How I lost 100 pounds without exercising (unclench the pearls!)

So yanno how there's this big debate about exercise or diet to lose weight? I'm going to share how I lost 100 pounds without exercising, with calorie restricting on a 1200 calorie diet. Now before you get the vapors, diehard fitnessfolks, unclench the pearls and hear me out. Weight loss wasn't laying on the couch. I just didn't exercise in the traditional sense. I worked out by working and that, with calorie restricting helped me lose weight. 

Weight loss by calorie restricting alone, AKA sans a gym, personal trainer, etc, wasn't exactly a choice. And it may not have even been an ideal method. I have extensive structural issues that make garden variety exercise (calisthenics, aerobics, weight training, jogging and running) insanely, cripplingly painful. It's not a matter of getting used to it. It's literally impossible for me to do this things routinely with doing further damage. 

Yes, I've been told, "no pain no gain." And for a long time, I bought that erroneous thinking. It was said that I didn't know the difference between soreness from stretched muscles and devastating, relentless agony. I finally realized that at 58 years old, I do. And I can make a decision to do what's best for me. 

Now clearly, doing nothing isn't what's best. That's going to cause pain too. If we've learned anything from "My 600-lb Life" and shows about morbid obesity, it's that sedentary lifestyles cause, increase and exacerbate chronic pain issues. "My 600-lb Life" shows people bedridden, by choice, constantly complaining of aches and pain. 

So movement is essential, to health, pain management and weight loss. My solution is to keep active, doing physical labor. Don't get me wrong. This causes pain too. But not the wracking pain of jarring exercise like jogging. There are some exercises I can do that are very beneficial: yoga, limited bike riding and swimming. I have to moderate, and know when to slow down. Ice and Epsom salt baths help too. 

Part of how I lost 100 pounds was by recognizing physical limitations, working around them and doing all I can within them for the betterment of my health. Exercise vs. diet is not mutually exclusive. And neither are one size fits all. Like "My 600-lb Life" shows,  if I am to overcome obesity, I have to work my program and not sit back and wait for someone else to fix u.