workout! But seriously, even walking to the park like that will be much more intense for you than a regular walk. And if you can't find one used on Craigslist, your local community may have a "babywearing" group. A lot of those moms are such advocates, you may find someone willing to loan you one for a week or two, so you can figure out if it would work for you.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    Your loss will likely slow but not because you are not working out - 7lbs in a month is quite a lot. 3-5 is much more average - so be prepared for it and don't beat yourself up over it.

    Things to note: MFP is designed so you will lose without working out. It's part of why you are supposed to eat most of your exercise calories. MFP estimates what you burn on a typical non-workout day, and cuts 500 calories off it (if your settings are 1lbs a week).

    If you are feeling sluggish, pop the baby in a stroller and go for a walk. Or do a dance video or body weight workout or yoga or pilates in your living room. Both netflix and youtube have workout sequences available online.

    Being active doesn't have to mean slaving away at the gym. Put on some music and dance around with the baby. Play tag. Or hide and seek. Heck, do 20 baby lifts! Little kids LOVE being picked up!
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    I'm not sure why such a strong emphasis on you working out. The fact is, if you follow MFP, you don't need to workout. You will still lose weight. All workout out does is make you look better once the weight is off. I see a lot of misconceptions in this thread. Weight loss is really 80% diet anyway, and 20% exercise. Working out has other benefits that are unseen, like healthy heart and lungs, etc. But, it is not required for weight loss. I think lots of people have temporary set backs or life circumstances that don't allow for workouts. While you can usually find some time to do some lunges, Burpees, and planks, taking care of a toddler is really hard...in fact, it is exhausting. So, you may not feel like working out, which is understandable. So, no, exercise is not the only way to lose weight. MFP build in a calorie deficit. So, if you just log all your food, you should still lose the lbs. good luck.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Diet = weight loss, exercise = fitness. The benefit of exercise is you can eat more calories and you are more likely to keep off the weight. Second, you probably didn't lose much during exercise for a few reasons. One you probably didn't eat enough but I can't confirm that without knowing how many calories you were eating. Most people tend to eat as little as possible in hopes of losing as fast as possible... bodies dont' like that. But based on your ticker, you should be at no more than 1 lb per week. You are probably lightly active if you have a child and if you include JM 30DS, then you need another 200-300 calories. More than likely, that puts you around 1700-1900 calories. So how much where you eating? Without exercise, probably 1500-1600 would be good.
  • deviantcupcake
    deviantcupcake Posts: 136 Member
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    I have a medical condition which means working out is a terrible idea for me. Sometimes I can't even manage walking around the supermarket. Kills me, because I love exercise.
    But the point is, if I stick to a calorie limit then I can lose weight. No, I'm not getting fit or building muscle and I'm probably not just losing fat, but I'm getting smaller and lighter.
    It's perfectly possible to lose weight without working out.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    It can be done. I've lost 106 pounds without working out. BUT I do use this premise: Sit less, move more. Any activity is good.whether it's running around hte house more, folding clothes, spring cleaning for the 4th time this month, whatever.

    Make sure you're eating enough too - and more quality/healthy foods instead of processed stuff. It'll help rev up your metabolism.

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