Can't Exercise - Help needed

Hi there!

Could you please tell us your current weight and height? Thanks!

I have a lot of chronic pain problems, mostly hips, legs and lower back. I have found videos on youtube for easy yoga stretches and low impact aerobics that don't cause problems for me. Just do a search on youtube and look through them until you find one that looks doable. And only do what's comfortable. If you can't complete the whole thing at first that's ok, just as long as you keep moving and keep trying.

The way MFP is set up if you meet your calorie goal you should still be able to lose weight even without exercising. If your daily job type activity has changed from lightly active or higher you may consider moving to sedentary.

Obviously different factors come into play with this, but, yes, it is possible to lose weight even when you cannot exercise. Even if you are inactive, if you eat less than your daily caloric requirement you will lose weight over time. I can speak to the truthfulness of this because I am 61 and have a chronic illness that completely prevents me from exercising, other than just moving around in the house a little bit. I spend the majority of my time either lying down or sitting down. I have to use a wheelchair/transport chair/walker whenever I go anywhere, so I don't even get the benefit of walking around stores or any other place, usually. But I have been losing weight for the past few months.

I just recently started tracking with MyFitnessPal.com. I lost 35 pounds last year, partly due to a medication change and partly due to eating less. My weight-loss stalled about a year ago and I thought that because I'm not able to exercise that I was not going to lose anymore weight at all, ever. But, my primary care physician encouraged me to watch what I eat and also told me that even with my level of inactivity it was possible to lose weight; I just needed to watch my calorie intake and focus more on vegetables. He suggested eating Vegan but I am more of a flexitarian. I followed his suggestions to watch what I eat and in the last month I have lost another 5 pounds. I feel very encouraged by these results and I'm not having any trouble at all resuming my healthy way of eating and tracking, something I did seven years ago that resulted in a 50 pound weight loss and being size 8 again for the first time in 30 years. Then I got sick again and gained those 50 back and more, but now I am back to where I was when I started losing the 50 pounds and I am convinced that I can lose what I need to again.

So stick with it and don't give up. Your results might be slower because you're not as active and your body may not be toned and shaped the way you want, but you will lose weight. And the suggestions for chair exercise and water aerobics are great, if you can handle either.

The way MFP is set up if you meet your calorie goal you should still be able to lose weight even without exercising. If your daily job type activity has changed from lightly active or higher you may consider moving to sedentary.

^^^^ This. If you eat at a deficit you don't need to exercise. 90% of weight loss comes from your food intake, exercise is mostly for fitness and muscle development.

Water workouts (swimming, aqua jogging, water aerobics, etc) are GREAT for people with joint issues, because there is not only no impact, but the buoyancy of the water takes all of the load off your joints.

That said, your diet is key. You could do all the workouts in the world, but if you overeat, you'll still gain weight. As they say, you can't out exercise a bad diet. While you're healing, focus on your diet.

I am sure you will love this, but you could still do situps and possibly classic pushups. Those aren't my first choices of exercise, but they should avoid straining your knees and every bit helps.

You can absolutely lose weight without exercise. Diet is the most important thing in achieving weight loss. Diet and exercise together are the best possible scenario, but if you exercise alone, you will NOT lose weight. So don't despair! Watch those calories, and when you are feeling up to it, slowly add in exercise to help tone your body. Good luck!

Hello. At my largest weight (565) I had serious back issues. I had trouble losing without exercise as you seem to be experiencing. After struggling for a while someone suggested walking in a swimming pool at the Y. That is what got me started and I was able to progress to walking outside to bike riding and finally running. Just the walking in the pool was enough to help me get started losing. Best of luck to you!

yes, you can lose by not exercising. The question is WHY would you want to not make your muscles stronger to take the stress off the knees? Google exercises for knee pain. They have amazing stretches and things you can do.

I can speak from experience on KNEE issues. I am 58 (twice your age), diabetic, hypothroid. I tore my right ACL about 6 years ago and did not have surgery. I have arthritis in BOTH knees. Last year I began working out at gym on the machines. I did very light weights on my legs and the stretches from the internet. They got stronger. I walked more. Then I progressed (slowly raising weights) from the treadmill to the elliptical. I was feeling better, still suffering mostly at night with the knee pain. Knees didn;t really hurt when I worked out, only when I sat too long or tried to sleep.

I got sick in November with a series of colds and then ended up with the flu in December. Anyway, I did not hit the gym or do ANY exercise for 3 months By the third month, I was dang near suicidal from lack of sleep. My knees were at the most painful than they have been in my entire life. I was starting to panic that I would be in a wheel chair by 60. Now I had lost 40 pounds last year and gained by 15 while sick and inactive In Feb, I decided that no matter how much it hurt, I would exercise again because I remembered feeling better last year. I started slowly and regained what I had lost in strength. I changed my diet, lost over 30 more pounds.

I added more and more weight training and my legs have gotten very strong and so have my knees. They still bother me...arthritis and torn acl does not disappear. But guess what, I have added jogging intervals to my walks. My knees still bug me...mostly if I sit to long or driving the car. They dont hurt me when I exercise...go figure!

Anyway, the less you move your joints, the more sore they feel ALL THE TIME. For me, anyway! I just spent last Saturday dancing the night away for hours at my Grand Daugher's wedding. Sunday, the knees screamed at me a little. Monday, they shut up.

Start moving. Do what you can do. The pool advice is the best to start with. Look up the exercises. I found out that if your glutes are tight, they pull your knees out of line, causing more pain. Stretch your legs and glutes. After pool walking helps you get stronger, get on the treadmill. Go slow in small increments until you get stronger. Keep stretching. Slowly add weight training. You knees will only get better if you give them stronger legs to support them.

Good Luck. Pain can't be the reason you don't try. Exercise is critical unless your doctor told you not to for some reason we don't know. Ask your doctor if he will prescribe physical therapy. Maybe that is a good place to start.