Maybe I'm Just Paranoid...

Okay, so I am participating in a body composition study which asks me to not exercise until after the study is over. This makes me depressed because this means no exercise for a whole month. A WHOLE MONTH!!! I just can't see a way to maintainmy weight or lose weight without exercising. I know an option is to consume fewer calories, but that has never worked for me. Can anyone relate to this problem and does anyone have any advice?

I don't understand why you agreed to participate in the study if you knew it would be such an issue. 

I had no idea. They didn't tell me all the details until after I met them. Now, I'd feel guilty if I backed out of the study.

so you either back-out. Or this gives you a great chance to focus on the food you eat....

I think it boils down to you realizing what is more important....exercise and your mood, or participating in the study. 

For me personally, not exercising makes me cranky.

unless you're getting paid huge bucks for participating, drop out.  that is not a study you want to be a part of.

Can you at least walk??

I wasn't allowed to "work out" for a month but I walked every day (on a pretty much FLAT surface - maybe a 2 to 4 % incline) for a month and didn't gain any weight even when I kept on eating relatively the same amount of calories as I did when I was
"really" working out... So if you're allowed to walk, then GO FOR IT!

And if you really cannot do anything... and cannot back out or are getting paid a lot of money for this study... think of it as just one MONTH of your life and it will go on the second the month is over.

I don't see how eating fewer calories won't work for you. Is it because you just can't bring yourself to eat fewer calories, or you think that your body will still gain weight no matter how many calories you eat?

I assume it is the latter since you have so much discipline that you just can't possibly cope with not working out for a whole month.

Perhaps you should man up and try it. It is what I do when I have important events that pull me away from not working out for weeks at a time.....and it has never failed me.

If you can't do that, then good luck keeping your weight down for the rest of your life because at some point you'll have to change your diet. This kind of thing will happen again, guaranteed.

weight loss is done in the kitchen.  you lose 80% based on what you eat & 20% from exercise.... sooooo that means you will only lose 20% less than if you were exercising or you will still lose 80% of what you would have lost with exercise included. sad but true.

it is true & good luck with your diet.

Tjlo

There's no reason why you can't just eat fewer calories I assume.

But if the study makes you uncomfortable, you SHOULD drop out. The researchers won't care, there are plenty of people willing to take your place, and the research groups are usually large enough to accommodate drop-outs. These people are going to put too much effort into their study to have you decide you're in over your head and drop out 3 weeks from now.

If there's even a chance you'll be tempted to cheat and ruin the study, you are obligated ethically to remove yourself now.