Is it possible to lose weight without exercise?

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Sojo15
Sojo15 Posts: 87 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
HI everyone, on a 30-day streak and lost 5 lbs, 7 from my HW! Hoping that some of it is fat and not just water. I planned on doing exercise but alone with two kids it is very hard. So far I succeed, mostly, to 1200 -1300 calories per day, but fail at my exercise goal. I am 5.5, CW 148 lbs. Will I still see progress? I really want to exercise, but it is incredibly hard with the kids (not trying to make excuse, it is just reality.)

Replies

  • Lynzdee18
    Lynzdee18 Posts: 500 Member
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    Yes you can lose, but in my case, I became skinny fat..... everyth8g was so jiggly. Running and some weights helped. Do you have a Wii? You could do that with the kids!
  • Nessiechickie
    Nessiechickie Posts: 1,392 Member
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    Would like to know as well. I eat between 1200-1400 and dont exercise.
    On weekends I usually dont even hit 1000 but a bit more active.
  • Marilyn0924
    Marilyn0924 Posts: 797 Member
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    You can absolutely lose without exercise, maintaining a deficit is the key. The bonus from exercise is not only the health benefit, but you gain extra calories :)

    With so little to lose, you might want to consider dropping your weekly loss goal to .5lbs/week so that you do not lose too much lean muscle mass.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Yea, losing weight is about being in a calorie deficit. However, exercising is great for your health and body composition. You don't have to go to the gym to be active. What about getting them involved? I do yoga and aerobics with my kids using my phone, YouTube or a DVD.. I will do bodyweight band circuits in the living room, I play music and have a dance party, go for walks, run up and down the stairs 25 times, etc.
  • kristenseager
    kristenseager Posts: 6 Member
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    You don’t need to exercise to lose weight as long as you are in a calorie deficit. Exercise is obviously important for your health though and will speed up the rate at which you lose if you choose not to eat your exercise calories back. I have two kids, 5 and 2, and still make time to workout even when my husband isn’t home to keep an eye on them. There are tons of workout videos on YouTube that you could do in your living room that don’t require weights or equipment. I know it’s tough with kids to make time for yourself, but it’s well worth it, I find exercising a great escape from the (happy) chaos that comes with raising young kids!
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,975 Member
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    Like others said, eating at a deficit is going to be the key.

    Exercise can help rev your metabolism, and the extra calorie burn (meaning more you can eat) can make it a bit easier to keep up with that deficit, but it's not a requirement.

    In fact, my fastest "scale loss" was before I returned to fitness and just focused on my eating. Working out (granted, I tend to workout pretty intensely) actually slows my scale losses to a crawl.
  • MobOfBricks
    MobOfBricks Posts: 22 Member
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    Absolutely. May be the only way for some.
  • jennrissa
    jennrissa Posts: 42 Member
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    You can do it if you stick to your deficit. One semester i couldn't make it to the gym so I just restricts and lost a bit over 20 lbs during that time.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Sojo15 wrote: »
    HI everyone, on a 30-day streak and lost 5 lbs, 7 from my HW! Hoping that some of it is fat and not just water. I planned on doing exercise but alone with two kids it is very hard. So far I succeed, mostly, to 1200 -1300 calories per day, but fail at my exercise goal. I am 5.5, CW 148 lbs. Will I still see progress? I really want to exercise, but it is incredibly hard with the kids (not trying to make excuse, it is just reality.)

    The calorie target you get with MFP is your calorie deficit without any exercise. The exercise goal is just for you and has no bearing on your calorie targets. Play with those numbers and you'll see.

    If you do exercise, you're supposed to log that and eat additional calories to account for that activity and avoid creating too steep a deficit.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    edited January 2018
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    Academically - yes. The reality is that you dramatically increase the chance of long term success by incorporating some manner of exercise.

    How old are you kids and can you incorporate them into your workouts? I'll state that one of the reasons working out is so important to me were imprinted by my father and doing morning calisthenics with him every morning.

    There are 168 hours in a week. Chart out where you spend your time and then modify the chart to assign hours where you want to spend them.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
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    I lost about 40lbs before I started doing any real meaningful exercise. I wanted to eat more food, so I started taking daily walks to earn exercise calories.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Academically - yes. The reality is that you dramatically increase the chance of long term success by incorporating some manner of exercise.

    How old are you kids and can you incorporate them into your workouts? I'll state that one of the reasons working out is so important to me were imprinted by my father and doing morning calisthenics with him every morning.

    There are 168 hours in a week. Chart out where you spend your time and then modify the chart to assign hours where you want to spend them.

    Quite true....

    OP, I also have two young boys at home...when they were smaller I used to put them in a bike trailer and take them cycling with me. They're a bit older now and can ride on their own up to about 10 miles, so we occasionally just go out on a little family ride.

    I have an indoor bike trainer at home that comes in handy during the winter and also for those times when I'm home alone with the kids and can't get out on the road...I can still put the bike on the trainer and do some intervals or a little spin.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    It's quite possible to lose weight without exercise. You simply consume less calories than you burn.

    It's also quite possible that one may not be at all happy with their body composition/aesthetics at goal weight if they lose weight without exercise.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    I lost 30 of my 40 lbs lost without ever exercising. Though it did make me lose a ton of muscle, and it took me years in the gym to undo that damage. So while it's totally possible, I can guarantee you it won't get you the body you want. Working out with kids is hard, but it can be done, and a combination of diet and exercise is always optimal.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Go ahead and lose weight by controlling your calories. You and your children still benefit from being as active as possible. There’s tag, hide-and-seek, treasure hunting, a daily walk to the park, and yoga (also known as ride-the-horsie).
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Academically - yes. The reality is that you dramatically increase the chance of long term success by incorporating some manner of exercise.

    How old are you kids and can you incorporate them into your workouts? I'll state that one of the reasons working out is so important to me were imprinted by my father and doing morning calisthenics with him every morning.

    There are 168 hours in a week. Chart out where you spend your time and then modify the chart to assign hours where you want to spend them.

    This is a really good point. Although there's evidence that exercise is less than completely useful (or even counterproductive) for losing weight, there is also evidence that it is key in maintaining weight loss.
  • Psalm1139
    Psalm1139 Posts: 31 Member
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    You totally can, but you will lose more muscle which will mean that your maintenance calories will be much lower. You also will be happier with your body if you do some exercise because otherwise you will get "skinny fat". I have two babies, a homeschooled 4 year old, and I babysit two more kids in the afternoon. I still have be able to get in a good 40 minutes of Blogilates most days. I'm almost done with the Beginners Calendar, then I'll be bumping it up to about an hour a day.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    You can lose it, but keeping it off is a different story. The long-term outlook for those who do it via diet and exercise is not great, but that for diet alone is dismal.
  • fatnutjob
    fatnutjob Posts: 20 Member
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    Without a doubt, yes. I very much speak from personal experience. Around October 2016 to December/January 2017 I lost about 10lbs without exercise. I work in retail and it was around the Christmas period so I had absolutely no time to work out. I still counted calories though and I managed to get down to 117lbs from 127lbs.

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