How to lose weight gradually without exercise

Summer has already started, vacation is coming soon, but your swimsuit still does not fit as you would like it to? How to lose weight gradually without exercise? The first thing people advise in such cases is: “More fitness, less fast food!” And that’s definitely true. But if you limit yourself to the unhealthy caloric foods that people are used to, then you don’t always have the time, energy, and money to go to the gym. Does it mean that we have to put up with extra pounds and stop trying to fight?

Not at all. Moreover, there are ways to lose weight without the indispensable fitness. You should not expect miracles from them, but you can rely on a moderate and gradual weight loss.

Twenty ways how to lose weight gradually without exercise by changing your habits.

1. Put your teeth to work.

Food is important. The digestibility of food depends on various factors, one of which is proper chewing. We can achieve several goals by chewing food slowly and thoroughly:

Allow your body time to signal to your brain that you are full, and it takes about 20 minutes to do so. Rapid eating leads to the fact that the signal of satiety is not yet available, and we have already eaten more than necessary.

Food that is well chewed and mixed with saliva is much better digested, which means less food is needed.

To make it easier, you can and should eat small portions because they are easy to chew.

2. Eat correctly.

That means you need to be engaged in eating, but not in reading or watching a movie while you’re eating. Scientists proved a long time ago that if something distracts us while eating, the amount we eat increases. We just don’t realize that we’re eating more than we need to.

By the way, the famous ancient advice “I am deaf and dumb when I eat” is truly saying that nothing should distract us while we are eating.

3. Remove the bright lights.

Those who prefer to eat in dim, warm light eat an average of 175 kcal less than those who like to eat in bright, cold light. Bright light increases appetite. You can easily change the light bulb to a light bulb with less power, and even better, to have a candlelight dinner more often. And not just for the sake of eating less. A romantic dinner has a continuation, which also burns calories effectively.

4. More activity in making love

Making love can serve as a pleasant substitute for fitness, because a lot of energy is consumed during physical intimacy. Folk wisdom long ago put this recommendation into a succinct proverb: “Less flour, more sex at night.”

5. Sleeping instead of eating

If you don’t get enough sleep, your body has lower levels of estrogen, the hormone that is responsible for feeling full. Your levels of the hunger-inducing hormone ghrelin go up. A sleep-deprived body is more inclined to eat unhealthy, high-calorie fatty foods.

It also influences when you sleep. Night vigils contribute to gaining extra weight, even if you had a good day’s sleep. And it is all about hormones: melatonin, which is produced only when a person sleeps in the dark. Healthy sleep is important if you want to lose weight.

6. Drink natural black coffee without sugar.

By adding sugar, syrup, and cream, the caloric content of coffee increases so much that it becomes a meal from a drink. This is especially true for those who drink a lot of coffee. Each spoonful of sugar is about 25 calories. Three cups of coffee with a spoonful of sugar each day is 75 calories a day, 525 a week. And what if the cups are not three, but five or more? And not just one spoonful of sugar, but two, and some cream added to it?

7. More water instead of food.

Did you know that we often make mistakes and confuse thirst with hunger? Scientists say that this happens 60% of the time. This happens because hunger and thirst are in the same part of the brain, and sometimes the signals get mixed up. Keep a bottle of pure, non-carbonated water on hand as a rule of thumb. Drink water when you feel hungry. You may feel less hungry.

8. Use healthy oil

For salad dressing, do not use any vegetable oil, but the most useful varieties. These are direct-pressed olive oil, grapeseed oil, walnut oil and some others. They contain healthy Omega-3 fatty acids, which have, among other useful qualities, the property of reducing appetite and helping you lose weight and answer the question of how to lose weight gradually without exercise.

9. Eliminate non-fat dairy products from your diet.

Don’t be surprised, either. According to a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, eating fat-free foods does not contribute to weight loss at all. This is because milk fats are digested slowly, and for a long time they keep you full. And also there are more various ingredients that are added to nonfat products, in order to make them tastier and appealing. Therefore, reducing the fat content does not mean that the product has become healthier and has fewer calories.

Optimal fat content of dairy products is 1.5 to 2.5%.

10. Snacking is a healthy habit.

Those who eat seldom are prone to overeating. Therefore, it is useful to snack whenever you feel hungry. Keep in mind: most diets recommend eating small and frequent meals, and there’s a reason for that. Long hunger is the reason you eat more than you need.

It is better to use fruit, fresh and dry vegetables (for example, pieces of carrot or cucumber), nuts, low-fat unsweetened yogurt or a piece of cheese as a snack.

11. Refuse fried meat.

Red and fatty meats, in particular. If you eat baked or boiled turkey breast instead of fried pork, you will not only help your body to get rid of extra pounds but also reduce the risk of developing various diseases, from gastritis to atherosclerosis.

You can go the other way: arrange 1-2 vegetarian days a week. Researchers established that a vegetarian menu helps to reduce the caloric value of the meal by 10-12%. It’s not a big deal, but it’s still good for you if you know how to lose weight gradually without exercise.

12. Increase the amount of fresh vegetables in your diet.

Pasta is easier to make, and fried potatoes are tastier. But we want to lose some weight, don’t we? So, instead of one portion of pasta, let’s put a light and healthy coleslaw on our plate, and celery salad instead of fried potatoes. Celery salad is useful for those who want to lose weight.

13. Say goodbye to French fries.

Fries are one of the most caloric and unhealthy dishes. We can say that it is almost incompatible with a thinner waistline. But one can bake potatoes, and this is positive news for lovers of this food. However, you should not abuse potatoes in any form. It is very caloric.

14. A firm “No!” for sugary sodas.

Sweet fizzy drinks contain a huge amount of sugar. You can lose weight by eliminating sugary industrial drinks from your eating habits: Coke, Sprite, Fanta, etc.

In fact, juices and compotes from the store are always incredibly sweet, too. It’s also very rare that they are natural. That’s why it’s best to make your own soft drinks, because they’re easy. Trust us, homemade lemonade with mint is prepared very quickly, contains no dubious additives and sweeteners, and at the same time is very pleasant to our taste.

15. Use small plates instead of big ones.

You’d be surprised, but it works. If you eat food cut into small pieces, in small portions, and served on small plates, then a smaller portion is enough to satiate yourself.

16. Choose colored plates.

It’s advisable to have plates of different colors at your disposal. The fact is that scientists from Cornish University made an interesting discovery: the portion of food we put on the plate depends on the contrast between the color of the plate and the color of the food. We put more on the plate if the colors are similar. The more contrasting they are, the smaller the portion size will be. So, a person is more likely to put more rice on a white plate than on a red or green one. On a brown plate, a person is likely to put less pasta, but more fried liver, etc. So it is worth planning not only what you will have for dinner, but also which dishes you will serve it on.

17. Reduce the amount of alcohol you consume.

A glass of dry red wine twice a week is not unhealthy and even, according to some nutritionists, is helpful. Having a couple of beers every day is unhealthy. It adds about 2,000 kcal each week, not to mention the risk of developing an alcohol addiction.

Alcohol acts poorly on your body’s inhibitions, including your eating inhibitions. Therefore, if there is a goal to lose weight and find a way on how to lose weight gradually without exercise, choose sobriety.

18. Remove mayonnaise from your menu.

Get rid of other manufactured sauces, as well. They are commonly made with a lot of fat, many additives, preservatives, flavor enhancers and other chemicals. For salad dressing, it is better to use yogurt, low-fat sour cream, a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil, etc. Baking with mayonnaise is also not a good idea. Culinary experts usually consider mayonnaise to be a flavor killer.

19. Walk a lot.

We’re not suggesting you run or even do Nordic walking to lose weight. Just start walking more. Walk in the park with your dog or your kids, admiring the foliage and clouds. Walk home from work, at least in some way. Walking not only helps you burn calories, it also improves your mood, and reduces cortisol, which is the stress hormone. And stress is something many people tend to “snack on.”

20. Coolness is on your side.

An experiment was conducted in Japan: during six weeks, participants had their room temperature reduced to 18 °C for two hours a day. At the end of the study, the participants weighed on average 5% less than before the study began. The cold boosts metabolism, causing the body to consume more energy for body heating.

It is unnecessary to turn into the Snow Maiden or Santa Claus, but it is useful to reduce the air temperature to an invigorating freshness from time to time.

Following these recommendations on how to lose weight gradually without exercise, you are unlikely to lose 20 or even 10 pounds (4.54 kg). But it is possible to correct some figures on the scales in a pleasant direction. And do it without harming your health.