Losing weight requires some doing. You have to give a lot of dedication and hard work to get rid of unnecessary body weight. Eating right and physical workout are two of the main components of a successful weight loss journey. However, some people can’t afford to be involved in continuous, rigorous physical exercises either due to some health conditions, tight schedule or sometimes, even a lack of motivation to hit the running track of gym.
There is still some optimism left for such people! Yes, you can finally get rid of extra body fat by following some very simple and lazy hacks to lose weight. Your daily habits like using your smartphone, trying some cooking shortcuts, opting for prepared foods etc. can be proved surprisingly helpful to finally help you get back in shape. Check out these proven strategies that can make your weight loss journey not only effective but interesting as well.
1. Multitasking in Front of the Television
You can save a lot of minutes and money by skipping those challenging and time-taking gym sessions. Instead, working out at home can be so fascinating, and at the same time, result-oriented. How?
You can keep some weights in front of your TV set. Try performing your favourite exercises like crunches and lunges while watching your favourite shows on TV. What about enjoying some programs based on fitness? You can also park different fitness machines like elliptical and treadmill in front of your TV so that you can be engaged mentally and physically.
2. Reduce Your Shopping Duration
Instead of spending hours on getting prepared for shopping, eat before leaving your home for a grocery shop. And once you reach there, try to purchase only the items you really need. That way, all you have to do at the grocery shop is to decide the type of product or brand. Instead of purchasing full cream milk, ask for skim milk. Instead of white loaves of bread, choose whole-grain pasta, brown rice and bread. Instead of shopping for the soft drink, add sparkling water to your cart. Always, always prioritize whole fruits instead of fruit-flavoured drinks. If you are habitual of overeating directly from packages, opt for pre-portioned sizes only. These are some of the underestimated but very effective weight loss tricks that actually work. Bringing some very short changes to your shopping pattern can have surprising effects on what you eat, and in result, can complement your weight loss efforts.
3. Shop for Ready-to-eat Snacks
If you don’t like keeping apple slices and tote almonds in your office bag, you’re more likely to go for a satisfying snack at a corner store, coffee shop, or a vending machine, especially in the late afternoon. “Convenience” is one of the most misunderstood words, and it becomes an indirect problem for foodies when they are hungry. Sometimes, we all go through a time when we can eat almost anything.
And “convenient food” is a very commonly used synonym for junk foods. Instead of always craving for junk foods, you should go for pre-packaged foods available in their original forms. Some of the best examples of pre-packaged foods are whole or pre-cut fruits, veggies, cups of yogurt, and hard-boiled eggs etc. If you are a money-saving person (of course, everyone should be), and don’t prefer advance planning, you can also make some packages of healthy snacks at home. You can simply wash and cut celery, capsicum, and carrot etc. to make them easy to grab.
4. Take a Break Between Bites
It might take some time to comply to your lifestyle; it can be one of the best ways to lose weight. Taking multiple breaks of a few seconds between each bite reduces the eating speed, and can help you to eat fewer than you are expected to eat. In addition to taking in-between breaks, we also suggest you to take enough time to properly chew your food. In a China study, people who chewed their foods 30-40 times per bite were successful in eating fewer kilojoules than the people who chewed only 15-20 times per bite. Drinking water before eating is another very effective way to fill yourself faster. And this will, of course,assist you to remain hydrated – always critical for weight loss.
5. Try to Get Your Foods Hand-delivered
If you are not into stewing food, you can surely opt for delivery services to get healthy meals. It has been one of the major fitness and health trends in the recent past. Portion-controlled and kilojoule-restricted eating plans can help you to fed extra weights without pondering much overcooking.
6. Add Healthy Snacks to Your Diet Repertoire
For your surprise, your favourite night-time snack can be one of the easy ways to lose weight. People who snack popcorn quite frequently get as many as 22 per cents more fibre and 250 per cent more whole grains than those who don’t know enough about low-kilojoules snacks. How is it linked with weight loss? Whole grains and fibre are known for keeping your bloodsugar level in check. And help you feel satisfied for a long time. Try to add some healthy snacks like salads, popcorn, gorgon nuts, mixed berries, and Greek yogurt instead of munching all the time on oily, buttery snacks.
7. Dedicate Some Quality Time to Dressing
If packing your gear and preparing your workout wardrobe keeps you away from the gym, you may not like the clothes you have. These days, clothes, especially fitness clothes, are getting better and better. So, while shopping for your gym clothes, choose ones that suit you perfectly. Opting for your favourite colour or design can make a lot of difference in your efforts to get ready for exercise. So, always go for flattering, stretchy, breathable clothes for your workout sessions. And don’t forget to add a pair of attractive, high-quality running shoes!
8. Play Video Games While Exercising
This might be among the funny as well as easy ways to lose weight. Yes, prolonged video gaming can conjure up teenagers to spend hours on crouch. But as they say, you have to know how to use something correctly and for your advantage. And a lot of people of all ages are shedding some serious weight with the help of video games!
Although you must have to choose video games that need proper physical movement. Games like Playstation’s Dance Dance Revolution and Wii Boxing are the best examples. These games inspire you to involve in enough physical activities to shed a decent number of calories. According to an energy expenditure study performed on 39 children with different body shapes, video games involving physical exercises can help to burn 15 to 25 kilojoules per minute. And for your information, a treadmill walking with 5kph speed burns 15 kilojoules in a minute.
9. Push Yourself a Bit Harder – Day by Day, Week by Week
Only getting out of your comfort zone can also be considered as one of the effective lazy hacks to lose weight. If you can’t perform structured workouts due to certain health issues or simply due to your tight schedule, try doing your routine works a bit differently. Breaking your exercises in shorter intervals instead of doing them in one go can give you immense benefits. Wearing a steps tracker gadget, or simply using your smartphone to track your steps can play a critical role in helping you to get back in shape. Try adding 50-100 steps day by day if not more! This way, you will keep improving your body without feeling too tired!
If you have a sitting job, get up every hour or two and roam around for a while. Your boss won’t shout out until you are staring at a female colleague 😉. Instead of transferring yourself up and down in a lift, try to count those stairs at your workplace. In short, inspire yourself to avoid comfort all the time!
10. Hit the Snooze Button – Yes! Quite often!
Surprised again? Right, sleeping can possibly be among the best lazy hacks to lose weight. According to a 6-year study from Canadian researchers, there is a huge connection between obesity and sleep patterns. The researchers observed that people who were in favour of 6-hours sleep per night gained as many as 9 kgs more than those who follow “early to bed and early to rise” mantra and get a sound sleep of 7 to 8 hours.
There are so many studies suggesting an increase in the formation of hunger hormone due to sleep deprivation. According to a recent study, an abnormal lack of sleep can not only favour the obesity but can also slow reduce the pace of fat burning.
According to Swedish researchers, even a single night of disturbed sleep may hamper the metabolism in the morning and reduce the number of calories burned while performing physical exercises. So, instead of being habitual of short night sleeps, always, always help yourself with a nice, sound sleep of 7 to 8 hours.
11. Pay with Cash Instead of Paying Online
It is among one of the ignored but very effective and easy ways to lose weight. Surprised? Well, we were too, until we got an indirect link of paying with cash to your weight loss efforts.
According to a recent study, people are more likely to purchase unhealthy foods when they use online transaction options. Still, how paying with cash is linked with healthy purchases? The study unveiled that shoppers find it psychologically painful while spending cash with a sense of losing money. On the other hand, paying with your debit or credit card sounds fancier! You may end up spending more than what you required!
A sense of losing money while paying with cash can eventually help you to avoid purchasing an extra dough of unhealthy foods! So, next time when you strategize to go to a supermarket, get some cash from an ATM machine instead of giving your card for swipe. You will surely understand the difference.
12. Brush Your Teeth! Twice, Daily!
Don’t say you are not surprised again! We all know brushing is more about oral hygiene, but how it is linked with lazy hacks to lose weight? Just like spending money with cash, brushing after meals is also a psychological thing. Brushing is usually a signal to put a brake on eating. You are more likely to resist having snacks at least for half an hour or so after brushing. And the strong minty taste of toothpaste may also distract your taste buds from more craving! Hence, for a change, start brushing after meals instead of before them!
13. Friendship with Your Smartphone
Your smartphone can help you in a lot of different ways. Smartphones these days are not only for calling, texting, emailing, or exploring the internet. Some amazing fitness applications can help you to be on your toes all the time. From tracking your meals for calorie counting to counting your daily steps, and tracking your workouts, the smartphone can be your ultimate fitness buddy! Instead of spending hours in gaming and other entertainment applications, prefer spending only a few minutes daily on your smartphone to keep yourself fit and fine.
There are some amazing fitness applications available on both Apple Store and Google’s Play Store. All you have to do is to be more proactive and of course, fall in love with yourself. You’ll see how your 6-inch gadget can do the trick for you.
Losing weight is nothing short of a passion. It is not about being better than others. Instead, it is about being the best version of yourself. First thing you have to do to shed some weight is to love yourself. The day when you feel a lot of love for your body and health, you will start doing a lot of things for fitness. And we have already helped you with some amazing lazy hacks to lose weight. Whether you are about to start your weight-loss journey, or you have tight on schedule, you can’t give excuses anymore – unless you are yet to find the reasons to love yourself.