Everyone always says, “Ah! If only I could lose weight without working out.” The truth is – you can!
Weight loss is primarily determined by your diet and your lifestyle. When trying to lose weight, it is important to understand that your workout only holds 20% weightage on your weight loss process. Instead, your weight loss is majorly dependent on lifestyle choices and what, when, and how much you eat.
So, while working out has multiple benefits, it is not necessary to lose weight. You can just as fairly lose weight without working out. That said, it is a well-known fact, proven time and again, that regular exercise has many benefits for our bodies. When combined with a few lifestyle changes and conscious dietary changes, exercise also helps in the weight loss process. But what if you cannot exercise, say, for the lack of time or due to a medical physical condition?
As if you needed any more reasons to wake up and sleep on time! Many scientific studies have proven that a regular sleep cycle with the recommended hours of quality sleep and fixed sleeping and waking times contribute significantly to weight loss. Having a fixed routine over having haywire sleeping hours, stabilizes our biological clock, improves our digestive system, and boosts our immune system. If you are someone with an erratic sleep schedule, conscious efforts in improving the sleep cycle will show significant results in weight loss over a short span of a couple of months.
Our fast-paced lifestyle takes its toll on our health and we end up putting self-care on the back burner in favor of work, social life, and many other things that we consider more important. We skip meals, have breakfasts at lunch, or completely forget about having dinner. Building upon the benefits of following a stable routine with fixed sleeping hours and fixed meal times can have multitudes of advantages on your health too.
A practice that has been trending in recent times, intermittent fasting is an ancient Vedic practice in which you alternate between eating and fasting periods throughout your day. There are many methods of intermittent fasting, but the basic principle remains the same, that is, splitting the days or weeks into eating and fasting periods.
Many people the world over have reported a positive effect of intermittent fasting on not only their weight journey but also their overall health and well-being. Intermittent fasting essentially does not dictate what to eat and what not to but rather when to eat and when not to. Combining intermittent fasting with a healthy diet can go a long way in helping with the target weight loss.
This has more of a psychological effect rather than physical, but when you eat out of smaller plates, you can trick your brain into believing that you have eaten more. As a result, you end up feeling fuller despite eating less than usual. This trick is especially helpful when eating unhealthy food as it can help in effective portion control.
A study has shown that people who have breakfast rich in proteins tend to consume fewer calories at lunch and in general throughout the day as compared to people who have a grain dependent breakfast. This works in favor of weight loss because a protein-rich breakfast makes you feel fuller for longer and when you feel full, your body does not feel the need to consume any extra calories
You should add raw vegetables in the form of salads and smoothies in your diet. Raw vegetables provide the requisite fiber to your body. This helps by boosting your digestive system and ultimately leading to the shedding of extra kilos. A bowl of salad with all your favorite salad vegetables right before your meal also helps by making you feel fuller and controlling the calorie-rich portions of your meals.
Foodgrains, fruits, and vegetables are ingenious to the place where you live. Natives have been eating locally grown fruits and vegetables for centuries and our elders swear by them for a reason. Native food and recipes are great for the climate of that place and provide the nutrition required by the people living there. Therefore, wherever you live, try to incorporate local fruits and vegetables in your diet as much as you can. This is also helpful for the environment, so it is a double win!
Making conscious efforts to make healthy lifestyle choices over cravings and convenience is one of the best things that you can do for yourself and your body. You should reduce your consumption of processed, and eliminate canned foods from your diet completely. Try to reduce the intake of refined sugar to a bare minimum. Ditch that sugary and fizzy cola drink. Avoid fried, greasy foods, and junk food.
Prepping for healthy meals for the week ahead over the weekends goes a long way into ensuring that you do not end up eating junk when pressed for time or being just plain exhausted from the long day at work.
Drink water! And a lot of it. Keeping your body sufficiently hydrated will help you throw out toxins from your body. When trying to shed some extra weight, drinking warm water on an empty belly can have miraculous effects. It will help by reducing the bloating belly, improving digestion, and overall health.
Initially, following these tips might feel overwhelming, but over time, it will become second nature to you. However, as with everything else, you need to be patient. If you are looking for drastic changes, you cannot achieve them by healthy means. And, when you try unrealistic methods, they will not be sustainable in the long run.
Incorporate healthy rituals and lifestyle choices in your routine and you will surely see positive changes. They will also last with you for the long run. When you take the healthier route to weight loss, the results are more permanent.
Salads are often labeled as boring and bland, but they don’t need to be. Well-made…
“Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.” A simple quote, but it has such…
Our hearts are the engines that keep our bodies running smoothly, pumping blood to nourish…
Several health experts across the globe speak highly of the benefits of lifestyle modification for…
Using golf for weight loss is an effective way to lose weight fast while having…
Finding the right doctor is a crucial step in maintaining your health and well-being. Whether…