Opinions on weight loss with NO excercise?

Villae81 wrote: »

Want to lose weight without putting physical effort? that's just lazy -.-

No. There's all sorts of reasons why someone may not exercise. And exercise actually has very little to do with weight loss.

There have been some great answers here, and from them I just want to echo that for weight loss alone you simply need a caloric deficit, and that can be achieved without exercise. For fitness purposes, exercise is important, and for health you need a nutritious diet, which takes more than just calories into consideration.

If you find that you want to compete in some sort of bodybuilding or figure/physique event, it can get a bit more technical. Weight lifting and high intensity interval training are basically required to cut down to very low body fat percentages while retaining as much muscle as possible. For most, though, dietary changes are all that's truly needed for weight loss.

Villae81 wrote: »

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

Villae81 wrote: »

Want to lose weight without putting physical effort? that's just lazy -.-

No. There's all sorts of reasons why someone may not exercise. And exercise actually has very little to do with weight loss.

Technically it doesn't but if you weigh a ton and out of shape and you lose the weight with no form of exercise then you just weigh less than a ton and still out of shape. It goes hand in hand most people lose weight to get fitter and healthier

To call people lazy because they're not doing this whole thing in a way that you think is the 'correct' way is really rude.

I have never had an interest in 'getting in shape', and that's never been a goal of mine. However, getting a high glucose number out of the prediabetes range was, and I accomplished that goal by losing 50lbs with a calorie reduction plan. Now 3 years into maintenance I have consistent good blood work panels (my glucose number has stabilized into the 80s), and I'm in great health by every health marker my doctor uses. Exercise hasn't been a factor in my improved health-eating less calories was.

I lost my first thirty pounds when I was basically sedentary. I got big health gains from that weight loss too, including lower blood pressure, better glucose numbers, and lowered cholesterol.

What I got from exercise is about 200 calories wiggle room in my diet, greater stamina, strength, and mobility.

Weight loss got me in to a different dress size. Exercise (activities I enjoy) put the pink in my cheeks.

Personally, I've never seen where losing weight by dieting without exercise was outright advised against. It is entirely possible to lose weight without adding an exercise regimen to your normal activity level.

Dedicated exercise simply helps by increasing the calorie deficit. This helps by either increasing the rate weight is lost or by letting you eat more while losing at the current rate.

For example, my sedentary TDEE is 2486 calories. If I wanted to lose a pound a week, my goal is 1986 calories. If I eat the same amount but move more, I lose weight faster. Alternatively, by having a dedicated exercise program, my TDEE jumps up to 3211, meaning that I can lose a pound a week while eating 2711 calories a day. As a result, I'm losing weight while usually looking to find MORE food to reach my goal instead of focusing on avoiding it.


So it is entirely possible to lose weight without adding exercise. And as long as you're not flirting with malnutrition or nutrient deficiencies, it's perfectly safe. Exercise simply gives you options with the added benefit of establishing a habit that can help improve overall health and well being beyond simple weight control.

Yes it can be done. But I have found that when I am not exercises, even though I get to a reasonable scale number goal, I am still very flabby. Exercise is important for FAT loss, not only weight loss. If I weight 140 pounds and have 30% body fat percent, I'm not going to be very happy, I want to be under 25% body fat percent.

Tweaking_Time wrote: »

I did it recovering from a surgery that laid me up for quite a while. However, once I got back to goal weight I still had a gut...even though was at the exact weight I was before my injury. Now that I am far enough into recovery, I am working out again to get rid of the gut.

Moral of this story: Diet AND exercise will make you look better than diet alone.

I don't have a gut, even without exercise (my profile picture is recent). Looks are pretty subjective though-I'm actually pretty happy with how I look, especially considering that I'm almost 38 years old, have lost a lot of weight and I've also gone through 3 pregnancies.

We each need to figure out what works for us and then focus on that, keeping in mind that we're all different

ReaderGirl3 wrote: »

Tweaking_Time wrote: »

I did it recovering from a surgery that laid me up for quite a while. However, once I got back to goal weight I still had a gut...even though was at the exact weight I was before my injury. Now that I am far enough into recovery, I am working out again to get rid of the gut.

Moral of this story: Diet AND exercise will make you look better than diet alone.

I don't have a gut, even without exercise (my profile picture is recent). Looks are pretty subjective though-I'm actually pretty happy with how I look, especially considering that I'm almost 38 years old, have lost a lot of weight and I've also gone through 3 pregnancies.

We each need to figure out what works for us and then focus on that, keeping in mind that we're all different

Nope - you don't have a gut - quite the opposite - you look very slim and trim. Congrats on that. You must be one of the lucky ones.

But I still stand by my earlier comment that diet and exercise will make you look better than just diet alone. But I will concede that there are always exceptions to any generalization.

I also agree that each person should find what works for them.

Cheers!