How to Drop Weight Naturally Without Exercise

The best way to begin the journey of shedding the extra pounds naturally and permanently without exercise is to recognize that such journeys in real life are unique.

Some are smooth sailing, while others are an uphill battle. While adding exercise is recommended for quicker fat loss results, some of us are desperate to drop weight but cannot exercise for various reasons.

 

Can you drop weight naturally without exercise?

Yes, you can shed weight by eating less and not exercising.  Realistically, you can drop about 1 to 2 pounds a week by eating fewer calories than you burn.

This usually works out to eating about 1200- 1500 calories a day.

Develop healthy eating habits to ensure that you stick to a healthy diet and achieve long-term fat loss.

Developing healthy eating habits sounds way easier said than done. This is because eating healthy has very little to do with the physical aspect. To create better lifestyle habits, you have to develop a healthy mindset that will last for life.

How to Drop Weight Without Exercise

1. Count calories

The easiest way to drop weight without exercising lies in WHAT you eat and HOW much you eat.

So, if you have calculated that you need to eat 1200 calories a day to shed pounds, and count the calories in your food.

The most amazing thing about counting calories is that you can eat just about anything as part of your balanced diet, as long as it fits the number of calories you need each day.

You can use a food journal, a notebook, or a calorie-counting app to help you calculate the recommended calories, and keep tabs on how much you are eating.

2. Make a weekly meal plan

Planning meals is the building block for long-term healthy weight. When you know what to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you are less likely to skip a meal or grab an unhealthy meal on the go.

Essential reading:

• 12 insanely delicious high-protein snacks
• 7-day meal plan
• How to Lose Belly Fat Without Exercise

A great way to hit the ground running with meal prepping is to write down a shopping list of the healthy foods that should be in your kitchen cupboard. 

Remember that grocery stores can be quite a temptation to throw items that are not on the list into the cart.

You will create a new habit without even realizing it if you stick to buying ONLY what is on your shopping list. 

Once you have figured out what you need, prepare your meals a day or two in advance and have the hang of it, you can prep your meals even a week ahead.

3. Use smaller plates and bowls

A study was carried out to determine if smaller plates and bowls can affect how much you are eating. It was found that the sizes of the plates had an effect on how much people ate.

The research suggested that doubling of plate size increased the amount self-served or amount consumed by 41%.

Start using small plates to help you control your servings and eat less.

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4. Drink a glass of water before a meal

Water is an appetite suppressant.

Drinking room temperature water 30 minutes before each meal helps you eat less and controls hunger.

A recent study published by The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in 2018, found that drinking water before mealtime is an effective way of controlling weight.

Participants who drank water before a meal ate a lower amount of food than those who didn’t.  

For some people, however, drinking water is such a daily struggle, and would rather drink sugary beverages.

If you do not like the bland taste of water, you can enhance the taste by adding pieces of fruit or herbs.

To remain consistent with your water intake, you can either use apps that are developed to help people drink more water.

I recommend trying apps like Gulp, Waterlogged, or Hydro Coach to help you reach the daily water intake of about 15.5 cups) for men and about 11.5 cups for women.

If you can, get yourself a water bottle with time markings to drink to encourage you to drink more water.

5. Pay attention when eating

Eating on autopilot, without giving thought to what you are eating can lead to overeating.

You should give your food undivided attention and always ensure that you are eating without distractions such as eating in front of the TV or while scrolling through your phone.

A few of the ways you can pay more attention to your meals include:

• Eating slowly
• Using a smaller plate
• Chewing your food slowly
• Avoiding distractions while you eat
• Savoring the taste

6.  Don’t drink your calories

Understand that a calorie is a calorie no matter how little.

1 calorie will add up to lots of calories at the end of the day.

You could consider cutting calories from sweet drinks so you can have enough for meals that actually matter, like breakfast and lunch.

The sweetener in coffee or tea, the diet soda, that glass of wine, or the low-calorie cocktail- they all contain empty calories that have no real health benefits.

To give you a rough idea of just how many empty calories you might be drinking, calculate all the calories in your daily drinks and you will be surprised by how much that adds up to at the end of the week.

Instead of eating a healthy breakfast with about 350 calories, you’ll end up drinking 600 calories from a ‘healthy’ smoothie.

Let’s not even get started on how much sugar is usually in those ‘healthy’ smoothies.

Eating real food that nourishes your body and boosts your health is way better than drinking healthy juices and smoothies.

7. Get enough sleep

Lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain and getting enough sleep can promote weight loss. Studies have been conducted that prove that there is a connection between sleep and weight.

If you look back in your life, you will see patterns of eating or snacking more during the days when you didn’t get enough sleep.

Lack of sleep will decrease metabolism and increase your appetite.

Aim to get between 7 and 9 hours of quality sleep if you want to lose weight while you sleep.

Conclusion

Always remember that dropping weight is about calories in and calories out. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight.

If you eat the same amount of calories as your body burns you will maintain the same weight and if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will drop weight.

Exercise is good for your overall health.

So unless you have been advised by your doctor to avoid exercise at all costs, try to include even just 10 minutes of exercise a day.

Try to move more or stay on your feet during the day. Your heart will thank you.

If you have no health conditions that will stop you from exercising, start walking 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week to improve your overall stamina.