Can i lose weight without exercise?

You sure could lose weight without exercise. A better question is should people have a sedentary lifestyle. And the answer to that is No.

You will have a better quality of life now and especially in the future if you are active.

Perhaps the idea of working out in a gym doesn't appeal to you. That's fine - there are lots of ways to be active that don't involve a gym membership.

dahlia_coenen wrote: »

As others have said, it's absolutely possible...at first.

Some important things to note:
You may (and likely will) lose muscle this way, and not just fat.

Your body has a set point (a weight it feels comfortable at) which is higher if you've been bigger for any period of time. At some point, your body increases cravings and tries relentlessly to get you back to the weight it feels comfortable at.
To reset your set point to a lower weight, you need to exercise. Meaning, to maintain your weight loss, you need to exercise. I lost 30 lbs while rarely exercising, but then I started cardio (lost 30 more lbs), and a year later, now I've started weight lifting.

You are setting yourself up for failure if you don't incorporate cardio and weight training at some point.

This hasn't been my experience at all. I lost 50lbs without exercise and hit a weight that I haven't been at since my teens, (I was in my early 30s during my weight loss phase). I've now been successfully maintaining for over 4 years, and I still don't intentionally exercise, besides a bit of summer walking. My current bmi is 19.9.

Christine_72 wrote: »

OliveGirl128 wrote: »

dahlia_coenen wrote: »

As others have said, it's absolutely possible...at first.

Some important things to note:
You may (and likely will) lose muscle this way, and not just fat.

Your body has a set point (a weight it feels comfortable at) which is higher if you've been bigger for any period of time. At some point, your body increases cravings and tries relentlessly to get you back to the weight it feels comfortable at.
To reset your set point to a lower weight, you need to exercise. Meaning, to maintain your weight loss, you need to exercise. I lost 30 lbs while rarely exercising, but then I started cardio (lost 30 more lbs), and a year later, now I've started weight lifting.

You are setting yourself up for failure if you don't incorporate cardio and weight training at some point.

This hasn't been my experience at all. I lost 50lbs without exercise and hit a weight that I haven't been at since my teens, (I was in my early 30s during my weight loss phase). I've now been successfully maintaining for over 4 years, and I still don't intentionally exercise, besides a bit of summer walking. My current bmi is 19.9.

Yeah but don't you maintain on 1200-1400 calories @OliveGirl128 ? Forgive if I'm mixing you up with someone else.

If so, that is losing weight calories for most people, and i for one couldn't live happily on so few calories for a few months, let a lone forever, which is where exercise comes in handy to get those extra calories.

I was recently in a short cut, to get my maintenance range lower, so that's what you're remembering I adjust my maintenance range seasonally and get it to a lower point during the spring/summer, 120lbs-125lbs, to prepare for the fall/winter, when my schedule gets really chaotic and I don't focus as much on my weight. During those months I allow my maintenance range to get up to 130ish.

Back at maintenance now though, and my intake is around 1,600. I find this very doable for me and with the way I eat, I actually feel really good in the 1,300-1,400 range. I usually stay in that range during the week and then roll the extra calories into the weekend, to use towards eating out, alcohol etc. I've never factored exercise into my calorie intake and that's what works best for me.