Can you loose weight without working out?

buttonb
buttonb Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey,

Please no lectures, I despise working out and every time I start a new workout Routine i fall off the wagon. I just loose heart n give up but if I don't push myself to workout I generally diet longer,

Has anyone had success doing minimal excerise.

Replies

  • howardheilweil
    howardheilweil Posts: 604 Member
    You don't need to work out to lose weight. Just follow the calorie deficit set by MFP. That said, you should find some exercise that you don't mind doing... Walking?
  • pobalita
    pobalita Posts: 741 Member
    Yes, you can lose without exercise.

    No, I have not had success that way.

    I have fallen off the wagon many times. The key is to keep trying until you find something you like.
  • buttonb
    buttonb Posts: 15
    Yes I was walking all summer, mostly to get my baby fresh air but its now getting too cold so i don't know what to do for the winter.
  • PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot
    PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot Posts: 596 Member
    Absolutely. Many people (myself included) feel that diet is more responsible for weight loss than exercise is.
  • brynnsmom
    brynnsmom Posts: 945 Member
    Has anyone had success doing minimal exercise.

    I have. I believe you can be successful with good diet alone. Not to say that I don't ever exercise, I'm just not a gym goer or the type who can log 400+ calorie burns in a day. I like to walk, and ride bikes, but nothing overly strenuous. I will say that I am relatively active, on my feet a lot caring for my daughter and tending to household chores. You should make an effort to just move more, any way that you can! But staying within your calorie target is what will help you the most.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I can't lose weight without working out because I just can't sustain eating that little. But it is possible.

    It is unlikely that you'll remain healthy as you age without exercise though.
  • youngcaseyr
    youngcaseyr Posts: 293 Member
    You could definitely lose weight, but you would most likely end up being "skinny fat": not fat, but also not in shape. You can also, technically lose weight eating only junk food, but that doesn't mean it's good for you.

    But yes. To answer your question: you can lose without actual exercise. But if you hate everything else, I suggest that you at least try just walking. It doesn't even have to be all at the same time- check out pedometer applications if you have a smartphone and there are a few that turn it into a game and try to help you reach daily or weekly goals (1 mile, 2 miles, 2,000 steps, 3,000 steps, etc).
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
    absolutely!

    if JUST dropping fat is all that you want, all you really need is a calorie defecit.

    If the primary goal is health, or to change the shape of your body, you have to exercise
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
    no the weight will cling tightly regardless is you shake it or not , but to lose weight , and keep it off, yes you need to exercise in some form to maintain the caloric deficit...

    now for loose weight ... try yoga pants
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Weight loss is 100% about calorie deficit which can simply be built into your diet by eating less. That's what MFP does...your calorie goal is a weight loss goal that doesn't account for any exercise...

    That said, to be healthy you really need to move and exercise.
  • kelleybean1
    kelleybean1 Posts: 312 Member
    Yes, but a smaller marshmallow is still a marshmallow.
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    Your definition, might be totally different from somebody else.
  • lucan07
    lucan07 Posts: 509
    I lost the first 30lbs with no exercise (following major surgery) by eating properly alone, then the next 34 by exercising also, the exercise is not strictly necessary but the benefits are worth the effort. I feel better have far more energy and now enjoy the workouts,
  • swindsong
    swindsong Posts: 8
    I only managed to loose weight without working out when I was on Keckwick diet. (Don't do it, it's too extreme)
    Otherwise, you can loose weight but as you are not active you have to eat far less and as the previous poster stated you are going to be saggy.
    My experience is that the only time I really lost weight, 28 kgs, when I was exercising every day about 90-120 minutes and reduced the amount of food I ate, but I didnt avoid anything.
    For me the calorie targets here seem way too much. I can only 'shrink' when I eat about 1000-1100 cal a day AND exercising.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    Losing weight without strength exercise tends to lose more muscle along with the fat lost, too, so that kind of sucks. I pretty much have to exercise (not just cardio) to lose weight, although I also had success on a low glycemic diet (I have insulin issues). I don't know my body composition like that, but I did get slimmer, which was nice :)
  • ballerina_tea
    ballerina_tea Posts: 41 Member
    I've done it...too many times. I imagine it'll help a lot with maintenance though, as even 100 calories burned a day can effect your weight a lot over time. Or you could just eat less.
  • buttonb
    buttonb Posts: 15
    Ugh I'm gonna have to take up jogging or d likes, I don't even know where to start with it.
  • JustAnotherGirlSuzanne
    JustAnotherGirlSuzanne Posts: 932 Member
    Yup, you can lose weight without exercise. Personally, I think diet is more important than exercise in terms of weight loss. But if you're talking health and appearance, you're going to eventually want to take up a cardio exercise and a strength building exercise.

    On another note, the more working out you do the more you get to eat. This can save you from cheat days and from being hungry on a 1200 calorie diet.
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    Absolutely you can lose weight without exercise. As many people have already mentioned, all it takes for a weight loss is a deficit in calories.

    When I started to lose weight (this time round) I started off with no exercise. I just stuck to the calories set by MFP. That was in May of this year, now I have a gym membership and I go swimming 4 evenings a week. The more weight I lost, the more determined to succeed I became, the more things I started doing to accelerate the process.

    Give it time - just stick to a calorie deficit, then over time, as you see results, you may feel compelled to step it up a little, in order to get the desired results quicker.

    Good luck!
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    I've lost all my weight so far with calorie reduction and just little bit of walking. I walk a 1/2 hour on my lunch hour three days a week and try to get a longer walk in on the weekends. Now that I'm getting closer to my goal weight I'm trying to firm things up a bit more so I'm starting to do squats, sit-ups and push-ups. I found I really needed to focus on figuring out this new way of eating and when I tried to throw exercising at it as well I was more frustrated with the scale and felt so much pressure.
  • JustAnotherGirlSuzanne
    JustAnotherGirlSuzanne Posts: 932 Member
    Ugh I'm gonna have to take up jogging or d likes, I don't even know where to start with it.

    Start with walking. Take your significant other for a walk around the block instead of going out to a movie or coffee date. Or you can take your kids or neices/nephews with you and stop at a park if you're tired halfway through. It's fun, a great way to connect with people, and it's a lot easier than jogging! Eventually you can work your way up to jogging if you'd like. :)
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    Only a reasonable calorie deficit is needed to reduce fat mass. However, exercise is rather vital in the maintenance stage. With that said, why wait until maintenance to find something you can do a few days a week? Many communities have recreational sports and activities all-year-round that would get you out of the house. Maybe if you realize all the benefits of exercise pre and post-weight loss, you'll get over your dismissal of it. I don't necessarily enjoy everything I do exercise-wise and there are some days I just want to get it over with; but when aware of all the great things it does for me, I just go for it.
  • yoouperh
    yoouperh Posts: 68 Member
    Just an idea but start by getting up and jogging in place a few times during your TV time. I do it every day now, because I know I love the TV, I want to eat and I want to build a cushion into my day just in case I need more food!
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    Just to add, swimming is great, it doesn't even feel like exercise. I enjoy doing it and could, if time permitted, stay in there all day without feeling overly exhausted. I strap my HRM on, and on average, over an hour, I burn around 600 calories (MFP grossly overestimates calorie burns, a HRM is a far better means of measuring your calorie burn)

    Also, it took me about a week of mental preparation to pluck up the courage to get in the swimming pool, because I'm fat. Now, I just stroll in there, totally oblivious to the people that AREN'T looking at me!

    Anyway, once again - good luck!
  • Rerun201
    Rerun201 Posts: 125 Member
    My $.02 worth.

    You can lose weight simply by dieting. It is actually the most effective way to do so. Trying to lose weight through exercise alone isn't all that smart. Figure on average most people burn just over 100 calories for every mile traveled on foot. Losing 1 pound of fat per week through exercise means about 5 miles per day, everyday (using the long standing 1 lb. of fat = 3,500 cal equation).

    It is much easier to cut that daily 500 calories through diet (cut one Krispy Kreme per day and you'd probably be close).

    Dieting is the most efficient way to get to the weight you want to be at, but in my view, exercise determines how that weight looks. If all you want is to weigh 125 lbs, then diet the excess off. IF you want to weigh 125 and look like Jillian Michaels (I picked her because of the ad I see on the screen next to this), you're going to have to exercise, no other way around that.

    Arnold Schwrazenegger said in Pumping Iron something about bodybuilders being sculptors, adding muscle here or there to make their bodies more symmetrical and proportional. My translation and application of this: dieting determines the amount of clay in your sculpture; exercise and genetics determines how that sculpture will look.

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