Weight loss without exercise is completely possible

Written January 2016. So, it’s a week into January and up and down the country there are people buying new exercise equipment. If you are wondering if weight loss without exercise is possible?

Others are joining slimming clubs or signing up for gym memberships. All in a bid to lose some weight and get rid of fat!! For some, this is the first year they’ve done this.

For others, this is a regular January thing. In February or March, the exercise gear will be at the back of the wardrobe. The takeaway menus will be out and the gym membership card will be in the old purse!

Will you be one of those? Will you be a dieter in January and give up by February?

Can you lose weight without exercise?

Everywhere we go at this time of year there are adverts telling us that in order to lose weight we need to go to their gym, drink their shakes, join their group, buy a month’s supply of capsules, or use their product!

They all tell you that their product/service will work and they all inevitably offer introductory offers to encourage you. Do your research and think about what you would find beneficial and what you can stick to!

The gym may have good car parking and a nice looking personal trainer but if you don’t go wouldn’t the £30 a month be better spent on something else?

How do you know what works? How do you know what to trust? Do you need to change your food and exercise to lose weight? 

10 stone weight loss with no exercise

I have lost over 10 stone on Slimming World following their healthy eating plan. It’s not a diet in the way most people consider because it’s not that restrictive. It’s merely a healthy way of cooking meals and using the right ingredients!

Did I exercise? No! Not really, a couple of times I decided to try to add exercise into my life. I did not stick to it for long because the truth is it just is not me!

Honestly, I spent more time checking in at the gym on Facebook than exercising and more time recovering from one run than I ever spent running!

I hated PE at school. I’ve never been particularly interested in watching sports. I’m just not a sporty person!

I run across a road if I have to or run out to the car if it’s raining but the reality is the only running I regularly do is running a bath!

When I started my weight loss journey I had a love of shopping, sewing, reading and spending time with my son. I still love all of that, I never liked exercise and I probably never will!

My weight loss shows I didn’t need to exercise to lose such a considerable amount of weight so why would I do something I don’t enjoy?

My tips for weight loss without exercise

If you start out anything new that you don’t enjoy what is the chance you will stick to it? Quite low really isn’t it? So to me, if you don’t need to do exercise to lose weight then if you do not enjoy it then why put yourself under that added pressure?

Cut yourself a bit of slack, accept that you do not have to do it and don’t make it a chore! Of course, if it is something you enjoy then go for it and enjoy yourself!

There are a lot of people who lose weight essentially just through exercise, or so they claim but in my eyes, your body is like a machine.

If you put in more than you take out then it will get overloaded! If you exercise then your body uses more “fuel” so this balance will change.

However ask yourself this, is there any amount of exercise you could do that would counteract a diet of complete take-aways, chocolate, cakes, alcohol and fast food? I would say no!

Is weight loss without exercise slower?

So, back to exercise, or in my case lack of it! Do I think I may have lost my weight more quickly if had exercised too? Yes, possibly as I am aware exercise does make a difference.

However, if I had forced myself to exercise when I didn’t enjoy it I may never have reached my target because I may have given up on it all because I wasn’t happy! Live happily!

When I do talks as a guest speaker at Slimming World groups do I recommend others exercise? No, I don’t but equally, I do not say people shouldn’t either!

Everybody needs to make their own decision on whether they exercise and what exercise they chose to do. All I like to emphasise is that you do not have to exercise to lose weight I am proof of that!

Weight loss and saggy skin

Will I end up with terrible skin if I don’t exercise? Everybody is different! My skin is pretty good to say I am 35, have one child and don’t exercise!

Others may exercise and have a lot of excess skin! I spoke to a doctor friend of mine who basically said that everyone is different and how your skin will react depends on a number of factors.

These factors include genetics, how slow/consistent weight is lost, exercise, age, number of pregnancies, length of time overweight/yo-yo dieting etc. What you should remember is no two people are the same!

Please don’t take my photos as a guarantee you will be like me but please see them as proof that it is possible to have ok skin, good weight loss and a major allergy to exercise!

So feel free to share my blog and success with the next person who tells you that it’s impossible to lose weight without exercise or the next person who says Slimming World doesn’t work!

Everyone is different but for me, it has worked and I want to inspire others to see it is possible to lose weight without exercise and look pretty good for it!!  

My thoughts moving forwards

So, what’s my resolution this year, well it isn’t to exercise more that’s for sure but I am determined to sell my exercise bike as a clothes horse designed for the purpose would be more effective and gathering less dust!!

2016 could be your year, a year you live happily, a year you stop pushing yourself to exercise if you don’t want to, and a year that you reach your goals whatever they are in a way that suits you! For me, Slimming World was what worked and it worked on its own.

This year I’m working on my self-confidence and assertiveness and I can be pretty confident in saying that won’t involve exercise in any form except watching my amazing boyfriend complete the London Marathon!!

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