Can you lose weight without exercising? This might be the question you have asked yourself at least once in your life. Perhaps, you are not against the light workout at home; but it is the gym exercise regime that scares you off. Or maybe you have tried some exercising, only to call it quits a few days later.
Well, we understand how tough it is to juggle work, life, and a gym routine. But your growing waistline hardly understands that. Besides, the sedentary lifestyle of sitting at a desk or in front of a computer doesn’t help either. And that leads us to the question- how to lose weight without exercising.
The answer is quite simple — To lose weight without having to exercise, you need to cut out some bad habits – both eating and lifestyle and welcome some healthy changes into your life. Let’s read on to find out how.
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How to Lose Weight Fast Without Exercise?
Before we begin, let us clarify one thing first. The methods we are going to discuss here are not some fast weight loss solutions. You can’t expect to achieve a result equivalent to the new extreme diets or exercise trends like “lose ten pounds in ten days” or something along this line. While the payoff of these methods will not be immediate, the results will be long-lasting and worth the effort. Let’s get started.
Take Your Coffee Black
Your new health regime should start first thing in the morning, and that involves your breakfast coffee. While coffee is supposed to be a zero-calorie drink, if it is laden with sugar, creams, and additives, you get extra 500 calories every week in your body that you don’t even remember taking. So cut out the sugar, milk/cream, or any other additives, and take your coffee in its pure form – black. It might take some time to get used to the taste, but you will never look for cream and sugar once your taste buds get used to black coffee.
Say No To Sugar
Like you have cut out sugar from your coffee, you should exclude it from other meals and dishes. While natural sugar present in carbohydrate-rich foods or fruits provides us a steady energy flow while you digest the food items, added sugar can damage your heart health. Added sugar can also be linked to obesity and diabetes. So, cut out any added sugar (or alternatives).
Whether it is flavored yogurt or cereal, muffins, or processed foods, make sure you are not consuming added sugar. Always go through the food labels to figure out if you are buying products that contain sugar additives. Steer clear of the products that include brown sugar, corn syrup, corn sweetener, malt sugar, invert sugar, syrup that ends with “ose”(glucose, lactose, maltose, etc.) on their food labels.
To satisfy your sweet tooth, choose fresh fruits. The fructose in fruit, along with the dietary fiber, makes them a perfectly healthy sweet treat.
Avoid Diet Foods
Drinking diet soda is no way better than drinking a regular soda. The sugar substitute often tricks our bodies and brains to react the same way as consuming sugar. Although diet soda claims to be low calorie or even zero-calorie beverage, they contain chemicals that can trigger various chronic diseases.
While there is no sugar in diet sodas, the saccharin, cyclamates, sucralose used as sugar substitutes in them can have controversial effects on your health. You are not doing yourself any favor by substituting regular sodas with a diet soda.
Besides, diet sodas are made to be addictive; once you are hooked, it is hard to cut down the cravings. On your next grocery run, steer clear of all the soda cans; opt for sparkling water, fruit-infused water, or even herbal tea.
Portion Your Meals
Portioning your meal is the best way to control how much you eat. This does not require drastic changes. We recommend you follow the food guidelines by the FDA. Fill half your plate with vegetables, and a quarter with carbs, and another quarter with lean proteins. Eat mindfully and eat only until you are almost full (not full). Be sure to drink plenty of water along with your meal to ensure you don’t overeat.
Watch Out Your Calorie Intake
Keep track of how many calories you are taking in each meal. Replace high-calorie-density foods with low-calorie-density foods. Plant-based foods are rich in fiber, which makes them low in calorie density. Some vegetables need more calories to be digested than the calorie they produce; hence, your net calorie intake stays balanced. Besides, fiber-rich foods keep you satiated longer, which will result in less calorie consumption.
Keep Some Snacks in Your Bag
Frequent healthy snacking will not increase your weight; instead, it will tone down your hunger. If you are ravenous during mealtime, you will always end up overeating. Don’t leave long gaps between meals and squeeze in healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables between meals. Keep your meals frequent but keep them small. Snacking will boost your energy and alertness.
However, don’t give in to the temptation if you crave some chips or cookies for snack time. Even if sweet treats like cookies can boost your energy, they are short-lived; you have to suffer a dip after the momentary high. If possible, keep them out of your sight, or better yet, don’t stock your pantry with them in the first place.
Substitute carbohydrate-rich snacks with protein-rich snacks like tofu, hard-boiled eggs, jerky, nuts, and trail mix. Tuna salad or walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids; they can help with high blood pressure, heart disease and keep you satiated.
Eat Protein-Rich Foods
Protein impacts our hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin, so the more you load up on protein, the more active and in sync these hormones will be.
As a result, you will feel full and less hungry, even if you eat less. Try to include at least one source of protein in every meal. Make sure the source of protein is lean and healthy.
Stop Binging On Junk Food- Replace Fries With Salad
It’s not like you can’t indulge in junk food once in a while. But don’t make a habit of it, and make it healthy. If you want to lose weight fast, instead of fries, order a side of salad with your burger whenever you are at fast-food joints. Try to pack some homemade lunch whenever you are out to avoid falling into the temptation of eating junk food for lunch.
Eat Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are essential for healthy digestive tracts. Fruits and vegetables are filled with water and fiber that will make you full for longer. Besides, fresh fruits and vegetables full of antioxidants are capable of removing toxins from your body. There is also a tremendous amount of research that has recently discovered the positive effects of fiber on your gut biomes.
Eat Probiotic Foods
Our bodies have trillions of microbes that live in our system symbiotically. Most of these microbes live in our gut. They help digest food and release nutrients, making it easier for our body to absorb the nutrients.
When we are not eating healthy, the gut bacteria can suffer, and the harmful bacteria may kill the beneficial ones and take over the system. This can cause a lot of health issues.
The microorganisms in probiotic foods have wholesome health benefits- they can improve digestion, heart health, skin health, or even keep away depression. They break down different foods and minimize digestive issues. You can take probiotic supplements or add fermented foods to your diet to diversify your gut bacteria.
Add probiotic foods- yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh, miso, kombucha, kimchi, or pickles to your diet. Fermented cheese such as mozzarella, cottage cheese, cheddar, and gouda are good sources of probiotics.
Cleanse Your System
While our body has natural detoxing abilities, you can always enhance the process with some healthy practices and diets. Detoxing is a way to remove toxins and harmful elements from your system. Your liver, digestive system, kidney, and lungs are involved in cleansing or purging your system.
To cleanse and detox your system naturally, start your morning drinking a glass of warm water. Regulate your morning routine to avoid bloating and constipation.
To achieve a full body detox, you should avoid alcohol and focus on improving your sleep pattern. Cut back processed foods and add more antioxidant-rich foods to your diet. Staying hydrated is also vital when it comes to cleansing your system.
Eat Healthy Carbohydrates
Unfortunately, food rich in carbohydrates is maligned by fad diets. The reality is carbohydrates are essential for our body. There is also such a thing as healthy carbs. Opt for whole grains instead of processed and refined; they will make you feel full. Add brown rice, bulgur wheat, grains, and cereal to your regular diet, cut out white bread, white rice, and processed refined carbohydrates.
Adopt a Healthy Sleep Routine
Your sleep pattern impacts your metabolism and the activities of the hunger hormone leptin and ghrelin. When your sleep routine is irregular, you tend to eat more while your metabolism nosedives. Besides, a sleep-deprived brain is prone to slacking off from exercising, maintain a healthy routine. Instead, it will lead you to indulge in unhealthy diets. To regain control over your weight, go to bed early and get enough quality sleep.
Stay Hydrated
Hydrating regularly can make you feel full without even eating. Besides, hydration keeps your body cells active. Apart from rejuvenating the cells, frequent hydration can boost your cardiovascular health and even your brain health. Keep a water bottle with you and drink frequently.
Drink a glass of water before you sleep and after you wake up. Even in your sleep, you lose water by breathing or sweating. If you think drinking water right before bed will disrupt your sleep cycle because you might need to eliminate all that water, you should drink water at least 1.5 hours before sleeping.
Walk More
While you don’t need a rigorous workout routine to lose weight, you must keep your body active. Even adding a few steps more to your regular walking can go a long way to keep your body fit. For instance, when you need to take that phone call, you can walk around a little instead of sitting idly. You can also walk on your treadmill while you catch up on your favorite shows.
Correct Your Posture
Getting your posture right can reduce your stomach. Our sedentary lifestyle can wreak havoc on our bodies. As a result, you get a small pouch even if you are eating right. To avoid this, try sitting with your feet touching the ground, cushion your back, so it stays straight.
To Unwind, Swap Alcohols with Relaxing Baths and Tea
For many of us, alcohol might be the only way to unwind after a busy day. But why load your body with more toxins when you can just relax by taking a bath and have a cup of soothing green tea? When you are stressed, the stress hormone cortisol kicks in to make you crave unhealthy foods.
A relaxing bath can lower your stress hormone cortisol, which will help you maintain a healthy diet.
Take Supplements
As you focus on a healthier diet, remember to take supplements to replenish essential vitamins and minerals that may be lacking from your everyday food. Besides, some of them are rare in natural food sources. So don’t ignore taking necessary supplements to get a well-rounded diet.
However, make sure you know the allergic reaction and other side effects of certain nutritional supplements. For instance, soya bean-based probiotic supplements can have an allergic reaction if you are intolerant to seeds and legumes.
The Bottom Line
All these efforts will fail if you practice them sporadically or half-heartedly. So be consistent in your pursuit of a healthy weight. Start with little changes, and then gear up for more once you feel ready. Swapping out unhealthy habits with good lifestyle choices might seem hard at first, but it will be worth it in the end.
My name is Deborah Foster and I am a Weight Loss Coach with a background in Nutrition Coaching and Personal Training. I specialize in helping women and men break through the yo-yo diet cycle and lose weight for good, without being miserable in the process.
