I've lost the majority of my weight (maybe 50 pounds) with very little working out.

I've been injured since early spring, and haven't been able to exercise pretty much at all...I am definitely less hungry, and eating less carbs, and started doing some intermittent fasting...and I don't weigh myself, but do measure sporadically...I've lost inches all over being more sedentary than I've ever been...and I can tell just by looking in the mirror that I've lost significant fat...I'm rethinking my whole exercise philosophy because of this. I feel like this time away from the gym is helping to reset my metabolism!

When I started the Archevore/Paleo lifestyle (not diet!) at the beginning of this year, I weighed 195 (at 5'11"). 6 weeks later I weighed 180 lbs. This was without any working out at all. At my starting weight, I was definitely not morbidly obese, but unquestionably overweight. So I considered 15 lbs loss fairly significant given my starting point.

The decision to not work out was intentional for several reasons-

1) My working hypothesis was that diet was the 80+% of the battle. Maybe more.

2) I wanted to control the n=1 experiment to isolate the impact of working out from dietary changes. Since I was not working out with any regularity prior to the New Year, I did not want to alter two significant variables at once.

3) I had read enough anecdotal evidence that keto adapation takes time. Since my expectation that my carb intake would diminish (although perhaps not fully in ketosis), I did not want tax my CNS with a substantial workout program while my metabolism was making a significant adjustment. Slamming your CNS is quite possibly one of the biggest issues people have when jumping off the cliff to start their workout program without easing into it.

After losing 15 lbs in 6 weeks, I have lost another 3-4 lbs in the last 5 months - the infamous plateau. I feel I need to lose another 12-15 lbs. I just recently started the exercise program with the diet constant to see how changing this variable impacts my results.

Good luck, Aravind

I lost 77 lbs in three months with no working out five years ago.

It seems like a lot of these replies are focusing on weight loss without exercise; but the way I read the question, it seems like the topic is...differences in fat loss among people that work out intermittently.

I lost about 50 or 60 pounds before taking up exercise (soccer about 4 days a week, no "training"). Because I travel every month for a week I have three weeks "on" and one week "off" soccer. On my "off" weeks I too experience greater weight loss. REally the leanest I ever get. When I get back to playing soccer I put on a handful of pounds.

It's an interesting observation and one that I find interesting because I've taken blood glucose readings post-exercise (and also baseline) and find that my levels are astonishingly high after I've played a game. (Fasting levels are about 80 mg/dL; post-prandial levels are about 100; post-exercise are around 150.)

I'm assuming that my liver is ratcheting up conversion of glycogen to glucose and/or entering into gluconeogenesis during exercise. The subsequent insulin surge could have something to do with fat accumulation.

Either that or I'm starving myself unintentionally on my travels and burning up my muscle tissue...

I find that if I don't workout I start eating a little less. I think our body sends us the appropriate hunger signals for how much energy we need to replete. Crazy huh.

I started Paleo in Feb. right after retina surgery and lost 20 lbs. So I couldn't work out. Since starting to work out in April til now another 20 lbs. I'm now at 237 from 277, doing things at 53 I couldn't do at 25 and still getting stronger.

I'm at about 30 lbs loss now and I haven't worked out much at all, I'm trying to push myself to do some sprints once or twice a week, haven't gotten past the thinking stage!

I just make sure I move alot all day, avoid sitting for long periods. That said, I could use some toning and after we move I'll look into perhaps a trainer.

I always avoid exercise when trying to loose fat, otherwise I just bulk up in already big areas. First I want to be leaner in all the right places and then I'll tone it up, well, now!

it depends on your body and how things work for you I guess. I hear alot of people working out, I just don't have the drive to do that, I'd rather dance than exercise!!

I lost 45 pounds and visibly lost my gut over the course of a year with no working out, following an MDA-type "primal" diet.

Well I can only speak on my own experience. I started paleo 3 months ago at 225 lbs. I don't train. My exercise is playing 2 games of softball per week and I surf fish and I lift 1 to 2 times a month. I lost 35 lbs in 6 weeks and have maintained weight for for the last 3. I would say you can lose weight while not training.

Different people's bodies handle exercise a lot differently. It seems like some people don't need to and shouldn't work out as much as others due to high cortisol levels resulting from over working their bodies. I've learned it's as important if not more so to make sure my body is fully recovered and repaired from a tough workout before I rock myself again. This seems to be another one of those n=1 things though so just take note of how you feel when you hit the gym again. It's very possible you don't need to be stressing your body out as much as you once did to get the same or better results.

Yes. I've lost 10 lbs in a month without working out. I can workout like crazy, but if my food intake isn't in check, I won't lose an ounce. I am starting to workout this week, basically following Mark Sisson's recommendations. I am doing this because I want to tone up and be stronger, but I don't expect extra weight loss.

Absolutely..! I lost over 50 lbs in 8 months with just regular walking. However, to tone up you will need to do something that suits your lifestyle.

22 lbs so far, without a single workout session. :) I want to start soon, though, because I want to be strong and hot and tight.

absolutely yes major fat (not lean) weight loss without exercise. diet is 80%, like Aravind says. works every time I live it. :) p.s. whatever one thinks of bodybuilders, including natural/drug-free athletes, they earn credit for achieving their goals, and guess what their #1 rule is?: diet is 80% of the success.

I started Paleo in March and have lost 30 lbs. so far. I haven't ever intentionally worked out, though i do garden and clean my house pretty vigorously. I have a desk job that requires sitting with getting up and walking a few times an hour, but honestly I am a couch potato most of the time. I have used unintentional intermittent fasts and that always breaks a plateau for me. I am rarely ever hungry in the sense of gnawing gut pain (unless I have a cheat day) and I know I eat way less than an average person, without any issues. By the way i'm not even fully paleo, i only cut out the bread, legumes, sugar, fruit and processed foods and it is still working for me.

Yep. I eat less and am generally not as hungry when I don't workout for a couple of days, which happens very rarely for me but does happen. My personal body comp and strength goals do not correlate to a loss in weight so I have to fight the "not hungry" and go ahead and eat. I realize this probably isn't a Paleo approach, but it is my approach.

I haven't lost any weight since the first "miraculous week" of 10 pounds loss.

My husband has lost 16 pounds in about 2 months. He doesn't work out at all beyond walking half a mile to the park a couple of times a week (which he did before going paleo).

As long as I am physically active otherwise, yes. I do notice faster results when actively trying to lose weight when I lift, as long as I don't abuse food with my newfound appetite.

I lost 35 pounds with a Paleo/Primal approach to eating without any working out. I do walk my dog 1-2 times a day, but I was doing that before with no weight change.

I have reached my weight goal (still have 5 extra lbs, but I don't consider the number on the scale to be a big deal), but I have found I'm not nearly as strong as I want to be, so now I'm adding exercise. I sometimes jog/sprint with my dog instead of just walking. I am trying to work out a strength training plan so that I don't jump in and then burn out (that's usually what happens with me).

I lost my initial 35 lbs with strict diet (not Paleo, but lower carb and still pretty clean) and lots of exercise. I hit a three-year plateau. And I exercised consistently for the last year of that plateau. I cut calories, I increased exercise, I gave up and overate, got back on track...but I could not lose another ounce. Then I learned about intermittent fasting and Paleo, started them at about the same time and broke that stupid plateau for good. Have lost another 20 lbs in a few weeks and am still on my way downward.