Weight Loss without exercise?

Therealobi1 wrote: »

dykask wrote: »

Therealobi1 wrote: »

dykask wrote: »

Therealobi1 wrote: »

dykask wrote: »

wally2wiki wrote: »

Last year, I lost 56lbs in four months with absolutely no cardio or weight training at all.

This summer, the scale barely budges on diet alone.

I think you don't need exercise (technically), but but some exercise along with cardio is good preventing plateaus.

Exercise doesn't prevent plateaus and in-fact you can gain weight from exercise pretty easily. I spent two years working out harder and harder. I got a bit slimmer but gained 2kg (5lbs) over those years. Many days I was doing 1000+ kc workouts.

When you workout you build lean body mass and have a host of other changes in your body. It is all generally good, but exercise can be counter-productive if weight loss is your goal.

* In the first 12 months or so of working out, mostly short HIIT type workouts I lost about 18 kg (30 lbs). Often my workout was only 10 to 15 minutes. My waist dropped down to about 109 cm. (Probably from 130 cm?)

* When my weight loss stalled I really pored on the exercise, partly because I was in good enough shape to do it. I gained about 1 kg per year but my waist slowly dropped about 3 cm / year. I really suffered from hunger too, it was actually pretty horrible.

* About six months ago I cut most added sugar in my diet and my weight plunged about 1.5 kg / month. My waist went from 103 cm to 86 cm. The drop is still on-going but I've been adding complex carbs and Omega-3 fats to my diet. I've also started using some smaller eating windows making sure I have 12 to 16 hours a day where I'm not eating. Because of injuries I've backed off of exercise at least temporary but I still maintaining. The best part is my hunger these days is very mild when I have it. If you are fighting hunger you might not be working with your body.

So for me, fat loss isn't just about calorie reduction and exercising more. In fact that simply stopped working for me. What is working is:
* Avoiding sugar and eating heathier foods. I don't even worry about overeating now, I just eat enough to be full.
* Giving my body a good rest between feeding.
* Constantly mixing things up a bit. (Changing diet, exercise patterns.)

My primary goal now is to lower my insulin levels and hopefully reduce insulin resistance I may have. Lower insulin works out to having lower body fat. There are more hormones involved, insulin is just the driver with fat storage. While you need insulin to build muscles you don't need much of it. Most of us in this modern world have way too much that that can lead to Type 2 Diabetes and a host of other metabolic issues. Metabolic diseases like T2D are now the leading cause of death worldwide.

Exercise has amazing positive impacts on lean body mass, cardiovascular function and hormone levels. It is a very good thing, but it isn't the main driver in weight loss. What you eat and when you eat it are probably much more important for weight loss. It doesn't matter that much if you eat 1 meal or 10 meals, it is just giving your body time to recover from eating. Probably everyone should have at least 12 hours of not eating a day. That used to be standard in the US when I was a kid and back in the 1960's people were a lot slimmer then in the US.

Yes when asleep until next meal

Sure if you sleep 12 hours a night. In the modern world, many people sleep less than 7 hours a night. That causes multiple problems.
* It doesn't let your fasting levels of hormones get as low as they should be.
* It greatly increases cortisol which in turn causes more insulin to be produced.

Not enough sleep can definitely destroy one weight loss efforts.

My fitbit says I sleep 5 hours. I don't sleep well haven't in years. But from the time I have dinner to the next time I eat @12 hours pass
Anyway I find if I stick to my calories I lose or maintain if I don't I put on weight

In fact for about 5% of people that diet, calorie reduction seems to work well long term. Most of us have to struggle with it. You should count your self lucky instead of just implying that others are lazy gluttons.

I never said that at all remember I have been obese and I absolutely hate exercise. I have to force myself to do it. I only do it as I am of an age I don't want any bone issues.
I am cancelling my gym membership next week funny enough but not for reasons above. But somehow I will make it work and go back to exercising at home.

Now what ever guilt you are feeling don't try and push it on me.

I am not special no one is special i just keep trying so not to pile it all back on.

Francl27 wrote: »

healthy491 wrote: »

You can and its possible but I advice that you try to find some time for some cardio , especially when you reach your goal and switch to maintenance. During maintenance , I am allowed 1600 calories without exercise , I do 45 mins of cardio and have 2000 calories So It does make a difference in my opinion

I agree with this... but at the same time, exercise makes you hungrier, so...

It depends a lot on your general activity too, whether you're just sitting all day or walking around.