Can you lose weight if you don't exercise?

[Janie]

You’ll probably find that after awhile on keto you want to exercise though! (Lol you’ve been warned!)

LOL!

In 6 months she will be posting on the keto complaint thread… “damn you keto - I didn’t want to/couldn’t exercise and now I have all this new energy I can’t sit still!!!”

[beccs]

42 pounds, 3.5 months, zero exercise

[Gaff]

If you want to do exercise, do it because you want to feel good, or be more mobile, maybe meet other people, etc. But don’t do it as a weight loss approach - keto works effectively. I walk my dogs a long distance every day but I rarely do any actual exercise, and I’ve lost 100lbs in about 8 months.

When I do find myself needing to move about now (running up stairs, swimming with my daughter etc) I am never out of breath and love the crazy amount of energy I have. Thanks, keto!

[misterbutters]

Yes, you can. Another non-exerciser who is down more than 50 pounds.

[RobC]

I think a better question might be put this way:

“Can you lose weight down to a good weight if you don’t exercise?”

People that are very overweight can lose weight on keto (I see lots of "yes"s above) but, can they get to the weight they want?

I think for some (many?), the answer is “no”. They (just on keto) find they get down to some weight and plateau. Then they seek answers here about what they can tweak (answers are things like IF/EF/drop dairy/lower stress, sleep better etc…).

I think it should be noted that exercise might be another of those options. If you can add several pounds of muscle mass (i.e. strength training - not cardio) it will serve both to help your metabolism (more expensive metabolic tissue being used and carried around) and it will make whatever composition you have look better (even with a little more fat, there will be less flab).

Of course, it is subjective, some people will be happy where keto plateaus for them - but these boards have lots of questions about how to deal with the last few pounds people want to get rid of.

[Rajseth]

For myself, the two biggest advantages of keto:

• It controls my blood sugars. Keto is a far more effective treatment of my T2 diabetes than medication. My A1c used to be 7.3 while taking both insulin and metformin and is now 5.4 without taking any diabetes medications.
• It controls my hungers. I only eat a fraction of the calories I used to eat, because I’m no longer ravenously hungry all the time . And I don’t feel deprived, like I have been on every other attempt to lose weight over the past five decades.

^^That^^

[Rajseth]

If you can add several pounds of muscle mass (i.e. strength training - not cardio) it will serve both to help your metabolism (more expensive metabolic tissue being used and carried around) and it will make whatever composition you have look better (even with a little more fat, there will be less flab).

^^that is a great summary^^
Thanks RobC

[SlowBurnMary]

It’s mentioned to some degree in both of their books - and I read a discussion of theirs about it on Eades’ blog in the comments.

[SlowBurnMary]

Hormonal healing and healthy biology is a wonderful thing.

The estimation used to be just 90% (McGuff, MD) but Dr. Eades and Fred Hahn’s discussion amped it to 99% a couple years ago. It’s based on a nutrient dense, keto foods pyramid. I imagine that strength-training’s mitochondrial activations is optimized by such, and the 1% is quite a lever.

[Mnketo46]

Never a big exercise guy here. Hate gyms and lifting things just so I’m strong enough to lift them again. Seems silly but that’s just me. I have found however that the more weight I lost the more I enjoyed a brisk hike.

[RobC]

Don’t get me wrong - I think diet is most important by far. The government came up with the bad diet guidelines and we’re very messed up.

I just don’t want the pendulum to swing too far the other way and discount too heavily the effects of exercise and fitness.

Look at what this guy could do in his 60’s (and he lived to 96).

http://jacklalanne.com/feats/

[SlowBurnMary]

Well, after all the hogwash of the SAD culture, I think it’s a good swing to emphasize the body’s innate capacities for recomposition and the integrity of hormonal healing. And, for those interested in max leverage, Hahn’s book The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution along with McGuff’s Body By Science are fantastic resources.

As Dr. Phinney points out though - for the obese, nutrient dense dietary lifestyle changes are all that’s needed until such time that they are of lighter mass and have a natural urge to exercise more. Injury prevention being key (muscle strains and falls being NO FUN). He also validates the fact that obese folks who simply walk around in daily life do the work of bearing their own weight daily (already having huge quads and calf muscles, due to the leg strength building).

I’m a big fan of Ernestine Shepherd, the world’s oldest bodybuilding champ in 2010. She’s a big inspiration to women in that she didn’t start training until age 57 (she’s over 80 now and going strong). She didn’t start obese, she was just overweight. Though her daily protocol of guzzling 8 raw egg whites is not my cuppa tea, and she’s not particularly LCHF - it’s worked well for her

Ernestine Shepherd - Age Is Merely A Number - It's Never Too Late To Be Great

[mememe]

65lb in 4 months with no exercising.

However, my opinion is that you should exercise if you are able. Having said that, the amount and type of exercise, will vary according to the individual.

Exercise helps in many ways other than weight loss.

[ctviggen]

The reason you want to exercise is to reduce injury risk, better balance, increased flexibility, better (instead of just more) years, ease in getting out of a chair, less joint pain, better sleep, looking better without clothes on, continued independence, keeping up with the younger relatives, tighten up some of the skin that might loosen from weight loss etc. but nope - no reason to exercise for weight loss.

I agree with everything here, except I think you’re more likely to get injured if you exercise. Exercise has cost me so many injuries that, were I to recount them, I would be here for multiple paragraphs. On the other hand, it reduces stress tremendously and makes me feel and look better. I’ve been exercising since I was 15-16 or earlier, well over 30 years now.

I think the revolution of higher intensity, lower amount of exercise is helpful, though some believe that walking and other light-intensity exercise provide benefits not found in higher intensity exercise. I find I only have time for 3 workouts per week, so I do high intensity lifting and aerobics. If I get the time to walk or hike or the like, I’d do those, but seemingly never have the time.

Oh, I lost the vast majority of my weight when lessening the amount of exercise I did. And if you’re a slave to the scale, exercise is not a good thing, as it causes weird things to happen with the scale.

[Robert_Johnson]

No exercise at all for the past few years. Possibly helped lead to diabetes (not to mention a very high carb diet. What can I say, I was willfully ignorant).

Then I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes when some blood work was being tested for my monthly kidney stone issue. So after giving up on the suggested high carb diet to help maintain it (wtf? Yes they actually said maintain my diabetes. ). Keto fixes my BG problem with 24 hours. (Trying to do this /verbose -off). The American Diabetes Association wanted me to eat 180 grams of carbs a day, take metformin 2x a day, and exercise. I asked them to define ‘exercise’. I mean after all, just walking upstairs in my house I consider exercise, so logically I’m getting tons of exercise. The nutrition nurse just stared at me and said, with a tone usually reserved for ex-wives reminding you why you are a loser. “You know what I mean. Don’t be factious .

So I decided to increase my exercise. I went from doing my daily quests to marathon dungeon runs and raids. If you don’t know what that means, it’s a computer game thing. And for those of you who know, yes, World of Warcraft (if you happen to play, you can find me with my Battletag #GTyoungblood1665). Yes, I play way to much. But it’s just about the only exercise I get .

So after 14 days of carbonongrata keto and increase of my (ahem…) exercise I lost 40 pounds. Went from 245 pounds to 205 pounds and plateau’d there. A few months later I broke that plateau, and lost another 10 pounds. Hit my second plateau, and stayed there for about a year. I’m now slowly losing weight again. I think this time it’s getting better sleep.

So keto on, sleep more, play more computer games, eat more fat, less carbs = weight loss

[teri]

Exercise isn’t really necessary unless you are doing it for fun, or to reach a goal like building/toning muscle. I run, but only because I genuinely enjoy it. If I didn’t like it I would just cut back on my daily calories. I only add them back in to make up for them because I’ve burned them. Otherwise I don’t maintain my weight.
But, playing devils advocate, exercising if you are trying to lose weight is extremely beneficial because if you don’t have as much muscle tone, then you aren’t burning as many calories as you could be. So that’s one argument for exercise. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue does. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, even while doing nothing. This is why you can’t really base your caloric needs on just weight, height, age, and sex alone. Those calculators ask your body fat percentage for that reason. Because muscle mass is a factor, and can change the base amount of calories you burn daily. Which is just the calories needed to perform bodily functions like breathing, keep your heart beating, and such.

[doihavtasay]

I am 61and lost 53 pounds with no exercise. I was in horrible shape due to a very bad back and really could not exercise!!
That has all changed with keto though!!! Pain, GONE! Weight gone also means I now exercise MORE and am more active over all because I CAN

[juice]

I agree with everything here, except I think you’re more likely to get injured if you exercise.

This probably depends on the type of exercise, I reckon.

As you say, mixing it up is a net positive, for sure.

(wtf? Yes they actually said maintain my diabetes.

Well, it’s their business model!

sleep more, play more computer games, eat more fat, less carbs = weight loss

Yup. Need some sleep more ability, though, I’ve always been terrible at that.

[MistySeptember]

11 months and 75 lbs lost. My doctor told me NOT to exercise. He is the one that put me on keto.

[anon54735292]

I agree with everything here, except I think you’re more likely to get injured if you exercise.

Ivor Cummins interviewed Dr Ben Bocchicchio & a quote that stuck with me was that “exercise should be metabolically powerful but mechanically benign” or something close to that.