How to Lose Weight Without Exercise

You’ve probably heard that eating less and exercising more is the best way to lose weight. That sounds great in theory, but it is not always possible for everyone. When trying to lose weight, more physical activity may not be an option for some people.

Lunch in bed, healthy dinner Top view of vegan superbowl or Buddha bowl with hummus, vegetables, fresh salad, beans, couscous, and avocado, green smoothie on tray, and woman in jeans eating with fork. (Healthy dinner, in-bed lunch.) Buddh or vegan superbowl?

There could be several reasons why you need to lose weight without exercising:

You have an injury that limits or prevents you from exercising.

You’re preparing for surgery, such as knee surgery, and your doctor wants you to lose weight. However, due to knee pain, you are unable to exercise much or at all.

You suffer from fibromyalgia or arthritis.

You have diabetes and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). When you exercise, your blood sugar levels can drop dangerously low.

The word “exercise” turns you off. This isn’t a good reason to avoid physical activity, but it could be why you’re looking for ways to lose weight without exercising, says Amy Kimberlain, a registered dietitian in Miami and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson.

How Weight Loss Changes When You Can’t Exercise

According to Dr. Scott A. Cunneen, director of metabolic and bariatric surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and author of “Weight Issues: Getting the Skinny on Weight Loss Surgery,” exercise helps the body burn calories more efficiently. This is because your metabolism has accelerated. Your metabolism will most likely slow down if you do not exercise.

One reason why exercise is a natural companion to eating less for weight loss is a faster metabolism. It can help you lose weight faster depending on how much you exercise. You can potentially reach your calorie-cutting goal faster if you eat less and burn off calories with exercise.

If you are unable to exercise, losing weight may take longer. According to registered dietitian Jill Weisenberger, author of “Prediabetes: A Complete Guide and Diabetes Weight Loss – Week by Week” and owner of Food & Nutrition Solutions by Jill in Yorktown, Virginia, losing weight slowly can help you keep it off more than losing weight quickly.

Think Long Term for Weight Loss

Weisenberger encourages people who want to lose weight to set long-term goals. For example, you could aim to lose 10% of your body weight in three to six months. If you weigh 200 pounds, you will lose 20 pounds. She prefers this to weekly weight goals, which may result in some initial weight loss due to loss of water, bone, and even lean muscle mass in addition to fat.

Losing weight without exercise also requires you to focus more on reducing your calorie intake while still eating nutritious foods. A pound contains approximately 3,500 calories. If you divide that by seven days, you’ll save 500 calories per day.

 Tips to Lose Weight Without Exercise

Be patient with the process, advises registered dietitian Heidi Katte, program coordinator for the nutrition and dietetic technician associate degree program at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Even if you can exercise, losing weight in a short period of time can be difficult. Because you can’t move as much, expect it to take longer and to have some setbacks.

Play with the plates. One common weight loss strategy is to experiment with plate size and portion sizes. Kimberlain suggests using your smaller salad plate for grains and protein and your larger dinner plate for non-starchy vegetables at dinner.

This allows you to consume more low-calorie vegetables. Another plate suggestion: If you’re attending a holiday or special event with some of your favorite desserts, Katte suggests not depriving yourself. Instead of a large plate, serve yourself a portion on a small plate.

Take care with your portions. We’re accustomed to getting super-sized meals in the United States, especially in restaurants, says Weisenberger. Plan to eat only half of what is served to you. Don’t be afraid to take a doggie bag of leftovers home with you.

Eat without interruptions. Consider the last few meals you consumed. Were you reading something or watching something on a screen? Perhaps driving and eating? It’s easy to overeat if you’re not paying attention to what you’re eating. To enjoy each bite, put your phone away (or turn off the TV or whatever else is distracting you). Eating mindfully by chewing slowly is another way to focus on what you’re eating and truly recognize when you’re full, according to Katte.

Consume more fiber. Fiber is a substance found in foods that helps you feel fuller for longer periods of time. The recommended fiber serving for women is 25 grams per day and up to 38 grams for men, but most Americans struggle to get even 10 grams per day, according to Katte.

Fiber-rich foods include the following:

Beans. A cup of black beans, for example, contains 15 grams of fiber.

Broccoli. 5 grams of fiber are contained in one cup.

Pears. A medium pear contains 512 g of fiber.

Raspberries. One cup contains 8 grams.

Spaghetti made from whole wheat. One cup contains 6 grams of fiber.

The majority of fruits and vegetables are high in fiber. As you add more fiber to your diet, make sure to drink more water. Otherwise, the extra fiber may be too difficult for your digestion and cause constipation.

Drink plenty of water. Weisenberger believes that eating more fiber-rich foods and drinking more water is a winning weight-loss combination. Water, like fiber, helps to fill you up more. It can also replace sugary beverages like soda, which can easily add 250 to 500 calories to your diet per day, depending on what you drink, according to Katte.

Here are a few ideas for getting more water:

Keep a water bottle on hand.

Make a water drinking schedule to ensure that you drink enough water throughout the day.

If you work, make it a point to get up and refill your water bottle on a regular basis. Katte suggests going to the water fountain or the kitchen more frequently. You’re getting more water and sneaking in a few extra steps in either case.

Include protein. Although we all need a healthy balance of complex carbohydrates, healthy fats, and protein (you can consult a registered dietitian to determine the right amounts for you), protein-rich foods in particular can help you fill up and fuel your body, according to Weisenberger. She suggests eating 25 to 30 grams of protein per meal rather than a large amount of protein all at once. This fuels your body throughout the day.

The current recommended daily allowance for protein is 10% to 35% of total calories, but many health experts advocate increasing that under certain conditions, such as weight loss.

Here are some protein-rich foods to consider:

22 grams of protein in 3.5 ounces of Atlantic salmon.

3 ounces canned tuna contains 20 grams of protein.

3 ounces chicken breast contains 27 grams of protein.

A half-cup of Greek yogurt contains 11 grams of protein. Weisenberger adds Greek yogurt to black beans (another high-protein food) and stews.

One cup of milk contains 8 grams of protein.

More sleep is required. Allow your weight loss goal to motivate you to get more z’s. This is because adequate sleep helps to regulate hunger hormones. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body often tells you that it’s hungry. It also raises your cortisol levels, a stress hormone that causes your body to store fat. Furthermore, being sleep deprived can cause you to lose focus on your weight loss goals. The average adult requires seven to eight hours of sleep per night.

Keep healthier foods on hand. You open the pantry because you’re hungry. There are chips, cookies, and other less healthy options. It’s natural to want to reach out and make unhealthy decisions. Stock your pantry with healthier snack options, keep the fridge stocked with chopped veggies, and keep a fruit bowl visible.

A Final Thought on Exercise

If your doctor has advised you to limit your physical activity, you should do so. However, if you can maintain some level of activity during your weight loss period, you will reap numerous health benefits.

Here are some simple ways to practice simple movements:

Cunneen suggests starting small with exercise and aiming to do something every day.

Every few minutes, get up and walk around. Take short walks between Zoom calls and binge watching.

If you have to rest one part of your body, see if you can exercise another. Weisenberger suggests that if you can’t exercise your legs much, you can use dumbbells to exercise your upper body.

Consider physical activity that makes you happy – what Kimberlain refers to as “joyful movement.” “Exercise should be something people look forward to, not something they dread,” she says.