Overview
Many people believe that the only way to lose weight is following a strict diet and working out on a regular basis. While the first part of this statement is relatively true, working out is not indispensable for weight loss.
You see, the vast majority of the weight you lose is due to caloric deficit, where your body is receiving fewer calories than it needs. Of course, exercise contributes to this process by burning more calories; however, the number is small enough to be negligible.
With all of that said, working out provides your body with a myriad of health benefits that go beyond weight loss. Additionally, burning an extra 200 calories per workout will pile up after a few months, leading to considerable weight loss.
In this article, we will cover some of the ways that will help you lose weight without working out.
How to lose weight without working out
Caloric deficit
In medicine, the primary principle that drives weight loss is caloric deficit. If you are not familiar with this concept, here is a quick definition:
Caloric deficit refers to consuming fewer calories than your body needs, which pushes metabolism towards burning the stored forms of energy (e.g., carbohydrates, fatty acids) to maintain the functioning of your organs.
Increased protein intake
We often hear about how our ancestors did not have to deal with obesity and the chronic diseases seen today.
For this reason, we need to recreate the type of diets they used to consume. In other words, eat meals that are rich in protein and fat but low in carbs.
Increasing your protein intake leads to substantial weight loss via two mechanisms:
Hunger suppression
By consuming large amounts of fats and protein, your intestines and pancreas will secrete hunger-suppressing hormones, such as leptin. As a result, you will feel full faster, and your total caloric intake will inadvertently drop.
In contrast, carbohydrates have a high glycemic index and stimulate the hunger center in the brain more potently.
Improved metabolism
High levels of simple sugars can mess up your metabolism.
Fortunately, consuming large amounts of protein and fat will boost your metabolism, allowing you to burn more lipids even during rest.
Increase fiber intake
Researchers concluded that frequent consumption of fiber-rich foods lowers cholesterol levels by halting the recycling of this compound. Additionally, fiber optimizes the digestion of different food elements.
The combined actions of fiber boost your metabolism, helping you lose weight without working out.
Boost your metabolism
As you get older, metabolism starts to slow down, which makes it difficult to lose weight.
For this reason, you need to focus on boosting your metabolism to lose weight.
Being active during the day and consuming metabolism-boosting foods, such as green tea and coffee, should do the trick.
Takeaway message
Losing weight without exercising is a completely achievable task that requires a careful dietary plan and healthy lifestyle choices. However, you should never compromise working out, even if you manage to lose weight.
We hope that this article managed to highlight the scientifically proven methods that will help you lose weight.
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