Losing without Exercise

nalanisheils
nalanisheils Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been tracking food steadily for 5 weeks and I have lost 10lbs, which is a small portion of my 70lb loss goal. Between work, kids and a 2 hour commute exercise hasn't been in the cards. I will walk for 20 minutes at lunch, but that's about it. I do want to exercise, especially to tone, but is my weight loss ok without exercise? Am I losing fat or muscle. I don't want a big surprise once I do add exercise in. Thanks for any advice you might have!

Replies

  • jvbrooks
    jvbrooks Posts: 82 Member
    10 lbs in 5 weeks is pretty good. Odds are a lot of that is water weight but that's fine.

    What you might want to do is get your body fat % measured, before and after. Odds are you're shedding more fat than muscle, though.
  • nattastic
    nattastic Posts: 3
    I've lost a total of 23 lbs in 3.5 months with calorie cutting alone. My MS and my busy schedule don't allow for much exercise, so don't worry about it for now. :) Your loss is great considering your busy life. I know I'm going to reach a point where I'll plateau without exercise, but I'll cross that bridge then.
  • lovinmyselfagain
    lovinmyselfagain Posts: 307 Member
    Weight loss is actually MORE about what you eat than exercising. So yes, you can lose weight without exercise, just like you've already been doing. Exercise helps with your cardiovascular health, toning/muscle development, etc...So keep eating healthy and add more cardio/strength training when you are able. Eating mostly healthy and exercising is the key to living a healthier lifestyle. I can tell you just because a person is smaller than you, doesn't necessarily mean they are in better shape than you. When I was 200lbs I could still exercise at a higher intensity and longer than my petite teenager. She could barely get passed the warm-up phase in most of my workout videos. So even though I was obese at the time, I was still in better cardiovascular condition than she was. Weighing less is good. Weighing less and having a stronger heart, more muscle, etc., is better.

    Edited to say, that if you are short on time, look into interval/circuit training. You can get a good workout in 20-30 minutes if you add low or high intensity interval training to your routine.

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