8 Proven Ways To Lose Weight Without Dieting

Obesity Weight Loss

When it comes to losing excess fat, it’s a given that dieting can help you burn off those extra pounds. However, while eating less can help you get a fitter body, many people find the process of counting calories and depriving themselves of their favorite foods taxing and, as such, find it hard to stick to a strict diet. Luckily, there are various proven ways to lose weight without dieting.

You will have to make certain changes. However, instead of cutting down on eating and dealing with the mental woes of dieting, you can lose weight by increasing your activity, changing the times you eat, or even using certain tricks to boost your metabolism. Using these tricks together can result in significant weight loss. Here are 8 proven ways to lose weight without going on a diet.

1. Do Cardio In The Morning Before Eating

Cardiovascular exercise such as running, cycling, or stair climbing can do wonders for burning calories and reducing your body fat. And while those who avoid dieting probably don’t want to start rigorous exercise routines, you can get amazing results by doing short cardio workouts before eating.

A study from the British Journal of Nutrition found that those who did cardio in the morning in a fasted state (i.e. before eating) burned a whopping 20 percent more fat than those who ate a meal beforehand. This is because when your body is in a fasted state, it burns fat for energy instead of carbs. As such, working out for just 20 minutes each morning can work wonders.

2. Get More Sleep

Even if you’re not a fan of reducing your calorie intake or increasing your physical activity, you can often lose a few extra pounds simply by working on your sleep schedule. Sleeping less can make you feel more fatigued throughout the day, but it can also cause you to gain more fat.

A 2010 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal found that just three extra hours of sleep resulted in subjects burning 400 calories a night. In addition to that, subjects who got 8.5 hours of sleep per night lost 60% less muscle than those who got 5.5 hours of sleep per night, and extra sleep helped boost their metabolisms.

3. Drink More Water

Another proven way to lose weight that doesn’t involve going on a strict diet is to simply drink more water. Some people worry about drinking more water as the extra water weight can raise the number on the scales. However, this weight gain is only temporary and you’ll ultimately burn a lot more fat.

What’s more, a 2013 study in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research found that girls who drank 500ml of water before each meal lost more weight and reduced their body mass index without any other dietary changes. As such, you should try drinking half a liter of water before each meal to boost your metabolism and reduce your hunger.

4. Get More Protein

Increasing your protein intake is one of the best ways to boost your metabolism and lose more weight. A 2008 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that protein increases feelings of fullness, reduces your hunger, and naturally helps you eat fewer calories. It’s also great for building muscle, which will result in more fat loss.

Fortunately, you don’t have to change your entire diet to get more protein. Many people see positive effects simply by drinking a couple of protein shakes each day. However, you might want to enhance your results by eating a high-protein breakfast to kickstart your metabolism and make yourself feel more full.

5. Try Intermittent Fasting

Dieting isn’t the only way to burn extra fat. Interestingly, you can consume a lot of calories each day yet still manage to lose weight as long as you only eat your daily meals within a short window. This is known as intermittent fasting and many athletes swear by it.

Intermittent fasting generally involves getting all your daily meals within an 8-hour window and fasting for the remaining 16 hours before eating again. When your body is in a fasted state, it’ll turn to fat stores for energy, resulting in you lowering your fat mass and ultimately losing weight. However, you’ll still need to avoid overeating during the eating window.

6. Avoid Stress And Anxiety

Daily stress and high anxiety levels can be incredibly counterproductive for those who want to lose weight. Stress and anxiety elevate your cortisol levels, which induces hunger and cravings for comfort food. This can quickly result in you overeating if you’re not careful.

Fortunately, there are various natural ways to manage your stress and anxiety levels. Exercising is a great way to reduce stress while also losing weight. Ensuring that you get more than 8 hours of sleep each night will also help significantly. You should also avoid daily stressors. For instance, if you find your daily commute to work stressful, try walking or cycling instead.

7. Lift Weights Regularly

If you’re not a fan of dieting, one of the best ways to keep your body in check is by resistance training. Training with heavy weights not only helps you burn calories but can also help you build extra muscle. For every extra pound of muscle you gain, your body will burn more calories even when it’s resting.

It also has other benefits. For instance, when you lift weights, more of the food you eat will go to repairing and rebuilding your body, meaning you can gain muscle while losing fat. In many cases, those who lift weights even find that they can eat more than they usually would while still maintaining or even losing weight.

8. Boost Your Vitamin D Levels

While various vitamins and minerals help to keep your body in check and potentially boost weight loss, vitamin D is arguably the most important. Many people suffer from vitamin D deficiencies, which can often result in metabolic syndrome, depression, and anxiety, all of which will contribute to weight gain.

It’s also surprisingly easy to boost your vitamin D levels. Spending 30 minutes in the sun each day can help naturally increase your vitamin D levels. Certain drinks, such as fortified orange juice, are also high in vitamin D. You can also take vitamin D supplements to keep your vitamin D levels high.

Conclusion

While the fastest and most effective way to lose weight is to combine a healthy diet with a good exercise routine, you can try these effective options that don’t involve going on a diet. Whether you’d rather intermittently fast each day, drink more water, or simply sleep more, all of these things can contribute to weight loss.

Of course, for the best results, you should try as many of these tips as possible in conjunction. Soon enough, you’ll notice that you find it much easier to lose weight. With that said, keep in mind that you’ll likely still gain weight if you’re overeating.

22 Comments on "8 Proven Ways To Lose Weight Without Dieting"

  1. The #1 suggestion should be: Don’t overeat!!!
    There is a stark difference between dieting and just eating the proper amount of food for your body size.

  2. Intermittent fasting is literally a form of dieting to decrease calorie intake

  3. Good information overall.

  4. Tennis Guy : Sometimes it’s hard for some people to do that. !!!! In women it’s very hard when there hormones are so out wack do too menopause that has nothing to do with over eating.So no need for u to say that.All people are different and may be going though something that makes there weight go up .ITS NOT ALL ABOUT EATING TO MUCH. !!!! .

  5. Bull,Bull, and Bull! Every human being is different. As a person whose dieted most of my life, I find this article a bunch of bull. This might work for some people but not everyone. I’ve always been a plus size. My mother, grandmother, and great grandmother where all “big boned”women. My 40 yr old.daughter is the same way. It’s genetics. Some are skinny but some of us are not. Sometimes these methods work and mostly they don’t.

  6. I like all of the suggestions. I walk 3 miles a day, at least 6 days a week, early in the morning. I also do intermittent fasting.I began cutting back on sugar and gluten and I’ve lost a lot of weight. I’m almost 56 years old and I’ve had a substantial improvement in my health. I have been overweight most of my life. But, to be able to wear sizes I couldn’t fit in for almost 20 years,excites me! I’d say give intermittent fasting a shot before knocking it. It’s free so you have nothing to lose. Just have to be consistent with feeding schedule. I’m actually doing everything the article suggested, and this is my first time reading it. Best wishes to all working to improve your health. 🙂

  7. Overall very good article. Ppl that say they’re big boned and just fat they’re simply lazy and try finding excuses. I started out as an athlete at 6 yo and I’m in my 50s now. It is much much harder now to keep up with my morning cardio and overall workouts but I do it because I want to stay fit. I run at least 6 miles 4x week, lift weights, hardly eat any carbs and sugar is only as a treat once in a blue moon. My wife joined me in my routine and I thought my kids to do same. And we are all healthy with strong immune systems! Rona had nothing on us!

  8. This is poor quality article with some decent advice. But lots of misconceptions too..

  9. I’ve done intermittent fasting, start eating 12 noon, 2 meals a day, stop eating at 6 pm. Eating meat and veggies, no sugar low carb helped me to lose 65 lbs walking the dog during the morning and afternoon helped too. I was in my 50s so this worked for me.

  10. I’m going to try it

  11. Dont be a crappy person. | September 17, 2022 at 1:41 am | Reply

    Mr. Athlete at 6 yo.was it necessary to take time out of your life to leave a rude comment to someone who never asked 4 your opinion? Someone who is obviously researching or looking for ideas to get healthy or tips on loosing weight? Athlete by 6, school bully by 8 & Im guessing you have all this time on your hands 2 make someone you dont even know feel bad about themselves because your perfect. Everyone has flaws & I think we all know where yours are & Im not only talking about your brain. & by the way, my sister was healthy, athletic, fit, etc. & Corona took her a few months before her 40th birthday. So please don’t think you or your family are immune just because your fit.

  12. Menopausal and making changes | September 18, 2022 at 8:13 am | Reply

    I think this article is very helpful. Especially like the idea of working out in the morning before eating. Will start trying that routine.
    All the advice in this article makes sense to me. Happy I took the time to read and will be more mindful of these suggestions.
    Intake of water before eating is a way to not overeat. A cup of hot water during meals helps curb the appetite too. It definitely helps with feeling fuller without the calories.
    Weightlifting increases bone density and muscle mass.
    I stress eat and do tend to put on a few lbs during stressful times. High-stress means less sleep for me . Less stress the better for overall health. Tried intermittent eating and find it successful. However, consuming healthier choices- High protein, green vegetables, berries, almonds and wholegrains get better results. I’m 55 and it’s never to late to tweak it up and make a few changes. Thanks!

  13. Thank you so much. I will give it a try. Bless you

  14. Bunches McGuinty | September 18, 2022 at 2:58 pm | Reply

    Fasting, ie starving yourself, is only effective if you eat at a calorie deficit. So. Just count your calories, figure out your TDEE, and go with a deficit. No need to make yourself miserable. You CAN loose weight without any working out, but the workouts increase your basic metabolic rate and get u there sooner. The”I’m big boned” excuse is just an excuse. I am on several medications that cause Weight gain. And yet I am steadily loosing by counting and working out.It is not easy. It’s not fast.But it’s worth it. (if someone slips into your DMs to tell you about a miracle shake, pill, or gummy, run. The only thing that will be lighter long term is your wallet. Rsorcislly when that bullshyte makes you sick)

  15. Intermittent fasting does work.fasting is not starvation if you choose to abstain. Most people can push their breaking fast out until noon. If not, start slow and push your first meal out as far as you can and narrow your eating window. The Obesity Code by Dr. Fung is a great read dealing with fasting.

  16. Very true. Eating is controlled by emotional need. If you spend 8 hours on fasting and then eat a whole big pizza, it doesn’t work either. Balance always, natural preferred, and eat small when hungry. That’s what I do.

  17. These types of articles are very misleading without actually explaining the root method of losing weight(fat), which is using more energy than you store (cals in vs out). There’s nothing magical about this, but without addressing this basic concept, people misunderstand how some of these methods work. In fact some of these suggested methods aren’t accurate either.

    3) There’s nothing that inherently boosts your metabolism by drinking water before a meal. All this does is just starts you off fuller so you’re less inclined to over eat. Just another form of dieting, or caloric restriction. Although, there is a study that has found cold water can slightly increase metabolism simply because it takes energy from your body to warm it up. It’s a very very minor boost, and you’d have to drink a lot of ice/cold water throughout the day, and not just before a meal.

    5) Intermittent Fasting is just another dieting method, so this also breaks away from this article’s purpose. The ONLY reason this works is because the eating window potentially restricts the amount of calories you can intake, which can then lead to weight loss. However, if you still overeat past your caloric maintenance during IF, you can still gain weight.

    2,6,and 8 are just methods to regulate your hormones so your body’s metabolism can function optimally. Still, without changing other parts of your life that will lead to being at a caloric deficit, these alone will do practically nothing.

    4 and 7 are good practices for overall health. More muscle will boost metabolism, and higher protein will be more satiating, promote slightly higher metabolism as protein has a higher thermal effect (takes more energy in your body to break down). However one thing to note here, if you’re starting to workout for the first time in your life (or in a long while), your muscle growth may actually increase your weight, or make it appear your weight is stagnant. Muscle growth is overall a good thing, but it’s something that can be misinterpreted when only observing a scale.

    All this is based on my studies of bio-chemistry, physiology, and being 43 and still maintaining 12-15% bodyfat with visible abs throughout the year. I’m just pointing out that I have pretty good experience to talk about this subject.

    1) There’s already true studies to prove that cardio before or after a meal has no actual net gain with fat loss. In fact, those low on food before cardio may find themselves less inclined (lower energy) to push themselves in cardio. Ultimately this depends on the person, but there’s no magical formula here. You burn fat when at a caloric deficit, whether you do that after or before a meal.

    2)

  18. Sorry, but people lose weight on intermittent fasting due to eating fewer calories – not it burning more fat. We know this through multiple studies comparing intermittent fasting windows to regular eating times.

  19. I do alot of the things mentioned in this article, especially the intermittent fasting 17/7. The biggest thing for me is staying active.

  20. Intermitten fasting IS dieting. It’s deprivation. It’s ignoring your body’s needs. IT’S A DIET.

  21. Intermittent fasting allows you to eat the same amount of food. It works by resetting your insulin sensitivity and letting your body enter a post-absorptive state where your body flips on the fat-burning switch. It is easier than dieting and improves your chances of a long and healthy life.

  22. stayhealthyhere | August 4, 2023 at 4:15 am | Reply

    At times, certain individuals may find it challenging to manage their weight. For women, this struggle can be intensified by hormonal imbalances during menopause, which are unrelated to overeating. So, it is unnecessary to assume that overeating is the root cause. Each person is unique and might be experiencing various factors influencing their weight gain. It’s essential to recognize that weight issues are not solely about consuming too much food.It’s evident that you’ve put a lot of effort into researching and writing this article. I can see that your dedication to helping others achieve their goals shines for Weight Loss guide

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