Is it okay to continue trying to lose weight but ditch the gym?

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teresashrinks
teresashrinks Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have about 100 pounds to lose still, and I was consistently going to the gym 4-5 days a week. I was calorie counting, but still only losing 1 pound a week. Now that I stopped going to the gym, I am losing 2-3 pounds a week. Is that going to eventually catch up with me and hinder my weight-loss since I have a significant amount to lose, or is it okay?

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  • WailingDusk
    WailingDusk Posts: 58 Member
    edited September 2021
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    Don't think about this in terms of pounds and think about it in terms of overall health. If your diet consists of more whole foods (non-processed/ no fast foods), and you are doing strength training (yes, even women need to do strength training, especially if you're morbidly obese) and cardio, you're helping your body adapt and burn more calories even at rest.

    I have a question though, what did you change in your diet to start losing 2-3 pounds per week and over how many weeks? A lot of things can influence rapid fluctuations in weight, such as sodium intake, hormonal changes, especially during menstruation, carbohydrate intake, etc. I was 185 pounds overweight, and the first 40 or so melted off quickly with diet change alone. A lot of it was water weight. After implementing resistance training and cardio, I was losing a steady 2-3 pounds a week while also feeling good.

    When you're 100 pounds or more overweight, you've going to lose those first 20-40 pounds very fast, but you will start to plateau, especially once your BRM adjusts to your new weight and the calories you were consuming to lose weight before may actually cause you to stall. This is why exercise is important too. You can keep eating the same calories, but you'll still be in a deficit if you're burning them too.

    So my answer is, yes you can lose weight without going to the gym just by changing your diet alone (or just simply counting the calories you eat and continuously adjusting them based on your BMR). But it's only part of the entire picture. You want to not only lose weight but FEEL good, full of energy, be able to do things without being out of breath, and you want to be a powerhouse burning calories even at rest. Exercise can do that for you.

    I hope this helps :) Don't pay too much attention to the scale. Pay attention to things like, how your clothes fit, how you feel physically and emotionally. The scale WILL go down, but water weight can fluctuate 8-10 pounds or more sometimes.
  • LeeDahlen38
    LeeDahlen38 Posts: 119 Member
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    Agreed! ^^^ I found when I was hard core in the gym 4/5 days a week that I was gaining muscle weight at the gym. Or rather I SHOULD say my weighloss slowed because I wasn't solely focused on fat burning, and the scales leveled. But like she said above. Cardiovascular health happens in the gym, or in walks/runs/ etc.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    There is no causal relationship between "stopped going to gym" and "losing weight faster". If you're losing 2-3 pounds per week now instead of 1 before, it's because:

    - You're eating less net calories, or
    - The randomness of weight loss

    Either way, it's fair to say exercise is healthy and you should do it, and also that you don't "have" to do it to lose weight.
  • NerdyScienceGrl
    NerdyScienceGrl Posts: 669 Member
    edited September 2021
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    I joined the gym to be accountable thinking if I paid each month, I would go. I did, but I never enjoyed it, so I discontinued my membership. In no way has it hampered my journey. I have found plenty of ways to replace the things I did at the gym and enjoy much more.

    IMO it all comes down to your motivation and goals.
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    So when you DON'T use muscle it atrophies. So some of your weight loss can be lean muscle. Which intern lowers your BMR more and you'll also lose strength and muscle tone.

    DON"T just rely on the scale for results. If you looked the way you want, fit the clothes you like and people compliment you on how you look.......................does the number on the scale really matter?

    Totally agree with this. Particularly the second paragraph.

    When I succeeded in losing 70lb to get to my first goal weight (top end of healthy BMI), I was pleased, but also the results were a bit "meh". I looked (and more importantly, felt) a whole lot better. But everything was just a bit soft and flabby. I was still having to buy clothes a size larger than I wanted to.

    I'd been exercising, but focused on cardio to burn calories and essentially was using diet to lose weight. Which, of course, is how you lose weight.

    I've now been recomping for a year, doing heavy resistance training, with a session or two of boxing per week just to keep cardio fitness up. I've lost a further 14lb, which was part of the plan, but my body looks so much better. People keep commenting on the further weight loss because it looks as if I have lost a lot more than that 14lb. I still have a way to go, as my body fat percentage is still higher than I want it to be, but the results are very pleasing. Plus the confidence and great feeling I get from being fit and strong is off the scale.

    If I'd known then what I know now, I would have started my resistance training MUCH sooner, so that as I lost the weight I would have a nice frame to emerge from under the fat.

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