The only way to lose weight without exercise is to adapt your diet. Although exercise can help you take extra pounds off more quickly, you can still coax them away by making small changes at the supermarket. You’ll lose around a pound a week without resorting to unhealthy crash diets.
Step 1
Keep a food journal to find out just how many calories you’re consuming per day. Write down what you eat, how many servings you eat and the number of calories per serving. At the end of the day, tally up the total number of calories. Do this for one week.
Step 2
Plan to eat 500 fewer calories per day. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one pound contains 3,500 calories. If you eat 500 fewer calories per day for seven days, that totals 3,500 calories and one pound lost—all without exercise.
Step 3
Swap your dairy products for low-fat or non-fat versions. According to the CDC, replacing one cup of whole milk with one cup of fat-free milk saves you 63 calories. Making the same swap with ricotta cheese can save you 89 calories.
Step 4
Snack on fruits, nuts, yogurt and popcorn. Instead of reaching for cookies or a candy bar, eat air-popped popcorn, dry-roasted nuts, non-fat yogurt and fruit. Swapping an ounce of potato chips for a half-cup of pineapple saves you 118 calories, says the CDC. Keep in mind that nuts are high in salt and calories, so avoid overeating them. Also note the sugar content of yogurt that you eat. If you eat dried fruit, note that most varieties are packaged with added sugar, which boosts calorie content.
Step 5
Give up high-calorie soda in favor of water. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, the average can of soda that uses sugar as a sweetener comes loaded with 150 calories.
Step 6
Control your portion sizes. According to the government-sponsored Weight Control Information Network, the serving size listed on a food item’s Nutrition Facts label rarely matches the amount you eat because the serving size is usually a very small amount, often a half-cup or an ounce. If you don’t match your portion size to the label’s serving size, you’re ingesting more calories than you think.
Step 7
Change up your order at the coffee counter—your favorite beverage may be sabotaging your diet. At Starbucks, for example, a 16-oz White Chocolate Crème Frappuccino Blended Beverage with whipped cream contains 610 calories. Order a 16-oz. Iced Caffe Latte with nonfat milk, and you’ll consume only 90 calories.
Step 8
Maintain your diet. Every week you eliminate 3,500 calories should result in one pound lost. Keep it up, even after you reach your goal weight. Remember, you can’t eat candy bars and cheeseburgers without expecting the weight to come back.
Tips and Warnings
- Eat your dinner from a salad plate instead of a regular dinner plate—even if you fill it with food, you’ll be eating a healthier portion size with fewer calories.
- Never use starvation or fad diets to lose weight. Your body will hoard fat and calories to get through the starvation period and, in dire situations, will convert muscle tissue—not fat reserves—into energy.
Things You'll Need
- Food journal
- Calculator
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