excercise..is it really necessary to do EVERY DAY?

I HATE HATE HATE EXERCISE AS WELL! I can't stand it, seriously LOL I can tolerate going to zumba and used to do that once a week but I've stopped that too, but I have 4 children and can't seem to get out to go.

Anyways, you only need to be eating at a calorie deficit to actually lose weight, exercise is more about toning from what I've read.

I finally 5 weeks ago got in gear with eating right and sticking to 1200-1300 calories a day and I have lost 15 pounds in the last 5 weeks with NO exercise at all.

In the past, I would always lose more weight on the weeks I would do no exercise as apposed to stalling on the weeks I did exersice!

I never believed PE teachers at school who used to ay "the more exercise, the more energy" and "the more effort you put in the more you will enjoy it". I hereby apologise to all PE teachers for not beieving.

My knees and feet used to hurt a lot, but as the weight has come off and my muscles have got stronger that has stopped (unless I do something silly!). I have to exercise every day because a) once I start using the "fat girl" excuses I'll give up and b) because it gives me extra calories for "naughty" things.

I have a fitness DVD which breaks into small sections - 20-25 mins - and I do one EVERY morning before breakfast. Its not high impact - they even show you the way to do it if you're unfit - so I'm not pouring with sweat, but it gets me moving for the day (even if I feel a bit stiff). I walk to and from work, and unless its pouring do a walk at lunchtime - only 15-25 mins, again nothing sweaty. That gives me an hour to an hour 20 every day without having to do anything drastic. Then when I get home out comes another exercsie DVD, and I might mix a bit of aerobic and toning exercises (25-45 mins), otherwise I get out Wii Zumba (now that IS sweaty!), then have a nice bath and I'm ready for dinner and a relaxing evening.

I'm looking out longing for my walk, and planning what I'll do when I get home tonight. And my Zumba class is an absolute highlight -I get excited the night before! Find something you enjoy doing and build up - as you lose weight and become more flexible there may be other things you can try which you enjoy.

If you eat at a deficit you will lose. If you eat at a deficit and exercise your body will look better for it at the end.:happy:

Maybe try some swimming for a change if possible? It might be less painful without putting your weight on your hip, and help you relax instead while still burning decent calories. I find it a lot more enjoyable than standing on a treadmill anyway.
Best of luck!
Tom

Great idea. Or maybe a water aerobics class to take pressure off the joints.

^^^ This. I have a bad knee so virtually all my exercise is in the pool. I do an aquafit once a week and it is great fun. We are all mature ladies and have a good laugh as well as a good workout.

excercise is NOT!!! needed to lose weight, you will not lose any quicker safely excercising more, unless you are not eating back excercise calories.

a calorie defacit is what makes you lose weight, and excercise can be used to make it easier to attain this. what i mean is if you are going by MFP, and you need to NET 1500 calories a day, adding a 500 calorie burn will allow you to eat 2000 calories TOTAL for that day while still only NETting 1500. BONUS! to maintain, you need to eat 2500 calories, this translates into a 1000 calorie deficit every day, for a week, this will allow you to loose 2lbs a week SAFELY.

^this is just an example.

if you are following TDEE -20% -15% or whatever, excercise is already included in the calculation, you eat a FLAT amount of calories a day acording to your activity level and dont track your excercise.

excercise has the added benifit of increasing overall health, fitness strength and body composition.

each to there own, if you dont want to excercise, fine, but alot of people would still recommend lifting to retain muscle mass.

absolutely not, totally upto you. Doctors just suggest 30mins a day at a minimum cause alot of people are completely imobile alot of the day and thats the opposite end of the scale, aslong as you are moving going about daily activities that still counts as some exercise and has an effect on your body

It's not necessary to exercise at all provided you control your food intake.
Exercise enhances the burns, improves cardiovascular, builds muscle and tones. Not exercising at best just loses weight if you under-eat what your body needs to maintain itself, however you'd lose weight at a very reduced rate and you can't gain muscle

I do 6 days a week but thats cause it's habit now and i love the feeling at the end of a good workout. It's also paying off big time in toning my body and improved fitness 100 fold. But as you lose weight and improve fitness (not including gaining muscle) the same workouts don't contribute as much so either gotta increase the workout or just make do with a lower result at the end.

on my rest day i try do little so the body can recover and i eat just enough to not be starving.
If i have more then 1 rest day i feel guilty but the body responds positively when i next train. just last week had to miss 3 days due to the flu and blocked sinuses so couldn't breathe anyway or i woulda toughed it out. on the 4th day i went back to the gym and my body has totally recovered from the niggling aches and pains and i had my best workout in over a month despite a migrane.

In terms of general weight loss (i.e.. from a medically obese or overweight state) exercise (though important) is highly overrated.

The only reason someone would "need" to exercise in order to loose weight is if they are eating too many calories and need to burn some off to create their deficit. From personal experience if this were the case I would seriously consider looking at the foods we are eating as it should be easily possible to eat well under a persons calorie count without feeling hungry or deprived.

The figures change depending on the quote but the usual one is something like weight loss is 70-80% diet. And by diet it means eating the right foods, not starving yourself. I lost 32 pounds in three months without exercise. Now I exercise but because I enjoy sport not to lose weight.

disclaimer - I am not anti-exercise I just think people have been conned into believing its a prerequisite for weight loss which it in no way is!

Have you tried taking classes? Or taken up strength training? Cycling? There has to be something that you find fun that is also exercise. And no, you don't have to do it EVERYDAY to improve your health. I really dislike going to the gym just to get on the elliptical. It BORES me to death, even when I have music to listen to. So I go to Zumba, and during the break in classes, I am adding lap swimming/water walking during the break in classes & then the 30 DS. You can do it- good luck!!!

-Kendra

I don't exercise everyday... Im lazy honestly, I walk when I feel like it (or when my child is restless and needs a change of scenery). Im on about 1535 calories and I've lost 27lbs so far Loss will probably happen faster if you walk or something daily but as long as there is a deficit in your calories you will be ok. At least thats what everyone says lol