Lose weight at home by changing your lifestyle, such as reducing daily calorie intake and increasing physical activity. However, not everyone has enough knowledge about weight loss at home. Nutrition experts from easyhealthylive.com will suggest some small tips to help you effectively lose weight at home.
List what you eat in a week
People who keep a food diary usually eat less food. A recent study shows that keeping track of what you eat is one of the most effective and easy ways to lose weight. Recording helps you balance your daily meals, especially on weekends. One study showed that people tend to consume an extra 115 calories per day on weekends, mainly from alcohol and fat.
Add a few calories to your daily diet
If you think you are consuming 1700 calories a day and don’t understand why you’re not losing weight, add about 400 more calories to your estimate. Studies have shown that even nutrition experts underestimate calorie intake by about 200 calories. Eating too few calories also slows down your metabolism and your weight loss at home.
Find a weight loss buddy
Researchers have found that online exchange with weight loss buddies will help you lose weight. People who have friends in the online weight loss community have almost doubled their weight loss rate compared to those who do not.
Find yourself an online friend to lose weight with
Give me a weight loss mantra.
Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? If you continue to focus on the things you can’t do like avoiding snacks or going for a walk every day, you might not be able to do them. Instead, repeat positive thoughts to yourself. “I can lose weight.” “I will go for a walk today.” “I know I can stop eating sweets after dinner.”
Meditation techniques can also help you stabilize your mood, reduce emotional eating, and reduce stress.
Drink water after breakfast.
At breakfast, drink half a glass of orange juice. But for the rest of the day, drink water instead of fruit juice or soda.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans consume an extra 145 calories per day from sugary drinks. That’s almost 53,000 calories per year (nearly 8 kg). And studies show that despite the high calorie content, drinks with sugar do not satiate hunger like food.1
Reduce portion sizes.
You can try eating three bites less per meal, or skipping a snack during the day.
Doing any of these can help you save about 100 calories per day. That’s enough to prevent you from gaining two pounds a year, which most of us can experience.
Reducing portion sizes helps to lose weight at home effectively
Watch TV for less than an hour
A study shows that the more people watch TV, the more they eat, and the more they choose unhealthy foods.
Reduce TV time and instead take a walk, even just for 15 minutes, and you will reap some amazing benefits from walking.
Clean regularly every week
Taking time to clean your house regularly each week can help you burn a significant amount of calories.
A person weighing 70 kg will burn about 4 calories per minute for cleaning. Clean for 30 minutes and you can burn about 120 calories.
Eat when you are actually hungry
It is surprising how often we eat because of boredom, anxiety, habit, or disappointment. In fact, many of us have forgotten what physical hunger feels like. In reality, 38% of those surveyed reported that they had eaten unhealthy food to cope with stress.
If you crave a specific type of food, it may be a feeling of craving rather than hunger. If you want to eat anything you can get your hands on, you are likely really hungry. Learn to recognize these mixed feelings with hunger. Then find ways other than eating to cope with stress and reduce boredom. But talk to a doctor if you think you are always hungry due to some health issue.
Eat in front of a mirror
A study shows that eating in front of a mirror reduces the amount of food consumed by almost a third. Having to look straight into your own eyes reminds you of your inner goals and why you’re trying to lose weight in the first place.
Spend ten minutes each day walking up and down stairs
Walking in any form is one of the best and easiest ways to lose weight. But climbing stairs in particular has a significant weight loss effect. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine shows that stair exercise for short periods of 2-10 minutes a day can help reduce cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health.
Walk for five minutes, at least twice an hour
Do you sit at a desk all day? Walking briskly for 5 minutes every 2 hours is equivalent to 20 minutes of walking at the end of the day. Moving is better than sitting at a desk. Research shows that exercising for just 5 minutes can improve your health
Walking helps to lose weight effectively.
Walking for 45 minutes every day can help you lose weight
Research shows that 30 minutes of daily walking is enough to prevent weight gain in most sedentary people. However, exercising for more than 30 minutes can help you lose weight and reduce fat. Burning an extra 300 calories a day with a brisk three-mile walk (45 minutes) can help you lose 15 kg in a year without changing your diet.
Try to avoid processed foods
When losing weight at home, you should avoid foods that contain sugar, fructose, or corn syrup in their ingredients. You should look for lower-sugar versions of the same food, especially those that often contain hidden sugars, such as salad dressing or pasta sauce. Also, avoid partially hydrogenated foods and choose those with over 200g of fiber per 100 calories in all grain products. It may seem difficult, but you can learn to give up sugar in your diet.
Put your fork or spoon down between each bite
At the dinner table, drink water regularly. Alternate your eating with chatting with friends about interesting things that have happened during the day. The brain receives signals from your stomach when you are full about 20 minutes after it occurs. If you eat slowly enough, it will give you time to alert your brain that you no longer need to eat.
Get rid of oversized clothing
When you start losing weight at home, get rid of or donate all the clothes that do not fit you, and fill your closet with appropriate clothes. The idea of having to buy an entirely new wardrobe if you gain weight back may be motivating to stay fit.
Stop cooking late at night
After dinner, clean all the dishes, wipe down the counter, and turn off the lights. If necessary, tape the drawers and refrigerator shut. Studies show that eating late at night increases the total amount of calories you eat.
Walking after dinner can help you lose weight more effectively
A small study shows that walking immediately after eating can help you lose weight more effectively than avoiding walking for an hour.
Use a step-tracking tool and aim to add 1,000 steps each day
Do you feel like you need to move more? On average, sedentary people only take 2,000 to 3,000 steps per day. Adding 2,000 steps will help you maintain your current weight and stop gaining weight. Adding more is one of the easiest ways to lose weight and ideal. 10,000 steps are definitely within your reach.
Using a smaller cup helps reduce portion sizes and effectively lose weight at home
Eat 90% of your meals at home
You are more likely to eat more and consume high-fat, high-calorie foods when eating out. Today’s restaurants serve such large portions that many people have switched to using larger plates and tables to accommodate them. Research shows that food prepared at home is usually more nutritious than that served in restaurants.
Don’t eat with a large group of people
A study found that we tend to eat more when dining with others, possibly because we spend more time at the table. But eating with your loved ones or family and using the time at the table to talk between bites can help cut calories.
Order the smallest portion of everything
Choose a small popcorn, a small salad, a small hamburger instead of larger sizes. Studies show that we tend to eat what’s in front of us, even if we feel full.
Eating water-rich foods will help you eat fewer calories
A group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that eating water-rich foods such as pumpkin, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a meal reduces your overall calorie intake. Other water-rich foods include soups and salads. However, you won’t get the same benefits by just drinking water (although you’ll get other benefits of adequate hydration). Since the body processes hunger and thirst through different mechanisms, the body doesn’t feel as full with water (or soda, tea, coffee, or fruit juice).
Increase the number of meals with vegetables
You can double the amount of macaroni salad by adding vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, and tomatoes to get the same amount of calories as macaroni salad with mayonnaise dressing. The same goes for stir-fries, omelets, and other veggie-friendly dishes. If you eat a 1:1 ratio of grains and vegetables, fiber-rich vegetables will help satisfy your hunger before you eat too many grains. Adding fiber is very beneficial for preventing constipation.
Avoid white-colored foods
A large amount of refined carbohydrates from white flour and sugar will cause weight gain. Limit consumption of sugar, white rice, and white flour, and replace them with whole-grain bread and brown rice. Some studies have found that eating more whole grains can make you more likely to lose weight.
Switch to regular coffee
Popular coffee drinks from trendy coffee shops often contain hundreds of calories, thanks to whole milk, whipped cream, sugar, and syrup. Nearly 67% of us prefer high-calorie coffee supplements. A regular cup of coffee with skim milk only contains a small fraction of those calories.
Indulge in low-calorie desserts
Having dessert every day can be good for you, as long as you don’t overdo it. Take a spoonful of whipped cream and garnish with fresh fruit around it. Cut down on french fries by pairing each bite with plenty of fresh salsa. Balance a little bit of cheese with lots of fruit or salad.
Eat high-fiber cereal for breakfast
A study found that people who eat oat or bran cereals have a lower risk of obesity than those who don’t. Although people who eat high-fiber cereals may have other habits that also help prevent obesity, those cereals provide more fiber and nutrients and are also lower in calories than other breakfast foods.
Eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice
For the calorie content in a small box of apple juice, you can enjoy an apple, an orange, and a slice of watermelon. The whole food will help you feel fuller for much longer than that juice box. So, overall, you’ll eat less.
Snack on a handful of nuts
Studies have found that overweight people who eat a moderate diet containing nuts lose more weight than a control group that doesn’t eat them. Snacking once or twice a day is one of the easiest ways to lose weight at home. It helps prevent hunger and maintain your metabolism. You can also create your own mix of healthy nuts.
Front-load most of your calories
Studies have found that eating more in the morning and less in the evening leads to less overall calorie intake. And you have more opportunities to burn off those calories earlier in the day.
Brush your teeth after every meal, especially dinner
Brushing your teeth after every meal is a signal to your body and brain that eating time is over.
Eat each course separately
Instead of piling everything on one plate, bring food to the table in separate courses. For the first two courses, bring soup or vegetables like green salad or different vegetable dishes. Then bring out the main course. It’ll help you eat more mindfully and savor each dish.
John Alen was born in 1971 and is a doctor in the healthcare and psychology fields with many years of experience. He is currently working at easyhealthylive.com, a leading health and psychology blog. Having studied at Y1 National Medical University named after IM Sechenov, John Alen is using his knowledge and experience to help improve the physical and mental health of people in the United States.
