How To Lose Weight Without Exercise (11 Powerful Ways)

Looking to lose weight without exercise, but don’t know where to start?

Here are 11 powerful ways to bring change to your fitness journey, all without breaking a sweat.

So you’re looking to lose weight, but don’t have the energy for workouts?

Or maybe your schedule is so busy that you genuinely struggle to find time for exercising?

I am here to tell you that your reasons for not being able to work out are understandable (including a dislike for anything that makes you sweat).

I’ll be honest with you here. Throughout my fitness journey (losing 22 pounds), I did exercise regularly. So I would be lying if I said my weight loss didn’t speed up because of exercise.

BUT, there were days when I couldn’t maintain my workout streaks, and still found myself staying healthy. This was because I’d mastered some basic health tips that go a long way to keeping a person fit.

But don’t just trust my word on this. If we delve into the science behind how weight loss works, you might just get convinced that weight loss without workouts, is achievable.

Is It Possible To Lose Weight Without Exercise?

Let me introduce you to the infamous 80/20 rule of the fitness world.

80% of your fitness comes from eating healthy, and the rest 20% from exercising regularly.

This means that if you focus on improving your eating qualities along with a couple more healthy habits, you could be on your way to a fantastic life.

So, is it possible to lose weight without exercise?

Long story short – Yes.

The 80/20 rule attests to this but also implies that if you’re not looking to exercise, you’d need to get into superb diet control.

But how do we manage this mountainous feat?

Because let’s be honest, it’s hard to go on a CLEAN diet these days and maintain it for a long time. And for those of us who are not looking to turn into fitness geeks, simple and slow habits work best.

Before reading further, please pin to share the love. 🙂

Weight loss without exercise requires you to master one powerful tool.

MINDFULNESS.

The mother of all human abilities, and the one thing your soul is capable of doing if given enough practice.

This is going to be my number one tip for you, and how your fitness journey shapes out will depend on how well you master this thing.

Let’s dive in!

How To Lose Weight Without Exercise (11 Powerful Ways)

1. Practice Mindful Eating

The primary and most effective key to weight loss is mindful eating.

Doesn’t matter whether you’re incorporating exercise into your daily routine or choosing to skip it, your weighing scale won’t budge an inch unless you’re being mindful of what you eat.

In simple terms, mindful eating is about trusting your senses to guide you on what to eat, and how much to eat. It is also about savoring every bite of your meal, and enjoying the fulfillment it gives you.

Mindful eating is a soulful experience that shapes your body into its natural form.

Once you start eating with all your senses turned on, you won’t ever want to do it any other way.

This act isn’t about one single aspect, or even two. There are several parts of it that need to be practiced in order to achieve its full effect.

How to practice mindful eating to lose weight

• Eat slowly and chew your food properly.
• Don’t eat unless you’re hungry.
• Appreciate and enjoy every meal, and every single bite.
• Understand how your emotions affect your food choices and learn to make decisions independent of your feelings.
• Get rid of bad eating habits that harm your connection to your food instincts.

2. Drink Plenty of Healthy Liquids

Don’t mistake this advice for replacing your food with a liquid diet, because that isn’t sustainable. What I’m talking about is adding liquids to your everyday diet.

Take this from me, that this is one of the finest tips anyone can give you for a good weight loss result. Your body needs liquid to maintain a healthy weight, and you could easily be neglecting this demand. It is important to consume plenty of liquids, regardless of whether you’re looking to lose weight or not.

Incorporate healthy liquids in between meals, and be regular with this habit. There are many benefits of this.

Not only will you be hydrated, but you’re also less likely to reach for unhealthy snacks. Your meal portions will also be in control.

Here are some healthy options for you that are easily accessible.

Water

Ladies, gentlemen, girls, and boys, I have a strong word of advice for you.

YOU NEED TO BE DRINKING A LOT OF WATER.

Like, a lot.

Okay, fine, not a bucket-full, but certainly more than 10 glasses. If you’re not already consuming this much, you need to start now.

Increasing your water intake is the easiest way to kickstart your fitness journey. Use a water tracking app, or just count it in your head (if you can manage to, that is. I always forget my numbers very easily :p).

Black Tea

Easy to make, and carrying a lot of healthy benefits. Black tea is a perfect replacement for sodas and other sugary drinks.

It might take time for you to start liking it, but once you get used to black tea, you’ll probably end up enjoying a cup of solitude.

(Tip: You can also have home-baked, low-sugar cookies with it. Tastes amazing with any kind of tea!)

Green Tea

I LOVE GREEN TEA.

Like, I adore it, seriously. I drink two cups of it every day and looking back to the time when I used to detest the taste of it, I wonder how I ever lived without it.

Green tea is jam-packed with a ton of health benefits. You can look into all about it in my post on green tea benefits.

Start with having one cup every day, and you’ll see for yourself the positive changes it brings to your mindset and body.

3. Stay Active

Wait, isn’t this post supposed to be all about how to lose weight without exercise? Then what’s this all about staying active?

Here’s the deal. Weight loss without exercise is achievable, true.

But doing so without any movements at all?

HARD.

VERY HARD.

If your daily movements are close to zero, then you need to start moving a bit more. Your body needs some amount of daily activity to function properly.

Think of a car. The more you use it, the better it runs as long as you’re taking good care of it. But a dusty car that’s been lying ideal in a garage probably won’t function well if you try to start it.

Sure, you are not a car. You’re a living breathing human, who needs stimulation to stay fit.

So you don’t like workouts? No trouble at all. There are days when I don’t either, so I relate completely.

But I fully encourage you to at least stroll around your house for a few minutes during the day. You could also stay active by taking up extra chores.

Do your work at your table, in a proper posture instead of doing it in bed. After leaving bed in the morning, try not to get back on it until it’s bedtime again.

The more on your toes you stay throughout the day, the better your body would feel. And this would certainly aid you in weight loss.

4. Eat Small-Sized Portions

By small-sized portions, I don’t mean reducing your meals to bit sizes. The goal here isn’t to starve yourself. That’s never, ever the goal.

But if you feel too full after eating your meals (like, you find it hard to even move and just want to lie), then chances are you’re over-eating.

Consuming more food than necessary is one of the major reasons for weight gain. Hence, it’s only normal that weight loss demands you reduce your meal size enough for it to affect your weight.

Prepare yourself a plate beforehand, and after finishing it, sit still for five minutes. Then ask yourself whether you need a refill. If you feel full, then you don’t need a second helping.

This is how you manage your portion sizes, and is also one of the many skills for mindful eating. If you stay consistent with this habit (with no exception at all, because over-eating is never needed by your body), you’ll start seeing a change in your weight in no time at all.

5. Have More Meals In Lesser Quantities

If you’re someone who feels hungry frequently, this tip is for you. It’s pretty simple to incorporate, but you’ll know whether it’s working for you only when you try it.

Instead of eating three full meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), have five meals in a day. Of course, the quantity of food would also need to be managed accordingly.

What are the benefits of this?

For one, you’re less likely to overeat during a meal if you’ve eaten just two hours ago. Also, you won’t be reaching for unhealthy snacks in-between meals, because there won’t be time for that.

6. Try Intermittent Fasting To Lose Weight Without Exercise

Intermittent fasting refers to eating food for a fixed time period and staying away from it for another fixed amount of time.

This is an excellent way for people to lose weight without exercise, as it makes use of long non-eating hours to target fat loss.

There are different types of intermittent fasting, with different cycles of fasting and eating.

One of the most popular intermittent fasting methods is the 16/8 fasting. You eat for eight hours and fast for the remaining sixteen hours.

For example, you could fix the time between 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM as your eating period, and the rest of the time will be when you don’t eat anything (except drinking liquids.)

Another popular method is the 5:2 approach, in which you eat normally for 5 days, and reduce your calorie intake for any 2 days of the week.

For example, you could reduce your calories on Wednesday and Saturday, and eat normally for the rest of the days.

I tried intermittent fasting, but couldn’t stick to it for long because I found it difficult to have fixed eating cycles. But this concept has worked for many people, so there just might be something for you here worth trying.

7. Keep a Food Journal

Many successful weight releases are known to keep a food journal.

It’s a great way to enjoy your meals and keep tabs on the quantity and quality of your food.

I support the habit of journaling, so the idea of maintaining one for food sounds helpful. I usually just record my meals in my regular journals on days when I’m struggling in this department.

Things you can log into your food journal

• Your current weight (and your target weight)
• Daily food and water intake
• Advanced Meal Planning
• Emotions and feelings concerning your body (PS: You’re beautiful and one of a kind. Don’t forget to remind yourself of this in your entries.)
• Positive body affirmations

8. Increase Your Protein Intake

I’m sure you’ve already heard of this tip many times by now, but I am re-iterating it for you.

To lose weight, eat more proteins.

Protein helps you stay fuller for longer. This means you won’t want to snack in-between meals and will also eat manage to control your portions.

To lose weight, you want to be aiming for a daily intake of 1.6-2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of weight.

Here are some sources of protein for you:

Lean meats, eggs, dairy products, nuts, seeds, legumes, beans, and chicken.

9. Stash Unhealthy Snacks Out Of Your Reach

Snacking on packed foods is something all of us enjoy. The problem starts when we overindulge, and come on, who doesn’t overindulge when it comes to snacks?

These food items are full of unhealthy fats that lead to weight gain on binge eating.

They are also prepared in such a manner as to be addictive. You can’t stop at one or two cookies unless you’re a master at mindful eating.

The ultimate goal for any person struggling to lose weight should be to learn how to eat mindfully, but till then, unhealthy snacks need to be cut from your diet.

Snacks you need to avoid to lose weight:

• Chips
• Biscuits
• Sodas
• Alcohol
• Chocolates
• Instant-food packets
• Cakes

10. Have A Good Sleep Routine

Just like good sleep is associated with health benefits, having improper sleeping patterns can be just as harmful. If you’ve been struggling to lose weight, and are someone who doesn’t have a good sleeping schedule, you really need to work on your improving this habit.

Bad sleeping habits result in stress, which is can be a major cause of weight gain. I am not kidding about this. There have been days when I gain 4 pounds from just 2-weeks of stressing. And more often than not, my sleep habits are affected by the same, and vice versa.

Sleep by 10 PM, get 8 hours of sleep (no more, no less), and wake up on time.

This way, you set yourself up for a perfect day and start it on the right note. The rest of the habits are easier to inculcate once you have this one down your belt.

11. Cut Back On Sugar

Here’s a hard truth many of you might not like but need to be reminded of.

Sugar is harmful to your body, and for successful weight loss, you need to cut as much of it from your diet as you can.

I have a sweet tooth, so I know how hard it can be to remove sugar from everyday food items. But once you start doing it, you’d see glowing changes to yourself and would want to keep cutting.

Sugar has empty calories. Our tongue might like sugary treats, but our body is gaining literally nothing from it. So for a person seeking healthy changes (any kind at all, not just weight loss), cutting back on sugar is sort of mandatory.

Replace your sugary food items like cakes, biscuits, and sodas with fruits, cashews, and other nuts. Every unhealthy food has a replacement. You just have to be willing to find changes.

Conclusion

You can lose weight without exercise, but it requires a certain amount of mind control that can be achieved with regular practice.

Mindfulness can be a game-changer in your fitness journey, and it wouldn’t require you to work out like a beast until you feel like collapsing.

Try these tips and see the changes for yourself. And if you have any more you’d like to add, leave a comment.

I’m always happy to hear from you.