Here’s some great news for those who want to lose weight without exercising! With multiple scientific studies suggesting that weight maintenance is 70% diet, and 30% exercise, you don’t have to work out to lose weight.
There are 8 sure-fire ways to get your metabolism going, burn calories, lose weight quickly, and steer clear of monotonous and exhausting workouts at the gym.
Here’s how to maintain a healthy body weight without exercising:
1.Proper Diet
One of the fastest and easiest ways to start dropping excess pounds is by paying close attention to what you eat.
There are many foods that naturally boost metabolism. Your metabolism is really just an amalgamation of many different biochemical processes that occur in your body on the cellular level.
From a microscopic viewpoint, your body will process food more efficiently when your cells eat and excrete as they should. Some foods that we eat affect our cellular health, and also help to boost the metabolic function.
Here are a few to add to your grocery list:
Beans – You should fall in love with beans. They are one of the few foods that contain both plant-proteins and high levels of fiber.
They keep you full, and they are one of the only macronutrients that require a lot of calories to burn. For instance, if you eat 400 calories of beans, it will require your body 80 calories just to burn them.
Healthy eaters can dine on entire meals that are comprised of just 400 calories, so you can fill up on beans and not gain weight.
Almonds – These tasty nuts are low in saturated fatty acids, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and contain filling fiber, unique and protective phytosterol antioxidants as well as plant protein.
Small doses are best since they are high in calories. Stick to a small handful (about ¼ cup).
The benefits of eating berries include dietary fiber (which helps keep you full) but also a high level of antioxidants like Vitamin C (as in raspberries) or resveratrol (you’ll find this in mulberries.) No matter which type of berry you choose, keep your serving to between ½ – 1 cup of the whole fruit.
Celery – This food has a reputation for having negative calories, and while that isn’t completely true, long green stalks of celery are wonderful at boosting digestion, adding water to hydrate you (another key to good metabolism) and providing potassium.
They also have super low calories with only about 6 per 7-8 inch stalk. Because of their dietary fiber, you could literally munch on celery all day long, and boost your metabolism.
They are high in fiber and protein as well as healthy Omega 3 fatty acids (the kind your body actually likes, and that don’t cause weight gain, unlike trans-fats.) Add chia to oatmeal, granola, or sprinkle them on almond better and celery, and you’ve got a great mid-afternoon snack that will have your metabolism roaring.
Greens – It doesn’t matter if its spinach, kale, green tea leaves, Swiss Chard, dandelion roots, arugula, or purslane, greens are the go-to food to boost your metabolism.
Your body loves all the phyto-nutrients they provide so you won’t be as likely to eat calorie-laden foods, which is really an attempt by your body to get the nutrients it needs. You’ll also reduce your risk of getting cancer, and you’ll age slower, just as an added incentive.
Greens are super low in calories, too, so you can eat them until you are full, without really needing to measure them out.
Some Dark Chocolate Will Work Best
Believe it. You can eat dark chocolate to help boost your metabolism.
The trick is to be sure you choose a chocolate bar, or pieces that have a low sugar index, and that is the highest percentage of dark chocolate you can stand to eat. 70% or higher, and you are getting a host of hormonal support to make you feel happy and less likely to binge.
You also get magnesium, which stimulates the fat-burning hormone adiponectin. You can eat about half a bar with low sugar content (no more than 10 grams is ideal, less is better) every day to support your weight loss goals.
You may have noticed that all the foods listed here are whole foods (unprocessed) and plant based. That is key in boosting your metabolism. There are many more metabolism boosting foods, but starting with these should get you on your way to burning calories without exercise.
Also, eating many small meals throughout the day, timed properly can boost what is called the “thermic effect of food,” or the rate at which our bodies burn calories. If we eat small meals throughout the day, we can increase the amount of calories we burn by around 10%. That’s wonderful news! You get to eat, and lose weight!
Just keep in mind that the meals you eat throughout the day should be small, and healthy. You don’t really get much out of the thermic effect if one of those meals is a 1,000-calorie bag of chips.
2. Herbal Remedies
There are many natural, non-pharmaceutical herbs which support glucose levels and appetite control.
Bitter herbs like Gentian, Wormwood, or Thistle will support appetite and digestion. This is important because if our digestion gets backed up, and we don’t eliminate as often as we should, our gut flora starts to change as food putrefies in our intestines.
This may sound unpleasant, but imagine what it does to your body! All the toxins that would normally be expelled sit there, and no matter how hard your liver, your kidneys, or your bowels work, they are left to wreak havoc on your body.
This can affect you by causing strange food cravings, (like a desire to eat sugars, unhealthy fats, and salty foods) which in turn, leads to more toxicity. Adding bitter herbs will naturally support the digestive process.
Herbs that support glucose levels will also prevent a sugar spike, followed by a nose-dive, which is usually when we starting grabbing for the cookies, cakes, and pies.
These include cinnamon (just one gram works, but you can eat up to 200 grams for extra support), Vitamin D (400 IU daily), Chromium (200 micrograms daily), Alpha Lipolic Acid (200 mg daily), and Ginseng (500-1000 mg before meals) all work wonders.
3. Sleep at Least 8 Hours
Often overlooked, getting a full 8-9 hours of sleep every night can do wonders not just for your metabolism, but your mood.
Some will say sleep is THE most important thing if you want to control your weight without working out excessively. The same way you feel groggy when you don’t rest sufficiently, so do your cells. Your metabolism also get slow and grouchy without enough rest.
Lack of sleep can actually translate into altered fats cells that are resistant to change.
Just four nights of poor sleep resulted in severe insulin sensitivity in one study, causing insulin levels to drop by 30%. As you learned above, glucose or insulin instability can lead to overeating.
4. Check Your Hormones
Many people have thyroid problems and don’t know it. When the thyroid isn’t working properly, it can cause excessive weight loss or gain – no matter how much you exercise, or eat the right foods.
The thyroid is actually part of a set of endocrine glands which includes your pituitary, ovaries (in women), pancreas, and testes (in men). These glands all work to regulate metabolism, growth, development in young children, and reproduction.
The thyroid is the largest gland of the endocrine system. If you have been having trouble with your weight or energy levels, ask your doctor to check your thyroid levels to be sure your blood markers are balanced.
5. Drink More Water
Sometimes we eat when we are really thirsty. If you’re even mildly dehydrated, your metabolism may slow down, says Scott Isaacs, MD, clinical instructor of medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine.
Tip: Drink water cold, which forces your body to use more calories to warm it up. A full 8 ounce glass 6-8 times a day will keep you properly hydrated.
If you are trying to lose weight fast without working out, you’ll want to drink plenty of water.
Read: How much Water You Should Drink A day to lose weight
6. Get Outside and Love the Sun
Getting enough fresh air and sunlight, all while taking in the sounds of nature, and seeing the colors of nature, contribute to a healthy metabolism.
There are a myriad of different studies proving that sunlight and nature are key for our endocrine system, our metabolism, and a great mood, so that we are tempted to stuff our unpleasant emotions down with junk food.
Try to get outside to a park, forest, or beach at least three times a week for several hours.
7. Use Natural Weight Loss Supplements that are Proven to Work
If you want to burn more calories without ever stepping into a gym, there are several weight loss supplements that have been proven to work, both anecdotally, and with scientific studies.
- Vitamin D – The less insulin resistant you are, the less likely the calories you eat will end up as fat. Vitamin D helps to ensure that your fat cells are converted into useable energy.
- Calcium – This nutrient binds to fat cells in your GI tract, preventing them from being reabsorbed into your blood. Less fat cells, less fat!
- Protein – This nutrient can help you maintain muscle mass even as you lose weight. This helps you to further lose weight because muscle burns more than fat.
- Conjugated Lineolic Acid (CLA) CLA helps blood glucose enter the body’s cells, so it can be burned for energy and not stored as fat. CLA also helps to promote fat burning, especially in muscles, where most of our calorie burning takes place.
- Green Tea – Green tea (as opposed to black or any other type of tea) contains the highest levels of polyphenols. Polyphenols (especially high in Japanese Matcha Green Tea) can boost our metabolic rate by a whopping 17 percent. Add up to three cups a day to your diet.
8. Meditate
By prioritizing your overall well-being over just losing weight, you’ll actually lose more weight!
When we practice things like self-reflection or mediation, we reduce stress, and this makes our entire health sky-rocket. One study found that meditation once a day for just ten minutes supports weigh loss by supporting our overall state of being.
2 Extra Tips to Help You
9. Employ Friends and Loved Ones
This study, along with many others proves that if you want to lose weight, joining others in a supportive community with the same goal will help you achieve that goal.
Perhaps it’s just because you know someone can relate, or because they’ll also remind you of best-practices, but finding company in your weight-loss journey, instead of going it alone will help you succeed.
10 Stay Positive!
If you really want to lose weight fast without exercise, attitude is everything. Choosing an inner dialog of self-encouragement will keep you on track.
You can use affirmations, vision boards, inspiring photographs of what you want to look like, humor and other tools for creating positivity in your life. Your weight loss success absolutely depends on a positive outlook.
After reading these points, you’ve got to put them into action! So, print this article and put it on your fridge. Share it to your social media networks, and by all means – get busy losing weight without exercise!
