Thread: Only lose weight if exercise?

I used to do WW but was gaining weight instead of losing (I was following it properly!) everyone said 'you need to exercise as well to lose weight' however when I went to classes the leader maintained you didn't have to exercise to lose any weight.

Am now finding SW the same, I did lose 3/4lb last week but didn't really exercise due to my husband being away and no childcare. Week before good weight loss and I'd exercised really well.

Does anyone else find they just don't really lose anything/much if they don't exercise? I can't help feeling jealous of people who don't HAVE to exercise and still lose a couple of lb a week!!!

I definitely have my biggest losses when I exercise but still lose if I don't BUT I have a huge amount of weigt to lose so when I follow the plan I'm cutting out a lot more calories than many other people.

In a roundabout way I guess I'm saying the less you have to lose the more calories you need to expend in exercise as you can't cut them out your diet.

From my experience, you DON'T have to exercise to lose weight. I've lost on weeks where I have not exercised, and lost on weeks where I have. In fact, I had a 1lb gain the week I did the most working out at the start of the SW plan, but that was probably my body adjusting to the new diet and regime.

Everybody is different and our bodies work in mysterious ways. Do you keep an online food diary here? If not, try it this week and I am sure people will let you know or give you some tips etc.

What I will say is regardless of whether it helps your losses or not, exercise will help you in lots of ways and is worth introducing/maintaining in your lifestyle so though the scales might not be going the right way - your health is and you'll be seeing inch losses?

Keep it up hun - it will pay off! I'm upping my exercise atm to help try to hit target and tone up which will kill me this week but hey ho!

xxx

In my experience, exercise usually slows my weight loss. My leader when i was at weight watchers said this was normal. I also gained 1 and a half stone () when i started going to the gym regularly, i think it was a mixture of muscle ( i definatly had tons more as it was visable) and the fact i couldnt cut my food down too low as i used to get the shakes when i exercised and also i was really hungry a couple of hours later. So... suppose its different for everyone. i think i do best if i just do abit of the harder gym stuff and more light exercise such as walking etc when im trying to lose.

I run around 25k a week, and find it doesn't make the slightest difference to my weight loss at all. If I don't do it, like in school hols when I can't, it makes on difference. I actually put on 2 stone whilst doing this. It all seems to be down to what I eat unfortunately. It would be lovely to run my fat off instead of having to watch evry morsel I eat.

I go to the gym for 30 mins 3 - 4 times a week (havent been for a while - hangs head in shame!). Looking at my weight losses over the last few months, it has slowed down from not going to the gym. I do a lot of leg exercises to strengthen those muscles for walking (doing 3 Peaks Challenge next year).
I would say, you dont have to exercise to run marathons, or even climb mountains, but you can do it for toning if you want. Start off small - go swimming..it tones up tummy and bingo wings! Lol.

xxx

I have found it doesnt make any difference whether i exercise or not. My weight loss is very slow anyway, and when I did exrecise i only lost an extra 1lb and I just couldnt keep up the amount of exercise I had been doing, with 3 kids and a house and husband and part time job to get on with. I think some people just loose weight quicker unfortunately.
I do know that I never eat junk food, have always had a healthy diet, so its not like i am suddenly changing my diet from fast food and fizzy drinks to a healthy one.
But I do know boredom has a lot to do with my non weight loss. But my daughter is going to school next August and I will have so much more time for myself, and in that time i will be sorting myself out once and for all.

I joined slimming world with my mum although I do have a lot more weight to lose than her ,- over the summer we ate nearly every meal the same, however I did a lot of excercise as I was on summer holidays so had a lot of spare time whilst she was working. I lost a lot more quickly at the beginning, although this could be due to me having more to loose or excersise or a mixture of both. I think it all helps really, I enjoy aerobic classes as they target all areas for toning my many flabby bits!

I don't know whether exercising directly helps my weight loss but i do know that it keeps me motivated, after dragging my sizeable backside out of bed at 5.55am to be at the gym for 6.30, theres no way i'll give into temptations or if i do consider i think - hmm a celebration choc - 40 cals that 3 1/2 mins on cross trainer - so not worth it lol

SW state that exercising will only attribut to 1 to 2 lbs extra loss a month so don't expect miracles from exercising!
It is better for wellbeing and toning than for weight loss so always good if you can do some.
I didn't exercise and lost 3 stone without many problems, I don't really do much now except walk my dog (quickly) and manage to maintain my loss well.

It won't make a huge difference to your weight loss - if you worked out how many calories you used doing exercise, it's not a huge amount unless you're doing extremely high intensity or long duration exercise.

However, it will help to tone your body, and so you may notice your measurements changing faster.

Basically, if you want to exercise, do it, but if not SW will work fine without it (as long as you're following the plan)!

Exercising for me is about my overall health and well being, I go to the gym a few times a week and do some classes and if its cold or too dark I do a dvd or get on the wii fit. I listen to my body and so some days I really go for it and work my butt off and others I barely break a sweat. I started exercising properly about 18 months ago when I gave up smoking, not sure if it has affected my weight loss but I do know I feel heaps better when I've done it and small tasks like walking to Tesco which is a 15minute walk would seem so far away 18 months ago now in my head its just around the corner - and I'm not a big red sweaty mess when I get there!!