What’s the one thing that holds most people back from losing weight? Not enough time to exercise! But you don’t have to spend hours at the gym in order to burn off the calories you consume—there are plenty of other ways to work off your cravings and achieve weight loss success. In fact, you can even lose weight without exercising, as long as you know how to burn off extra calories with these eight different methods!
Start Slow
If you’re just getting started with a diet, start slowly. One of my favorite tips for losing weight is to take 10 seconds before each meal or snack (any time you feel hungry) and ask yourself if you’re really hungry or if you just want something. Most of us will realize we aren’t as hungry as we thought we were, and that often leads us to eat less at meals and snacks.
Incorporate Cardio
Exercise burns calories and is an excellent way to maintain a healthy weight, but if you’re looking for ways to quickly drop pounds, cardio may not be your best bet. Cardio exercises like running and elliptical training burn fat in the short term, but according to a 2006 University of Colorado Boulder study, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) burns much more body fat than other cardio workouts.
Use Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are a great way to get in a quick workout if you don’t have access to any equipment. Their small size allows you to throw them in your suitcase and bring them anywhere. Since they’re inexpensive, you can even buy multiple resistance bands and rotate through each one throughout your trip. And if you’re worried about getting bored with just one band, there are a variety of exercises that will target different muscles and keep your workouts fresh.
Eat Less Sugar and Carbs
Any type of physical activity burns more calories than sitting on your ass. That’s why it’s so important to eat less sugar and carbs if you want to lose weight quickly. Reduce your consumption of these two food groups, especially sugary drinks like soda, as both contain large amounts of sugar that will make you gain weight. It doesn’t matter how much cardio you do or how strong you are—you won’t lose weight without changing your diet.
Drink Water
Water is crucial to weight loss and your health in general. It makes up 75% of our bodies, so it’s not too far-fetched to claim that we are made mostly of water. Many people don’t get enough H2O and as a result, they can experience fatigue, constipation, acne and more. Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses a day for optimal health.
Don’t Skip Meals
Skipping meals is never a good idea, but if you’re trying to lose weight and haven’t exercised for a long time, it could be even more damaging. If you skip breakfast, your body goes into starvation mode, which means your metabolism slows down considerably. This leads to longer-term fat storage—not exactly what you had in mind when looking for ways to lose weight quickly! Additionally, skipping meals may make you overeat later.
Sleep Well
When you’re well rested, your body has more energy for all of its processes—including weight loss. Research has shown that sleep deprivation can increase hunger hormones, slowing down your weight-loss efforts. It can also reduce insulin sensitivity and impair fat metabolism, meaning you'll have a harder time keeping fat off your waistline when you're sleep-deprived. Getting plenty of shut-eye is an easy way to keep those extra pounds off your waistline in a healthy way.
Try Interval Training
Yes, you can lose weight without working out. And that’s not a typo—I said without working out. Because it’s true: Interval training is one of my go-to strategies for getting lean. But does that mean you have to work out less? No way! In fact, if your goal is fat loss, I highly recommend devoting an hour a day or so to working out.
0 Comments