Many obese people worry about how to lose weight from home. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly how or when obesity became such a serious predicament in our world today, but it is, and it’s not going anywhere on its own. Obesity is one of the leading causes of deaths related to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer and the World Health Organization (WHO) records that there are more deaths linked to being overweight than underweight in the world.

In addition to being detrimental to health, obesity can also impact your life negatively. It can shatter your self-confidence, lead to severe depression and restrict your enjoyment of life and other people’s company. It can severely limit your productivity in your workplace, because you may find it harder to climb to the top of your profession if you cannot comfortably climb up a flight of stairs. Further, obesity can keep you from achieving your dreams, attaining your goals and projecting the best version of yourself to the world. In short, obesity kills.

That’s the problem. What are the possible solutions?

Whenever the topic of discussion is weight loss, there are many experts with a myriad of expert opinions and recommendations, some of them pretty expensive and extreme. But the good news is that you don’t need a gym membership subscription, a rigid weight loss regimen or an extreme hobby or sport to shed those extra pounds. With a few simple tweaks to your lifestyle and eating arrangements and habits, and from the comfort of your living room, you can achieve weight loss painlessly and relatively effortlessly. You’ll just need to get off that couch and be more active and hands-on. You’ll need to take charge of your life, and not leave anything to chance. You’ll need to do away with feelings of guilt and self-recrimination, and avoid heaping unnecessary pressure on yourself.

You’ll also need a healthy dosage of patience, dedication and commitment. Remember, the goal is to get in shape and stay in shape. You may be tempted to go the fast route: rigorous exercising while significantly reducing food intake, and while this undoubtedly works, it’ll leave you feeling miserable and what’s more, the pounds will only reappear whenever you lose guard for a single moment. The best method then is a holistic, natural approach that’ll improve the quality of your health in the long run and leave you feeling happier, fitter, more confident and more fulfilled than ever.

If you’re wondering where to start from, we’ve brought together a list of scientifically proven nutritional tips, workout exercises and lifestyle changes that can help you lose weight and get fit at home. These methods are actionable and are not resource, time and effort-intensive. They’ll also help you form good habits that’ll help you maintain healthy standards and improve the quality of your life. Without appearing too obvious about it, these methods can trick your mind into abandoning any underlying anxiety that comes with discussions about weight and weight loss.

Without further ado, let’s dive right in.

NUTRITIONAL TIPS TO HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT

Here’s a quick fact: if you take in fewer carbs than your body needs, you’ll lose weight naturally.

Without going into too many technicalities, let me explain how this works. Your meals contain a certain number of calories which your body converts to glucose in order to fuel itself and maintain optimal performance. Unfortunately, however, the body only takes what it needs, storing the rest as fat. And the more you eat, the more this excess fat piles up, with nowhere to go. If you live a pretty sedentary lifestyle ordinarily, or circumstances conspire to make you homebound, the outcome can be easily guessed at. The question is, how do you know when your body’s had enough? Your body often sends out subtle cues to let you know when it’s time to let up on the sauce, you just need to learn how to listen. Since the easiest and most wholesome way to shed and maintain weight is by paying attention to nutrition, here are some nutritional tips that don’t involve going on strict special diets to help some of the excess weight off you.

• Avoid Processed Foods: Nowadays, it can seem like you’re facing an unceasing onslaught from the advent of processed foods. Everywhere you look, at every turn, staring at you from billboards, haranguing you from radios, there are commercials advertising a new brand of these wonderful packaged foods, encouraging you to splurge on them so that you can look cool and in.

However, while it may be supremely difficult to ignore your favourite movie or music star tantalizingly holding up one of these packets at you from the TV across the room, you must find a way to resist. Because processed foods are not all that. These foods are designed to make you keep craving more, and have a very high calorie, fats and sugar content. Further, some of these foods are made with genetically modified organisms, which may not agree totally with you. A clean break may be best for you.

• Eat More Protein And Less Carbs: I cannot emphasize this one enough. Foods rich in protein promote a feeling of fullness and satisfaction that can last the best part of the day, helping you control your appetite. As studies have shown, protein-rich diets can help you eat over 400 fewer calories per day.

Further, protein helps your body’s metabolism. When digesting the protein you eat, your body can burn up to 100 calories in a day. Therefore, instead of loading your plate with carbs, opt for foods that are rich in protein instead, such as eggs, beans, peanut butter and lean meat.

• Drink Water: This may seem pretty obvious, but water is also effective in the weight loss process. Drinking water at least 30 minutes before meals have been known to help take the edge off hunger and help you eat moderately, which can reduce the calorie intake. Further, sometimes hunger can be sparked by feelings as arbitrary as thirst and boredom which can be misinterpreted as hunger. Studies have also revealed that drinking 0.5 litres may lead to an increment in the number of calories your body burns up to an hour after.
• Limit Your Intake of Liquid Calories: While you’re at it, you might also want to steer clear of liquid calories. They may seem harmless and promise an instant energy boost, but research has proved that the average chocolate drink contains between 60 to 100 calories. The worst part is that your brain does not consider these calories as appropriate or sufficient, and will still send you hunger signals after you consume them, so you cannot depend entirely on them.

These beverages only undermine your efforts and are really bad for your health. Most of them contain a high amount of sugar that can increase the risk of diabetes and obesity. You should take water instead of these beverages.

• Eat More Fruits And Vegetables: Chances are you’ve been hearing this since you were a child, but the truth is, it actually works. Apart from the obvious health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, they can fill you up considerably, leaving no extra space for unwholesome cravings. With a low energy density, fruits and veggies are the only things you can eat as much as you want, without running the risk of ingesting excess calories. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, you can never go wrong.
• Try A Low Carb Diet: If you have the stamina for it, you can try special low carb diets to aid your efforts. One of such diets is the Keto diet. The Keto diet is designed to help your body get into Ketosis; a state where your body burns off extra fat instead of glucose for fuel. To achieve this, the Keto diet significantly reduces the number of carbs present in meals, replacing them with protein and fat. You can also take Keto BHB supplements to quicken the process.

Special diets such as the Keto diet can help you lose weight up to three times faster than normal diets and usually come with added benefits for your health. However, if you have difficulty maintaining them, do not feel frustrated or guilty. Remember, work at your own pace.

• Reduce Refined Carbs: Some regular food items such as snacks, pasta, cereals, soda, white bread, white flour and white rice are listed under refined carbs and their intake should be strictly restricted. The refining process which they undergo has siphoned off most of their fibre and nutrients, leaving nothing but carbs which the body piles up. Further, these items leave you with the urge to eat more, and we all know the dangers of overeating.
• Be Aware Of Your Calorie Intake: This does not require you to go into full-blown paranoid mode or start scrutinizing every single morsel. A simple knowledge of the Calories content of what you eat can help you take responsibility for yourself while trying to lose weight. You don’t even have to do it yourself, there are several apps and tools on the internet to help you with this.
• Stay Clear Of Added Sugar: Sugar is really not good for you. Its implications for your health are massively detrimental, and a wide range of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer can be linked to excessive consumption of sugar. Sugar is also one of the leading causes of obesity, therefore it follows naturally that a reduced intake of it can help the excess weight drop off like flies.
• Eat Whole Grains Full Of Fiber: Foods rich in fibre will infuse you with a feeling of fullness and satisfaction quicker, which will, in turn, help you reduce portions and make you eat less. Foods such as brown rice and whole-wheat bread and pasta can help you lose weight naturally without even seeming to make an effort to.

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT BY YOUR LIFESTYLE

Simply put, obesity is the likely outcome when you eat more than is required by your body, and when you’re unable to work off those extra carbs. Most times, your weight is also determined by a number of seemingly ineffectual lifestyle choices, how you handle them. Some of these things are pretty regular, and a simple tweak here and there can greatly assist in keeping extra weight away from you and even help you shed some more.

• Be Conscious Of What You Eat: The phrase “you are what you eat” can seem overused and simplistic, but it is indeed apt. Because, much like the garbage in garbage out computer module, your body can only work with what you give it. Before indulging that craving for junk food, take a minute to ask yourself if you really need it at that particular moment. Also, listen to your body’s hunger and satisfaction cues and try not to exceed its limits. Carefully screen what goes inside you as food and if you discover you have a weakness for particular unwholesome foods, try as much as possible to avoid situations where you might be confronted with the sight of them. Weight loss will follow as a natural consequence of these actions.
• Eat Slower: Rushing through meals may make you overindulge and cause you to take in more calories than you need. You’re also likely to ignore your body’s satiation cues when you eat this way. The best way to avoid stocking up on excess calories every time you eat is to eat slowly, savouring each bite. Research has shown that it takes the body up to thirty minutes from when you start eating to initiate the digestion process. Therefore, you’re much more likely to feel full while consuming less when you eat slowly.
• Don’t Skip Breakfast: Some people think that skipping breakfast can help you lose weight, but this is false. When you skip breakfast, you tend to eat more throughout the day, leading to even more weight gain, which is the exact opposite of what you intended.

In addition to helping you lose weight and keeping it off, breakfast can help you stay sharp all day. So don’t lose the chance of a robust day by missing breakfast.

• Sleep Well: According to scientific research, people who sleep inadequately are up to 55% more likely to be obese. Adequate and restful sleep is especially important to the weight loss process, and even more crucial to keeping excess weight off. Sleep deprivation can lead to disruptions in the body system and hormonal imbalance which can result in stress. Stress can further cause you to stress-eat and binge on comfort foods. The best way to avoid these complications is to be sure to get enough sleep every night.
• Skip Some Meals: Fasting is also a great way to lose weight, by shaving a couple hundred calories off your daily allowance. In addition to this, fasting also comes with a multitude of health benefits; it can help detoxify your system among other things. However, make sure you don’t overdo it or take on too much too soon, to avoid eating too much during the next meal to make up for it. Start at an easy pace, reducing portions here and there and switching to lighter alternatives, before you feel confident enough to forego entire meals.
• Reduce Portions: The easiest way to achieve this is to trick your mind into acceptance by making use of smaller dishes. Several studies show that the human brain regards portion sizes in relation to the plates on which they are offered, thus, if you fill up a smaller dish, your mind will accept it without reservations if you’re inclined to eat a full helping. Therefore, eating on smaller plates can actually help you eat less and reduce weight naturally.
• Avoid Alcohol: Have you wondered why the heaviest drinkers are often overweight and have prominent beer guts? It’s no coincidence. Alcohol contains a lot of calories that can pile up and heap more pressure on your internal organs. Further, these calories are often difficult to work out of the body system. If you’re serious about losing weight, you may have to significantly reduce or even eliminate alcohol intake completely.
• Be Active: An idle mind is far more than the devil’s workshop, it is also the recipe for exponential weight gain. Inactivity can induce boredom, and boredom can in turn trick you into thinking you’re hungry, making you make a grab for the nearest available unwholesome snack.

Be sure to always keep your mind and body occupied whenever a lull appears. It can be something as simple as indulging in your favourite hobby, solving a few puzzles, going for a walk or even talking with friends or neighbours. Whatever course of action you decide on is okay, just as long as you stay active.

• Eat At Home More: Sure, eating out can often seem like the easiest option. Sometimes, it can even be the more glamorous option. But the truth is that eating out often does not do your weight loss campaign any favours. Some of these meals contain astronomical amounts of calories and as you’re not privy to the ingredients that go into their production, you have no way of knowing this. Further, that all you can eat buffet may be more temptation than you can handle.

As much as possible, try to eat at home where you have more control over both meal integrity and portion control.

• Look For A Partner: Two good heads are better than one. While undertaking this journey, look for people of like minds with whom you can share your expectations, challenges and experiences. These people can set you back on the right track if you derail and can help you reach your goals quicker. You’ll find the whole process less cumbersome and even have fun along the way if you undertake it with people who genuinely want to see you succeed and can track your progress with you.

HOW TO GET FIT IN THE HOME

Complementing the above steps with a good exercise regimen will yield results faster. As we’ve earlier established, you don’t need to go sweat it out in a gym; that may be practically impossible now anyway, due to the lockdown. You don’t even need to do anything particularly gruelling. What you’re looking for is a way to get and keep fit while at home and below is a list of exercises you can do for weight loss in the home.

• Skipping: A simple yet effective exercise, this activity can be performed from the comfort of your home and can help you burn as many as 450 calories every 45 minutes. You don’t need any special skills for this one, and regular practice can help you build stamina and endurance. So get skippin’.
• Burpees: Burpees require a bit more endurance and can be quite intense, but when you get into it, the rewards are pretty considerable and take less time to manifest. Burpees give the full body a workout and leave you feeling good and right at the end of each session.
• Jumping Jacks: This exercise is designed for the whole body and a 30-minute session of this exercise can burn off 200 calories. The great thing about this exercise is that it has cardiovascular benefits and can help you increase your stamina.
• Pilates: This exercise is great for relieving pain and building strength, balance and flexibility, in addition to helping you lose weight. It is also beginner-friendly and can help you burn up to 108 calories in 30 minutes.
• Jogging: Yes, with a little ingenuity, you can manage to jog even within the confines of your home. The benefits of this particular exercise are immense, you can burn a whopping 298 calories per 30 minutes.

If you’re technology inclined, there are a number of weight loss apps that can help you achieve your goals. They are easy to use and offer tools to help you manage your schedule better. Some even have communities, where you can connect with others with a similar purpose as yours. Apps such as Fitbit, MyFitnessPal, Lose it! and Cron-O-Meter can be important resources to have at your disposal.

FINAL WORDS

There are many benefits attached to weight loss. In addition to combating the risk of debilitating illnesses, weight loss can help revitalize your life. It can inject you with the extra impetus to grab your life by the lapels and bend it to your will. It can help you regain your confidence and also help you rediscover your love for life.

Again, the little things can often go a long way towards helping you lose weight at home, thus, a few adjustments to your lifestyle can be the key towards achieving your weight loss goals, especially when you compliment them with the right exercises you can do for weight loss in the home.

The important thing to remember is that weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. It is eminently possible for you to lose weight right from the comfort of your home, without using any special gym gadgets. All you need to do is to draw up a plan and stick to it, and when the inevitable setback comes, to not be discouraged.

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