"You can lose weight without working out". YES. But...
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kshama2001 wrote: »JustMissTracy wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
Well, for one, when I walk alone I pick up poop absolutely never.
And the dogs are always wanting to stop and sniff stuff. Without them I just walk solid without stopping.
LOL..mine too. He needs to smell every leaf, every bush, every car....
Well, my husky WANTED to stop and smell everything we still accomplished brisk walks despite what he wanted
Before we got hit with this ice/snow crap, I was starting to run Harley. We just got him 4 weeks ago, his owner died, and the people who took the other two dogs couldn't have a third. So it was us or he was going to the pound. But he was heavy, and obviously hadn't been walked or played with much (his owner was bedridden for months, and apparently the dogs used to just lay in bed with her all day). Sad story. Anywho...the week before the snow hit I had him running with me on our walks...just little jaunts, but he totally loved it!
He's a beagle/dunno mix.....this pic was taken the day we got him, and I've been walking him 3-5 times a day since...he's slimmed down abit (as have I...hmm....connection?)
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Tacklewasher wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
Well, for one, when I walk alone I pick up poop absolutely never.
And the dogs are always wanting to stop and sniff stuff. Without them I just walk solid without stopping.
This is my biggest issue with my dog. I usually have to take 2 separate walks -- one purposeful brisk walk sans dog and then one foot-dragging, poop picking up, stop and sniff everything stroll. But that's just the way my dog is -- all dogs are different!2 -
diannethegeek wrote: »Hungry_Shopgirl wrote: »I 100% agree that being in a calorie deficit is all it takes to lose weight.
But when I read on the boards people telling others who are struggling to make time to work out "You don't need exercise to lose weight" I cringe a little....mostly because in my own case it all started with exercise.
I started swimming, and wanted to be better at it so I took up C25K, then figured eating better would probably help with both, bringing me to the calorie deficit that put me into the "normal weight" BMI for the first time in my adult life. Even now, exercising is the engine for me. If I'm working out, I WANT to eat well. If not, I don't care.
So perhaps there are other "latent" athletes out there for whom the advice to make time to work out could be the trigger that changes everything, and we're discouraging that by saying "Nah, don't worry about it, just eat less".
Thoughts?
Personally, I like that posts get a variety of advice. Coming here helped to dispell a lot of the mysteries around weight loss that I'd been holding onto and hearing things like "you don't necessarily have to exercise" helped me take a step back and feel like I was in control of this process instead of the other way around. I did choose to continue exercising, but knowing it was a choice and not a requirement empowered me. It would be great if those here who don't like the advice being given could jump in and add their own experiences on those threads instead of trying to dictate how the rest of us give advice.
This. The other phrase I heard here that resonated was, "You can't outrun a bad diet."
I lost 100 lbs without exercise. I did not stick with exercise when I was heavier - I was too self-conscious, even when exercising at home to a DVD. Having a trainer, even on TV, say there were no excuses for not being able to do certain moves when I could, in fact, come up with plenty (back problems - from yoga, no less - which led to months of physical therapy, nerve damage in my hands, a surgically repaired foot, etc.) was discouraging, and led to thoughts of "I'll never be that good because I am limited in ways those people are not." Reading some of the posts on these boards can be discouraging because they are full of suggestions that, even 100 lbs later, are medically beyond my abilities (i.e., lifting weights, jogging, swimming, yoga). Additionally, this semester was awful in terms of time - we're short two people at work, which meant me trying to fit 80+ hours of work into 50 to 60 hours per week spent in the office, plus 14 hours of graduate school classes a week. There was a long two months there where I got about five and a half hours of sleep per night. I did not have 20 minutes to go for a walk. I ate breakfast and lunch at my desk; two or three times a week, I ate dinner at my desk, as well. Every minute of every day was accounted for; 20 minutes of exercise would have meant going down to about five hours of sleep per night, and I could not have survived this semester on that; the mental benefits of 20 minutes of sleep greatly outweighed any physical benefits of a 20 minute walk.
I do have the time and the capability to log what I eat, and that is.... well, I'm not sure it's empowering, but it made a difference; it's something I can do. I can use a food scale. I can putter around with my food choices such that I meet my calorie and macro balance goals - it's sort of like playing Jenga with food; I can do that. I can log my food and then pack breakfast and lunch the night before, so I have time in my 50+ hour workweek / PhD candidate / mother of three small children schedule to eat and still maintain a calorie deficit. Sometimes you have to work with people where they are.11 -
diannethegeek wrote: »Hungry_Shopgirl wrote: »I 100% agree that being in a calorie deficit is all it takes to lose weight.
But when I read on the boards people telling others who are struggling to make time to work out "You don't need exercise to lose weight" I cringe a little....mostly because in my own case it all started with exercise.
I started swimming, and wanted to be better at it so I took up C25K, then figured eating better would probably help with both, bringing me to the calorie deficit that put me into the "normal weight" BMI for the first time in my adult life. Even now, exercising is the engine for me. If I'm working out, I WANT to eat well. If not, I don't care.
So perhaps there are other "latent" athletes out there for whom the advice to make time to work out could be the trigger that changes everything, and we're discouraging that by saying "Nah, don't worry about it, just eat less".
Thoughts?
Personally, I like that posts get a variety of advice. Coming here helped to dispell a lot of the mysteries around weight loss that I'd been holding onto and hearing things like "you don't necessarily have to exercise" helped me take a step back and feel like I was in control of this process instead of the other way around. I did choose to continue exercising, but knowing it was a choice and not a requirement empowered me. It would be great if those here who don't like the advice being given could jump in and add their own experiences on those threads instead of trying to dictate how the rest of us give advice.
I also like posters getting a variety of advice. And often times, this advice comes after someone posts that they have been injured, or have a long term illness, and are afraid they will gain the weight back. So it is nice for everyone to be reminded that you don't have to exercise to lose weight.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
Well, for one, when I walk alone I pick up poop absolutely never.
And the dogs are always wanting to stop and sniff stuff. Without them I just walk solid without stopping.
I always stop when I'm running and pet the doggies. I also have to stop for traffic lights.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog? Are you seriously saying that walking a dog doesn't require effort and improve physical and mental factors?
Note: I don't own a dog, but I have walked my grandparent's shepherd when I was younger.
We walk our dogs because the dogs need exercise as well. So the 4 of us get exercise (2 people, 2 dogs).
And I really don't care if how it is labelled. It burns 200-300 calories and get me out moving.
And look how happy your dog is!2 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
Well, for one, when I walk alone I pick up poop absolutely never.
And the dogs are always wanting to stop and sniff stuff. Without them I just walk solid without stopping.
I always stop when I'm running and pet the doggies. I also have to stop for traffic lights.
I stop too on my walks. In one direction I have traffic lights. In the other direction I walk along the river and a lake. I walk briskly for a while and then I stop to enjoy the scenery. My time varies from a 4.0 to a 3.0. I don't worry about it...I am getting some exercise and enjoying life at the same time.
I sometimes wish I had a dog to go with me.
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Hungry_Shopgirl wrote: »I 100% agree that being in a calorie deficit is all it takes to lose weight.
But when I read on the boards people telling others who are struggling to make time to work out "You don't need exercise to lose weight" I cringe a little....mostly because in my own case it all started with exercise.
I started swimming, and wanted to be better at it so I took up C25K, then figured eating better would probably help with both, bringing me to the calorie deficit that put me into the "normal weight" BMI for the first time in my adult life. Even now, exercising is the engine for me. If I'm working out, I WANT to eat well. If not, I don't care.
So perhaps there are other "latent" athletes out there for whom the advice to make time to work out could be the trigger that changes everything, and we're discouraging that by saying "Nah, don't worry about it, just eat less".
Thoughts?
I am similar to you in that I tend to find exercise/fitness a motivator and something that helps me eat better.
BUT, I didn't find people saying "you don't have to work out to lose" a de-motivator, but simply a truth. You don't. I wanted to and knew if I was more active I could also maintain while eating more, eventually. So I am not critical of those statements at all. I don't think anyone is telling people who want to exercise not to worry about it.
I also was out of shape when I started, so knowing I didn't have to do things I couldn't yet or make myself miserable was helpful; I worked my way up and did a lot of walking. In the past I had sometimes started too intensely with exercise as a focus instead of an overall plan and burned myself out. I also found, for me, that controlling diet was important and also allowed for much faster weight loss (with the fitness goals serving as motivation). When I have tried to avoid controlling my eating with "I'll just work out/run more" it hasn't really worked for me.3 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I always stop when I'm running and pet the doggies. I also have to stop for traffic lights.
AWWW
That's one nice thing about running or walking outside...you get to see all those adorable doggies.
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ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
You did not read the entire comment or you choose not to understand. Putting forth a greater effort in PURPOSEFUL exercise is NOT the same as a walk with a dog or with out a dog at a slower pace using less effort. Again, you know that. You just want to argue with someone.
Calories in, calories out. eat less, move more. I'm not sure what there is to argue about here? If you move, you burn calories, who cares if it's not the same activity you choose to do? Who cares if its not the same effort you choose to do it at? We are all different and need to find activity in whatever form we can fit into our lives.
Yes, this.
I'd add "who cares if it is not the REASON you choose to do it."
When I started in Jan '14, it was EASIER for me to convince myself to get in a good amount of activity when it was cold and I was out of shape by framing it in terms of going places -- I will walk to the green market and back (3 miles each way) or even I will always walk to church (1.25 miles) vs. drive, always walk to WF (1 mile) vs. drive, stuff like that -- rather than "time to go for an hour long walk outside just for exercise." The activity was the same (and you can bet it was brisk given how freaking cold it was.
Saying "doesn't count because not for the purpose of calorie burn" seems weird and wrong to me, and mostly just not helpful.
And for the record I exercise quite a bit now, and since that start have done (among many other things) a marathon, a week long bike trip, and a half ironman.7 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
Well, for one, when I walk alone I pick up poop absolutely never.
And the dogs are always wanting to stop and sniff stuff. Without them I just walk solid without stopping.
I always stop when I'm running and pet the doggies. I also have to stop for traffic lights.I stop too on my walks. In one direction I have traffic lights. In the other direction I walk along the river and a lake. I walk briskly for a while and then I stop to enjoy the scenery. My time varies from a 4.0 to a 3.0. I don't worry about it...I am getting some exercise and enjoying life at the same time.
I sometimes wish I had a dog to go with me.
Sadly, my husky died young of cancer in 2009.
Most of the people I meet on my new hiking place have dogs and I always stop and say hello to them. At my old place, I tried to take my neighbor's ShiTzu on walks with me, but she didn't like it and I had to spend more time grooming her afterwards than we'd spent walking.
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Also, keep the dog photos coming! They are so cute.3
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kshama2001 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
Well, for one, when I walk alone I pick up poop absolutely never.
And the dogs are always wanting to stop and sniff stuff. Without them I just walk solid without stopping.
I always stop when I'm running and pet the doggies. I also have to stop for traffic lights.I stop too on my walks. In one direction I have traffic lights. In the other direction I walk along the river and a lake. I walk briskly for a while and then I stop to enjoy the scenery. My time varies from a 4.0 to a 3.0. I don't worry about it...I am getting some exercise and enjoying life at the same time.
I sometimes wish I had a dog to go with me.
Sadly, my husky died young of cancer in 2009.
Most of the people I meet on my new hiking place have dogs and I always stop and say hello to them. At my old place, I tried to take my neighbor's ShiTzu on walks with me, but she didn't like it and I had to spend more time grooming her afterwards than we'd spent walking.
Sorry about your dog. We lost ours a year and a half ago to bladder cancer.
Since then, we now have a long-haired small dog. How in the heck did I end up with a rat dog? Sorry - no pictures (yet) of the little man.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »ThatUserNameIsAllReadyTaken wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »I dont exercize, iv lost 54lbs. I walk to the shops and walk the dog, look after my toddler and work....I.dont really stop all day. So theres no chance in hell im getting up at 4am to do a run or wasting precious evenings at the gym when I dont need to. U dont need exercize to lose weight or to be healthy.
"I don't exercize"
but
"I walk to the shops and walk the dog"
So you do exercise...............
There is a difference in exercise for the purpose of exercise, calorie burn, gaining physical stamina, strength and endurance and traveling somewhere on foot for an entirely different purpose. Purposeful exercise will likely come with an effort which is directed at improvement of many physical and mental factors. You know that though.
What is different between a walk with the dog and a walk without the dog?
Well, for one, when I walk alone I pick up poop absolutely never.
And the dogs are always wanting to stop and sniff stuff. Without them I just walk solid without stopping.
I always stop when I'm running and pet the doggies. I also have to stop for traffic lights.I stop too on my walks. In one direction I have traffic lights. In the other direction I walk along the river and a lake. I walk briskly for a while and then I stop to enjoy the scenery. My time varies from a 4.0 to a 3.0. I don't worry about it...I am getting some exercise and enjoying life at the same time.
I sometimes wish I had a dog to go with me.
Sadly, my husky died young of cancer in 2009.
Most of the people I meet on my new hiking place have dogs and I always stop and say hello to them. At my old place, I tried to take my neighbor's ShiTzu on walks with me, but she didn't like it and I had to spend more time grooming her afterwards than we'd spent walking.
My two favorite dogs...a Pug and a Saint Bernard. I know...quite the opposite of each other. The problem that I have is that I live in Texas where the summers can be brutal for both types. I also live in an apartment. The Pug would fair well but not sure about the St. Barnard however. I have owned 3 St. Bernards in my lifetime and I really enjoy all 3 of them. Taking a St Bernard for a walk...well it would be slow!0 -
Hungry_Shopgirl wrote: »I 100% agree that being in a calorie deficit is all it takes to lose weight.
But when I read on the boards people telling others who are struggling to make time to work out "You don't need exercise to lose weight" I cringe a little....mostly because in my own case it all started with exercise.
I started swimming, and wanted to be better at it so I took up C25K, then figured eating better would probably help with both, bringing me to the calorie deficit that put me into the "normal weight" BMI for the first time in my adult life. Even now, exercising is the engine for me. If I'm working out, I WANT to eat well. If not, I don't care.
So perhaps there are other "latent" athletes out there for whom the advice to make time to work out could be the trigger that changes everything, and we're discouraging that by saying "Nah, don't worry about it, just eat less".
Thoughts?
In my case I needed to lose weight to be healthier. I did not want to run a 5K or anything.
What helped me lose was learning to just stick to a calorie deficit regardless of exercise or type of food The idea that I don't have to exercise like crazy or only eat a certain way to lose weight was helpful to sticking with this.
I would not tell someone not to increase their activity but IME more people need to pay attention to the CI side before working on the CO side. Someone who is sedentary, has not exercised for years and is obese might need to start pretty small with exercise or get hurt/burn out. They are not going to have high calorie burns if walking 1 block is hard. I personally had to start with exercise I could do sitting down for several months.
I recognize benefits to increasing exercise/activity just like I recognize that getting my calories from a variety of nutrient dense food would be healthier than eating 1200 calories of cheetos.
I think most of us want this weight loss to be long term so it has to be sustainable. Know yourself. Be reaslistic and start where you are.
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My Sadie....she died a couple years ago, at the old age of 16! She LOVED Christmas!
She also thought she was a lapdog...
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This is my dog who gets walked everyday, at least 5 miles a day. He is wearing his smile.7 -
I think the beauty of activity trackers, and how common they are becoming for the average person, is it really does demonstrate that whether you are just a busy working mom who goes up and down the stairs at home a lot doing laundry and taking care of kids and running errands etc - or if you are hitting the treadmill for a solid 5K at a brisk clip each day - you are still burning calories and ALL of that is represented in your TDEE.
When I first started, I was largely sedentary and walking 30 minutes a couple times a week was all the exercise I was getting. I steadily worked on increasing the frequency of those walks, and about 6 months in I got a FitBit. I was surprised to learn that I was averaging 8K steps/day just with my daily activity, and that the exercise I was getting at that point was putting me at or slightly above 10K. I was not nearly as sedentary as I thought I was. I continued to try to increase not only the exercise frequency and duration, but also on increasing total steps/activity (walking from back of parking lot into the office, or grocery store; short 10 min walks throughout the day, bustling around the house in the evenings, taking walks with kids after dinner). Now I average 15K steps/day and my TDEE is 2200, which many people are surprised is so high considering I'm a petite female over 40.
So to the people who don't count walking to shops or walking the dog as exercise - that's fine, you don't have to call it that. Regardless, it contributes to the total CO part of your CICO equation, and I think that increasing the NEAT may be more applicable and even more impactful than telling someone they have to run long distances or do HIIT or engage in something that they truly don't enjoy doing.
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queenliz99 wrote: »
This is my dog who gets walked everyday, at least 5 miles a day. He is wearing his smile.
Both awesome smiles! 4
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