Exercise may not be helping you lose weight

Last edited by Cal on Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've been losing weight since the start of June this year. For two months I've been on a strict diet; fruits, some cereal, vegetables, chicken, salads and some fish. I still drink tea and coffee (and Pepsi Max), but I only take skimmed milk in hot beverages (I gave up sugar in hot drinks decades ago). I don't drink alcohol at all.

I had a theory: I wanted to lose weight, whilst at the same time avoid doing any exercise. My theory, based on the many years I spent as a younger man doing jogging, cycling and swimming very regularly, suggested that attempting to lose weight by exercising would only serve to increase my appetite - precisely the thing I most wanted to avoid. I began to suspect that if I merely radically changed my eating habits (the types of food I ate, strict 'portion control', etc), I would probably stand a much better chance of losing weight than if I daily embarked on a jog, or started swimming regularly again.

It seems I'm not alone in thinking that exercise is not necessary - indeed, that it might even act as an impediment - to weight loss. I haven't done any exercise to speak of in my effort to lose weight - sure, I started walking a bit, but soon realised that even that token effort was making no difference whatsoever. What was (and is) working - and demonstrably so - was just not eating crap, not eating between meals, cutting down on portions and sticking to the diet.

At the start of June this year I weighed 15.25st. As of right now, at the end of July, I weigh 13.5st. In two months I've lost 1.75st (and counting). No exercise was involved. I've gone back up two notches on my belt, quite comfortably. My T-shirts are starting to feel baggy. My weight loss is steady and measured - I feel very much in control of it and I know I can 'turn it off' at any point (I don't plan to 'do' a Karen Carpenter).

By my calculations, if I continue on the diet as it is, by the end of August I will probably be near to 12.5st - which according to an online BMI chart I've consulted, is about where I should actually be for my age and height.

I didn't pay for a diet plan, I didn't go near a gym. Exercise would not have helped me lose this weight. Eating less - and healthy - is all it's taken.

Exercise is more to do with overall fitness, your your weight is going down but you fitness will be the same and you wont have any muscle tone, its why the two should go hand in hand.

I lost 4/5 stone without one minute of exercise.

Well done on losing weight

It depends on the individual I think, exercise certainly makes me healthier in body and mind, but whatever works for you I guess

Paging Robbo to the thread, Robbo to the thread.

Cal wrote:By my calculations, if I continue on the diet as it is, by the end of August I will probably be near to 12.5st

Weight loss isn't linear like that. The first pounds come off the easiest.

jiggles wrote:
Cal wrote:By my calculations, if I continue on the diet as it is, by the end of August I will probably be near to 12.5st

Weight loss isn't linear like that. The first pounds come off the easiest.

By 2018 - he'll have disappeared. :shock:

Something Fishy

True that exercise might not make you lose weight and makes you hungry but it often helps you change shape and get slimmer even if not lighter. And you feel great doing it whilst making your heart and lungs stronger.

Personally I lost a couple of stone once I got back into my exercise again and eat what I like so I'm happy with it.

Last edited by Mini E on Tue Jul 30, 2013 12:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No, doing exercise is not always necessary to lose weight- that's pretty common knowledge Cal. Only about 20% of calories burned each day are burned through lots of exercise. For example you burn something like 30 calories per hour just by chewing gum, and most calories burned are done so through internal reactions in the body.

What exercise does do is improve your health. This is entirely different to losing weight. Exercise improves the efficiency of your cardiovascular system and your respiratory system; increasing VO2 max and lactate threshold. Reducing cholestrol through weight loss does help the CV system for obvious reasons but isn't the be all and end all of improving your health.

Why is this topic aimed to be some sort of megaton?

Edit:

Physical activity has been found to dramatically reduce the chance of developing heart disease in overweight people from a 2.53x increase to a 1.87 increase than "normal" weight people...

And yeah weight loss isn't a linear concept. 70% of early weight loss in a dieting situation is water loss. Fat loss increases from 25% to 70% of weight loss after 4 weeks or so.

Scotty wrote:Well done on losing weight It depends on the individual I think, exercise certainly makes me healthier in body and mind, but whatever works for you I guess

Thanks, Scotty. I'm amazed how effortless it has been - and continues to be. I just wanted to share with the forum my own experience and hope that others will see that there is a viable alternative to hitting the gym - one that might actually work better for some.

To answer Errkal's point: I understand that I'm not actually getting fitter and not developing any tone. This is not so important to me at this stage - the first step for me was (and is) to lose the excess weight, which is thankfully going well. When I am down to a more confident body shape I might well consider starting some form of regular exercise - although years ago I was told by a professional trainer that I don't have the body type to naturally build muscle (in my younger years I was naturally thin and wiry). We'll see. I'd eventually like to start swimming again (always my favorite form of exercise) - but there just isn't a swimming pool near me where I live now.

Muscle weighs more than fat.

If you get to a stage where there isn't much fat left on your body then you will likely be adding weight when you exercise.

A good diet is the most important thing whether you exercise or not. If you do exercise then the good diet will help you build muscle much more easily.

Another conspiracy, designed by the evil government overlords to keep us mobile so that when the machines come we'll have no energy for defense.

Or, you could engage your brain and realise that by going on a diet and reducing your calorie intake then you are reducing the amount converted into fat. If you decided to think a little more, then you'd realise that combining a good diet with exercise, you'd be burning more calories than you are storing and you'd lose even more weight.

Of course, you'll discard this information because you really showed us the light! Keep hope, simple minded gentle folk, for Cal has shown us the way!

No gooseberry fool. You can't exercise yourself thin, your weight depends on your diet. But equally, you can't eat yourself fit.

You know there is something else out there which can cause sudden weight loss...

Energy in > Energy out = Weight gain.
Energy out > energy in = Weight loss.
Energy in = Energy out = Stable weight.

Inescapable.

Body weight depends on what you're weighing. If you start exercising as well your weight on the scales may increase/stop falling, but more of that body weight would consist of denser muscle tissue, so you'd still be smaller and would get the desired effects in terms of belt notches and body shape. This is the reason BMI should be used with care - it's a very good measure for helping people who are middle aged and at risk of things like diabetes/heart disease etc, but when you put any significant muscle mass into the picture it goes screwy. I'm 5'8" and 84kg (13st), giving me a BMI of 28. However, I only have a 32" waist, so I'm not overweight by any stretch! You appear to be using it correctly, but it's worth knowing the limitations of any test like that. Don't worry if your weight loss slows when you start exercising - put very simply you'll be replacing "bad" weight with "good" weight, with the associated benefits for your heart and lungs.

Well done on losing the weight though. Despite my mild bragging above I feel I have gained a bit of weight since I moved to London (six months of sedentary freelancing instead of barista work, and no Ju-Jitsu sessions). I started doing tabata a few weeks ago to get me back in shape, and as of my birthday yesterday I've knocked the ale on the head for August to try and shift the spare tyre (12 hours and counting :simper:

...

).

Have you seen a doctor about your diet/exercise plan?

Dowbocop wrote:Have you seen a doctor about your diet/exercise plan?

First, thanks for all your other comments - interesting and noted. I haven't spoken to my doctor about my current diet. TBH, I have not felt any side-effects or health issues as a result. I actually think I'm eating probably the right amount - I was certainly indulging in far too much of the wrong foods before I started the diet. If I'm feeling okay doing as I am, is there really any need to involve my doctor..?

'tone'

Cal wrote:
Scotty wrote:Well done on losing weight It depends on the individual I think, exercise certainly makes me healthier in body and mind, but whatever works for you I guess

Thanks, Scotty. I'm amazed how effortless it has been - and continues to be. I just wanted to share with the forum my own experience and hope that others will see that there is a viable alternative to hitting the gym - one that might actually work better for some.

To answer Errkal's point: I understand that I'm not actually getting fitter and not developing any tone. This is not so important to me at this stage - the first step for me was (and is) to lose the excess weight, which is thankfully going well. When I am down to a more confident body shape I might well consider starting some form of regular exercise - although years ago I was told by a professional trainer that I don't have the body type to naturally build muscle (in my younger years I was naturally thin and wiry). We'll see. I'd eventually like to start swimming again (always my favorite form of exercise) - but there just isn't a swimming pool near me where I live now.

You're welcome. Hopefully you can start swimming soon, it'll help with toning what you can tone

Cal wrote:
Dowbocop wrote:Have you seen a doctor about your diet/exercise plan?

First, thanks for all your other comments - interesting and noted. I haven't spoken to my doctor about my current diet. TBH, I have not felt any side-effects or health issues as a result. I actually think I'm eating probably the right amount - I was certainly indulging in far too much of the wrong foods before I started the diet. If I'm feeling okay doing as I am, is there really any need to involve my doctor..?

In terms of diet probably not, you're simply eating less and better.

In terms of exercise it might be worth speaking to a doctor when you have an exercise plan organised so you can discuss things like safe heart rates. Not that you would do this, but some people jump straight from nothing to a stupidly intense regimen, which in terms of your cardiovascular system is like trying to push a river through a straw, and can in the worst case scenario lead to heart attacks/strokes. They do always say to consult a doctor before starting an exercise plan to try and eliminate things like this happening. You don't sound like you're going to overdo it so you should be alright, but a quick check up is free.

Exercise may not be helping you lose weight

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