How to Lose Weight Without Exercise
If you are not able to exercise due to health or other reasons, you may be wondering how to lose weight without exercise. There are some unhealthy ways and some healthy ways, so let’s talk about each.
Nutrition Is Key
While exercise is definitely one factor in losing weight, there are other factors too, such as sleep, reducing stress, and diet. In fact, by paying attention to your diet alone, you could have a huge influence on your weight loss results.
“Although 80% of your weight loss success will come from nutrition, there are other areas of your life that are key to achieving healthy and sustainable weight loss.” – Huffpost Lifestyle
Unhealthy Ways To Lose Weight
One of the first things that many people turn to is a fad diet. This is a diet that promises big results by eating a certain type, amount, or ratio of food.
The fact is that many of these fad diets are not popular because they work but, instead, are popular because they give hope for a quick and simple solution to a weight problem. You may hear about some success stories, but all of the failures, struggles, and issues that come with the fad diet will not be exposed openly.
“Experts will tell you time and time again that the only way to effectively lose weight and keep it off is by making long-term changes to your lifestyle.” – FITDAY
Another unhealthy way to lose weight is to develop an eating disorder. This may sound silly to some people, but many people engage in binge eating, purging, or avoiding food altogether. Yes, this will result in weight loss, but the health risks, both mental and physical, are too high a price for anyone to pay for a few pounds.
Lastly, relying on supplements to help you lose weight is not a healthy way to engage in weight loss. While some supplements can complement a healthy diet, many could put you at risk for cardiovascular disease, do damage to your liver, put stress upon your organs, or cause gastrointestinal problems. Moreover, taking supplements without a change in diet will not produce many (if any) results, and that can lead to more unhealthy tactics to lose weight.
Losing Weight The Healthy Way
Losing weight is all about changing the way you eat and what you eat. If you keep eating the same thing in the same way, you will stay the same, so a change is required.
The problem is that change pushes people out of their comfort zone. They have built up habits around eating, and they associate eating with a lot of different activities, and they feel stressed when they are not allowed to eat the way they want during those activities.
Unfortunately, to lose weight without exercise, a change in diet is absolutely necessary. While there are many guidelines around what food is healthy or unhealthy to eat, there are some weight loss guidelines that are absolutely necessary to follow.
1. Moderation Is Key
Too much of anything can be bad. For instance, eating macaroni and cheese every day could potentially help you lose weight if don’t eat a large amount; however, it will not give you the nutrition your body requires to work at an optimal level. A ton of apples a day will do the same thing.
Therefore, don’t deny yourself anything that offers your body nutrition. For instance, whole food groups offer you essential nutrients, and it is important to get a variety of these. Moreover, allow yourself to experience sweet, salty, sour, savory, and bitter, so that you don’t feel you are depriving yourself of anything. Just make sure moderation becomes a habit.
2. Recognize Food Triggers
You probably have many cues that cause you to eat. Maybe your favorite TV show strikes the urge for potato chips. Or, maybe a friend coming over causes you to bake up some homemade treats. We tend to associate food with many different things, and behavior modification can be the key to avoid eating simply because of a stimulant.
When you recognize what causes you to cook or eat, besides hunger, then you can try to change those triggers. For instance, if a friend coming over warrants the desire for croissants, you can plan to meet your friend at a local mall for some one-on-one time their instead. The great thing is that eventually the desire to have croissants when your friend comes over will pass, because the habit of doing so also passes.
3. Listen To Your Body
Your body knows when it needs nutrition and when it has had enough. You just have to listen to it. If you could master this one thing, you would find a huge decrease in calories throughout your day.
Most of us are prone to eating even though our body is full because our food tastes so good or because we are mindlessly eating. Therefore, make eating a mindful activity, and follow its cues. Note: Satisfaction is the key, not fullness. When you are too full, you have probably eaten too much. When you are satisfied, you have satisfied your hunger’s needs.
4. Pay Attention To Stress Eating
This is similar to listening to your body. When you are stressed, you may reach for your favorite food, but the truth is you are not physically hungry, you are mentally hungry. By recognizing this fact, you will have an easier time choosing a healthier option, such as taking a bath, talking with a friend, or just listening to music. The urge to eat will pass because you are not really hungry.
5. Improve Your Cooking Skills
Lastly, cook healthy meals at home with real food, and avoid food that has been processed. Yes, it may be more convenient to eat processed food, but it can be packed with many more calories than you need, while cooking at home allows you to find creative ways to create your favorite foods without the added calories in them.