Weight Loss Without Exercise
There can be many motivations to lose weight. Yet, the thought of using exercise alone to do it can be off-putting – especially if you live with a condition that makes regular exercise difficult.
So, how can you lose weight without exercise? It all comes down to your diet and lifestyle, and in this post, we explore several effective exercise-free weight loss methods.
However, it’s worth noting here that even the gentlest of exercise a few times a week can help you live healthier, feel stronger, sleep better, and enjoy a more positive frame of mind. So don’t rule it out completely!
And remember, losing weight doesn’t have to be the ultimate goal. You can be healthy and happy without simply weighing less.
How to Lose Weight Without Exercise: 8 Tips
Ideally, you’d combine a healthy diet with regular exercise to meet your weight loss goals, but you can still shift those extra pounds without lacing up your running shoes. Here’s how:
1. Reduce Your Portion Sizes
These days, we tend to eat much more than we used to. In some ways, this is down to ever-increasing sizes of dinner plates.
Yet, the changing ideas of what a “normal” portion size is might be causing overeating, and it may be standing in the way of your weight loss goals. Eating smaller portions – and consuming fewer calories – will be your first step in losing weight without exercise.
BUPA recommends 75 grams of pasta, for example, or about 40 grams of cereal for breakfast.
2. Remove Unhealthy Snacks
Unhealthy foods – particularly those we eat between meals – play a significant role in weight gain. Cutting them out, or replacing them with healthier foods, will help you lose weight in the long run.
Rather than ice cream or “junk food”, try healthy snacks like fruit, nuts, or fibres with no added sugar. Simply keeping unhealthy foods out of your house (or out of sight) can remove the temptation.
3. Drink Lots of Water
Drinking water regularly can increase feelings of fullness and reduce food intake. That’s according to a study by the Obesity journal, which found that people who drink a half-litre glass of water before a meal tend to lose 44% more weight in the long run.
Replacing sugary beverages with water will boost these effects too.
4. Eat Foods Rich in Fibre
Eating foods containing lots of dietary fibre – including fruit and veggies, legumes such as lentils, and whole grains – can promote health. These foods help you to lose weight by making you feel fuller and reducing cravings for snacks during the day.
5. Sleep
Sleep is one of the most powerful tools we have for our overall health and wellbeing. It improves our mood, helps us concentrate, and helps us keep the energy we need to perform at our best throughout the day.
Yet, sleep also plays a big role in regulating the way we eat. The worse we sleep, the worse our dietary habits tend to be. According to studies, a lack of sleep causes us to binge and make less healthy food choices – and it affects the way we regulate our body fat.
Finding ways to improve your sleep – such as relaxation techniques or sleep supplements – will help support your weight loss journey.
Find out more: Why Do I Wake Up After Two Hours’ Sleep?
6. Boost Your Protein Intake
It might sound counterintuitive, but eating protein can help you eat less overall. That’s because, like fibre, protein can increase feelings of fullness and reduce your calorie intake in the long term.
Lean proteins such as fish and meat are your best options, or vegetarian alternatives like lentils, yoghurts, and nuts.
7. Eat Without Distraction
People who eat while watching television or playing on their phone tend to eat more – 10% more, according to one study. That’s because you’re not really paying attention to what you’re eating, nor to the signals that your body is giving you that say you’re full.
Eating slowly and concentrating on each mouthful can be helpful for appreciating the food you eat. This way, the science suggests, you will ultimately eat less.
8. Don’t Rush
Many people who want to lose weight want to lose weight fast. Unfortunately, this is not always the best strategy – particularly if you do not have exercise to support a healthy diet and lifestyle.
What’s recommended instead is to maintain a sustainable diet over the long term. That means slowly reducing carbs and your number of calories and ensuring you get all of the nutrients you need.
Ultimately, the healthiest food choices are those that you can stick with over time.
The Health Benefits of Exercise
There are many reasons why you might want to (or need to) avoid exercise. Medical conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, or mobility problems may make it difficult, for example. In these cases, a doctor may recommend that you avoid exercise altogether.
However, in otherwise healthy people, exercise will be one of the best ways to reduce your body weight and boost wellness. It doesn’t have to be much – but walking around your home, garden, or neighbourhood or lifting small weights at home will make a difference.
When it comes to exercise and weight loss, every little helps. Here are some reasons why:
- Exercise helps burn fat and calories. Evidence shows it has a big impact on reducing tummy fat.
- It makes your body use more energy, even when you are not exercising. Overall, this helps you lose weight throughout the rest of the day.
- It improves your mood and self-image, positively impacting your self-esteem.
Key Takeaways
How to lose weight without exercise? Eat a healthy balanced diet, reduce your portion sizes, and cut unhealthy snacks from your diet. Meanwhile, more specific techniques such as drinking water before dinner and turning off devices while you eat will make a difference too.
Whatever your reason for losing weight, sleeping well has also been proven to help. Sleep regulates your body’s energy and makes you less likely to binge eat. Find out more about how to get good rest with Manual.
FAQs
Can You Still Lose Weight Without Exercise?
You can still lose weight without exercise – but it’s a little trickier. Think of losing weight as a balance between calories that come in and calories that you use. Exercise means that you use many more calories. If you are not doing that exercise, you will have to eat fewer calories to keep that balance healthy.
How Do I Get Fit Without Exercising?
Getting fit is different to losing weight. The only sure-fire way to get fit, ultimately, is to exercise. Start small, with walks around the block or gentle weight-lifting exercises. It will get easier over time.
¹The Guardian Labs – Our gigantic problem with portions: why are we all eating too much? – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/25/problem-portions-eating-too-much-food-control-cutting-down
²Portion size guide – https://www.bupa.co.uk/health-information/nutrition-diet/portion-size
³Elizabeth A Dennis, Ana Laura Dengo, Dana L Comber, Kyle D Flack, Jyoti Savla, Kevin P Davy, Brenda M Davy (2009). Water consumption increases weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention in middle-aged and older adults – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19661958/
⁴Stephanie M. Greer, Andrea N. Goldstein, and Matthew P. Walker (2013). The impact of sleep deprivation on food desire in the human brain – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3763921/
⁵Eric Robinson, Paul Aveyard, Amanda Daley, Kate Jolly, Amanda Lewis, Deborah Lycett, Suzanne Higgs (2013). Eating attentively: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of food intake memory and awareness on eating – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23446890/
⁶Chia-Hua Kuo, M Brennan Harris (2016). Abdominal fat reducing outcome of exercise training: fat burning or hydrocarbon source redistribution? – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27152424/
⁷Seyed Hojjat Zamani Sani, Zahra Fathirezaie, Serge Brand, Uwe Pühse, Edith Holsboer-Trachsler, Markus Gerber, and Siavash Talepasand (2016). Physical activity and self-esteem: testing direct and indirect relationships associated with psychological and physical mechanisms – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5068479/
While we've ensured that everything you read on the Health Centre is medically reviewed and approved, information presented here is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. If you have any questions or concerns, please talk to your doctor.
