These 6 Women Prove You Can Lose a Lot of Weight Without Setting Foot in a Gym

Kim Dye started her weight-loss journey in September 2016 at 242 pounds. "At the time, I suffered from bouts of anxiety and depression and was completely sedentary," she said. "My weight was truly beginning to hold me back socially and, more importantly, as a mother."

Although she didn't initially set out to lose weight, she began to walk nearly two miles every day to take her son to school. "About two weeks in, I noticed my clothes were fitting looser, and I decided to step it up," she said. This progressed to three-mile walks at a trail nearby, then six-mile walks.

This increase in activity motivated her to start tracking her calories in MyFitnessPal. In the first month, she lost eight pounds. "No radical diet or fitness plan, just tracking everything I ate — the good, the bad, and ugly — staying within my calorie goal, and walking five days a week," she said. "That dramatic loss was all it took to continue what I was doing." Kim went on to lose 100 pounds total.

It was February 2017 and Alex Baca was two pounds shy of weighing 350 pounds when she decided enough was enough. "I had not weighed myself in years, and in my head, I knew I was over 300 but was always too afraid to look at the scale. When I finally did, something clicked with me," she told POPSUGAR. She spent the first seven to eight months closely monitoring everything she was eating with the Lose It! app and shed more than 70 pounds from just changing her diet.

Lexi lost 50 pounds in eight months thanks to healthy meal prep, calorie counting, and adopting a healthy workout routine. "At first, I went to a local gym and left within minutes. I then decided I would walk in the evenings. Walking led to cycling, and cycling led to me setting up a home gym." She added that she tries to work out three to four times a week. "It has taken me months to get to where I am."

Jen Wagner started tracking her food and counting calories with MyFitnessPal and eventually implemented intermittent fasting to help her lose 85 pounds. But she also stayed active without a gym membership. She plays a lot of tennis — four days a week usually, anywhere from one to three hours at a time.

One main thing Jen did was to make sure that whatever exercise she did, she enjoyed it. "I never did something that made me miserable and not want to do it again." She used all sorts of activities as exercise, including swimming, walking with hand weights, jumping on trampolines with her daughter . . . as long as her Apple Watch showed that she had exercised for at least 30 minutes, that was all she needed. "I haven't stepped foot inside of a gym even one time on this journey."

Jess Dukes lost the first 50 pounds in nine months and then went through two pregnancies, so it took her four years to lose the total 75 pounds. Her diet played a huge role, and she followed the Portion Fix Meal Plan from Beachbody (the one with the color-coded containers). It's all about clean eating in the right portions for your body based on where you are now and what your goals are.

"I eat roughly 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day, but I do not track calories and macros. That is one of the perks of my meal plan," Jess told POPSUGAR.

Jess started her journey in the gym and quickly switched over to Beachbody workouts at home. "I loved that I didn't have to leave my house in order to get in a great workout, and it was like working out with a trainer every day without having to pay for one!" Jess said. She's been doing at-home programs for five years and has completed many programs that combine cardio and weightlifting. She typically works out six days a week, and each workout is around 30 minutes long.

Natalie McCain kept her weight-loss routine simple by walking daily. "I walk for about an hour each day — sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more," she said. "And while that may seem like a big chunk of the day to dedicate to exercise, you'd be surprised how easily you can chip away at it simply by going for a walk over your lunch or pacing around the house during a phone call." She went on to lose 75 pounds "doing nothing more than eating healthfully and moving my body each and every day."