If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, you’ve probably heard the age-old mantra- eat less, move more. However, moving more isn’t as easy as this piece of advice suggests. Busy lifestyles, mobility problems, or even just a deep hatred of the gym may stand in your way.
While there are plenty of benefits to getting active, the truth is that it’s possible to lose weight without exercise in a month. Many weight-loss experts assert that hitting the gym regularly is the best way to create a calorie deficit and shed unwanted pounds. However, some research suggests that regular exercise can actually lower the number of calories your body needs to function. It can also make you hungrier and lead to the belief that, because you’re active, you can eat whatever you like.
Although it’s worth considering getting more active to lose weight, there are plenty of ways to lose fat in 30 days without exercise. If you’ve got a big social event soon or just want to see a quick change in your appearance, you can even lose weight fast without exercise in a week.
While this may all sound too good to be true, trust us- it isn’t. In this article, we’ll reveal our top tips to slim down without hitting the gym and the best way to lose weight in a month without exercise.
How to Lose Weight in a Month Without Exercise- Tips
Losing weight is never easy, but it doesn’t have to involve grueling workout sessions every day to get the body you want. All these tips will help you slim down fast without exercising, and you can combine several to get even faster results. So, how can I lose weight in a month without exercise?
1. Try a weight loss supplement
Weight loss supplements are a great way to lose weight fast without exercise or dieting in a month. However, you need to take some time to find the best product for your circumstances. If you’re skeptical about whether weight loss supplements can work for you, it helps to understand a little about how they work.
Most weight loss supplements work in one or more of the following ways:
Increasing metabolism: Many diet supplements contain fat-burning ingredients that increase the body’s natural thermogenesis process. This effect speeds up the rate at which your body burns fat, even while you’re resting and sleeping. Therefore, these supplements can help you lose weight without exercise in 1 month.
Suppressing appetite: Ingredients containing filling dietary fibers such as konjac root swell up in your stomach to make you feel satisfied. This effect reduces feelings of hunger, allowing you to eat less without feeling deprived or following a restrictive diet plan.
Boosting energy: Many weight loss supplements contain ingredients that improve your energy levels and even your mood. These effects make it easier to get more active without necessarily going to the gym and could help combat the urge to reach for sugary snacks for an energy hit or emotional comfort.
If you want to shed the pounds even faster, we recommend combining weight loss supplements with a calorie-controlled diet. However, the metabolism-boosting effects of these supplements should help you lose weight without dieting or exercising, as long as you don’t overeat. To get the most bang for your buck, you should consider buying a supplement that performs several of the above functions at once.
You should exercise caution when shopping for weight loss supplements to ensure the product you’re getting is safe and healthy to take. Look for a product that’s clinically-proven and has good user reviews. You can find a list of the safest, best weight loss supplements here (link to content about weight loss supplements I wrote previously).
So, how do you choose the best diet supplements? First, think carefully about your needs. Some products only provide a way to lose weight fast for women without exercise in a month, while others are suitable for men only. However, there are also unisex products available.
Also, consider your budget. It’s essential to make sure that you can afford to buy the supplements long-term, although you should see good results within a month. Don’t assume that bargain-basement prices mean you’re getting a good deal, as supplements with clinically-proven benefits and high-quality, natural ingredients tend to cost a little more. However, you shouldn’t have to break the bank to get a good supplement for weight loss.
You should also check that any supplements you pick are safe for you to take. Generally, weight loss products are unsuitable for pregnant and lactating women. Many are unsafe to take if you have a pre-existing health condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure. If you struggle with your sleep, you should try to find a supplement free from stimulants like caffeine, as these can make it harder to fall and stay asleep. If you’re unsure, we recommend checking with your doctor before adding supplements to your weight loss regime.
2. Follow a ketogenic diet
Keto diets are popular with celebrities and influencers, have a reputation for quick results, and achieve a lean, attractive physique. But do they work?
A ketogenic diet reduces your daily carbohydrate intake to just 30g per day or less. While this may sound like a drag, there’s an upside. This diet also allows you to eat plenty of fat and healthy protein sources. Therefore, lots of delicious foods like cheese and steak are on the menu.
Research shows that a ketogenic diet helps you significantly reduce your body fat percentage and overall body mass index (BMI), even if you don’t set foot in the gym. Eating keto also comes with a wide range of potential benefits, including balancing blood sugar levels, decreasing bad cholesterol, and increasing good cholesterol in the body. Therefore, a ketogenic diet is one of our favorite ways to get rid of belly fat fast without exercise in a month.
3. Stay hydrated
While it may sound basic, drinking plenty of water could be crucial if you want to know how to burn fat fast without exercise in a month.
There are lots of reasons that sipping water is excellent for your waistline, and perhaps the most compelling is that it can actually help you eat less. Studies show that your body can mistake thirst for hunger, causing you to reach for the snacks instead of re-hydrating. Water doesn’t contain any calories, and you should aim for 6-8 glasses daily to see the weight loss benefits.
Drinking lots of water helps you lose weight in the following ways:
- Naturally and safely suppressing your appetite
- Boosting your metabolism
- Replacing the ‘empty’ calories from soda, sweetened, or fatty beverages
- Supporting fat burning
So, before you splash out on an expensive gym membership, consider keeping a bottle of water to hand to help you slim down without exercise.
4. Kick the soda habit
While we’re on the subject of drinks, you should think carefully about what you don’t drink as well. One of the easiest ways to create the calorie deficit you need to lose weight without exercise is to cut out sugar-laden products. It’s obvious that you need to cut down on (or cut out entirely) candy bars if you want to slim down, but what about the invisible calories you’re drinking?
Soda, sweetened iced teas, and sugary coffees all contain a lot of calories without offering you much in the way of nutrition. Even worse, they won’t fill you up in the same way that food does, so you may still feel hungry after drinking that mocha latte.
Therefore, anyone who wants to burn fat without exercise should find low-sugar and low-calorie alternatives to sugary beverages. The healthiest replacement is water. However, while the jury’s out on whether artificially-sweetened drinks are bad for your health, calorie-free diet sodas are a better option for your waistline, at least.
5. Reduce your alcohol intake
There are some potential benefits to consuming alcohol in careful moderation. However, alcoholic drinks contain a lot of calories and very little in the way of nutrition. So, that glass of wine after work every day could be putting the kibosh on your weight loss efforts.
If you want to cut as many unnecessary calories from your diet as possible to lose weight without exercise, your best bet is to avoid alcohol altogether. However, if you still want to enjoy an occasional drink, these tips can help you make the best choice for your waistline.
- Use low-calorie mixers instead of fruit juice or non-diet soda
- Avoid cocktails made with sugary ingredients like Kahlua or fatty ingredients like coconut milk or cream
- Swap non-diet tonic for soda water
- Avoid sugary or creamy shots
- Opt for sparkling wine or champagne instead of more calorific drinks like regular wine or beer
- Alternate alcoholic beverages with water to reduce the number of calories you drink overall
- Consciously try to slow down and enjoy fewer drinks
While sensible alcohol consumption shouldn’t do too much harm now and then, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to a broad range of health conditions such as liver disease. Pregnant women and minors shouldn’t consume any alcohol at all. If you’re worried that you drink too much, we recommend speaking to your healthcare provider for support.
6. Snack more
Eating snacks can actually help you lose weight without exercise- sounds crazy, right? Some research suggests that eating snacks between meals can help you lose weight by preventing you from becoming ravenously hungry and overeating at mealtimes.
However, this advice comes with a caveat. If your snack of choice is candy, salty chips, or another unhealthy option, you won’t lose weight and may even put more on. However, adding a few calorie-controlled, high-protein snacks into your diet can suppress hunger and help you eat fewer calories overall.
When you’re planning your snacks, portion control is key. If you’re trying to lose weight, limiting your snacks to 100-calorie portions will stop you from sabotaging your weight loss goals. If you’re craving something larger, consider bulking up your snacks with vegetables, which are low in calories but high in essential nutrients.
Also, carefully consider your snacking frequency. One or two well-chosen snacks can be an excellent weight loss aid, but snacking continuously throughout the day could stop your weight loss in its tracks or even cause you to gain more.
Examples of healthy, high-protein snacks with fewer than 100 calories include:
- ½ a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with vegetable crudites
- A small handful of unsalted almonds (roughly 14 kernels)
- 1/3 cup edamame beans (young soybeans)
- 2 tablespoons of hummus with carrot or cucumber sticks
- 1 sliced apple with peanut butter (no more than 2 teaspoons)
- ½ a cup of fat-free natural yogurt
- 1 boiled egg
7. Swap out your side dishes
Think you can’t enjoy eating out when you’re trying to lose weight? Think again! One of the secrets of how to burn fat fast without exercise in a month is making your regime fit with your lifestyle, and for many of us, this means eating out. If you have to forgo socializing with friends to stay on the wagon, chances are you’ll lose your willpower and risk giving up altogether.
One of the easiest ways to reduce the number of calories you consume when eating out is to take a closer look at the sides you order. Sides like fries can add a massive number of calories to your meal and lead to weight gain.
While a burger isn’t the best choice when you’re dieting, you can make it healthier by swapping out the fries for a side salad or portion of fresh vegetables. We know it’s hard to resist delicious side dishes, but this solution lets you enjoy a little of what you like while cutting calories and your waistline will thank you for it. What’s more, low-calorie side dishes like fresh salad will give you more nutritional bang for your buck.
8. Prioritize sleep
We know we sound like your mother, but ensuring you get enough sleep is a vital weapon in your weight loss arsenal with zero exercise required. When you’re sleep-deprived, your body makes more ghrelin, the hunger hormone. Your leptin levels, the satiety hormone that tells you when you’re full, also plummets.
All this adds up to you feeling hungrier and potentially eating more, sabotaging your weight loss efforts. You may also be more likely to reach for fatty, sugary foods for a quick energy hit.
The solution is to make sure you get between 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Adequate sleep can help keep your hunger in check and make it easier to stick to your weight loss plan and get the results you want.
However, getting enough good quality sleep is easier said than done. You can make it easier for yourself by practicing good ‘sleep hygiene.’ Some simple ways to improve your sleep include:
- Create a comfortable sleeping environment, including a supportive mattress
- Sleep in a dark, cool room
- Take a warm bath or shower before you go to bed
- Keep your bedroom for sleeping and sex only to build an association in your brain between bed and sleep
- Reduce screen usage before bed, as blue light from screens can affect your sleep
- Avoid caffeine and other stimulants in the afternoon and evening
- Take part in relaxing activities in the hour before bed such as reading or gentle yoga
- If you try all these tips, and still have a hard time getting enough sleep, talk to your healthcare provider to rule out a
- medical cause and extra support.
9. Reduce your stress levels
If you want to find out how to lose belly fat without exercise in 30 days, you may assume it all comes down to your diet. However, like sleep deprivation, high stress levels can also make it harder to lose weight quickly.
Modern life is often stressful, especially if you’re juggling a busy job or a hectic home life. All this stress causes your body to release more cortisol, a stress hormone that makes your body hold on to its fat reserves and makes you crave sugary, high-fat foods with lots of calories. So, letting your stress get out of control increases your risk of overeating.
On the other hand, reducing stress is a great way to lose weight when combining it with some of the other tips on our list and a healthy, calorie-controlled diet. If your stress is severe, you may need help from your healthcare provider to get it under control. However, the following steps can help kick stress into touch and slim down your waistline:
- Take control of your stressors and find solutions to reduce them
- Spend time socializing with family and friends away from the office
- Take time for hobbies and other enjoyable activities
- Avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms like smoking or drinking too much alcohol
- Limit your caffeine intake
- Give yourself a healthy stress outlet by keeping a journal
- Practice mindfulness techniques and meditation
You’ve probably noticed that there’s one crucial element we’ve missed from our list. You’ve guessed it- it’s exercise. OK, we know we said that this was a list of ways to lose weight fast without exercise. However, getting more active will help to reduce your stress hormones, improve your sleep, and boost your overall well-being.
You don’t have to hit it hard at the gym to reduce your stress levels with physical activity. Gentle exercise like yoga or pilates or even walking a little more can have a beneficial effect and burn some extra calories too.
10. Keep food out of sight
Have you ever heard the old joke about the seafood diet? This isn’t a diet based on fish- the punchline is that you see food and eat it. When you see something tasty, your hunger hormone levels increase, making it hard to resist.
Having unhealthy food choices ready to hand on your desk or left out on your kitchen counter inevitably leads to temptation. Before you know it, you’ve eaten a few cookies, and your diet comes off the rails. If you want to lose weight quickly without exercise, the best solution is to keep tempting, unhealthy foods out of your house altogether.
However, if you live with a partner or kids who like the sweet stuff, you still have options. Hiding food away in cupboards or even opaque containers keeps it out of your line of vision, so you’ll be less likely to reach for them and add extra calories to your diet. The old saying out of sight, out of mind rings true in this situation.
You can also use the connection between seeing food and your appetite to your advantage. Having healthy, low-calorie foods rich in nutrients like fresh fruit and veggies visible and accessible can encourage you to eat more of the good stuff and avoid filling up on junk.
11. Prepare your own meals
We don’t recommend stopping socializing with friends over food. However, when you can, it’s a great idea to prepare your own meals. Restaurant meals tend to contain a lot of calories and come in larger portions than you’d serve yourself. Take-out and ready meals are often highly processed and include large amounts of additives, flavorings, fat, and sugar, all of which could be your worst enemy if you want to lose weight without exercise.
Preparing your own meals allows you to know exactly what you’re eating and carefully control your calorie, fat, sugar intake, and portion sizes. You can also make sure you get as many essential nutrients as possible by bulking out your meals with nutritious vegetables.
You don’t need to be a particularly good chef to make healthy, delicious, and diet-friendly meals at home. There are plenty of excellent recipe websites and cooking apps that explain how to make diet-friendly meals for kitchen rookies. If your cooking skills are lacking, now could be the time to explore a new hobby and get your preparation know-how up to scratch.
If preparing your own meals sounds like a drag, batch cooking is your friend. Setting aside a time each week to prepare large batches of recipes at once and store them in pre-portioned containers means that you can cook once and enjoy several meals during the week. You could even consider freezing portions so that you have your own healthy, home-made ready meals to hand to avoid the temptation to order a take-out.
12. Eat slower
If you scarf down your food as quickly as possible, this could have a negative effect on your waistline. It takes roughly 20 minutes for your brain to realize that your stomach is full, during which time you may consume more calories than you actually need.
You shouldn’t leave the table feeling hungry, but the trick is to allow your brain enough time to notice when you’ve had enough and stop eating when you’re satisfied. That way, you can cut calories to lose weight more quickly without any exercise or feeling deprived.
Anything you can do to slow down your eating and make your meal last longer than the magic 20 minutes will help you stop eating at the right time and cut down on calories. Talking to friends and family while you dine, chewing your food carefully, and putting your fork down in between bites can all prompt you to eat more mindfully and slow you down.
Were you told as a child to eat everything on your plate? While this cuts down on food waste, it’s not good advice if you’re trying to lose weight as it could cause you to eat more than you really need. If you’re worried about wasting food, you can always put leftovers in a container for a ready-made packed lunch tomorrow.
13. Reduce portions
It may sound obvious, but reducing your portions cuts down on the calories in each meal and helps you lose weight. If you regularly overeat and have lost track of what a normal portion looks like, now could be the time to get the scales out and weigh your food to make sure you’re not overeating. Alternatively, you could buy a set of portioning scoops or a plate with portion sizes marked on it.
While controlling portions when you’re eating out is a little trickier, there are still tricks you can use. As we mentioned above, you can cut down portions by eating slowly and stopping as soon as you feel satisfied. If the food on your plate is just too tempting, you could ask the server to box up half of your meal in a take-out box before it reaches your table. If you buy take-out coffees or other beverages, ask for the smallest available cup size, letting you enjoy your favorite drink with as few calories as possible.
14. Ditch family-style meals
If you usually place food in serving bowls on the dining table for people to help themselves, you may want to rethink that. Remember the seafood diet joke? If you can see more food in front of you, it’s all too tempting to take a second portion or even thirds.
Instead, plate up your meals in the kitchen in sensible, calorie-controlled portions. If you have to get up and schlep to the kitchen to get seconds, you may think twice and stick to your original portion.
15. Embrace lemons
If you want to lose weight fast without any exercise, lemons could be your best friend. Putting lemon slices in your water gives it more flavor and could help you resist sugary or fatty beverages like soda or take-out coffee.
However, there are other reasons why lemons could be your weight loss secret weapon. Lemons contain high levels of vitamin C, a nutrient that reduces cortisol. As high cortisol levels link to increased hunger and more fat storage, getting plenty of vitamin C in your diet should be high on your to-do list. Also, lemons contain compounds called polyphenols, which could stop your body from storing extra fat reserves.
Other citrus fruits like oranges and limes also offer similar benefits. Make sure to use slices of whole fruits, including the peel, for the best results.
16. Switch out your carbs
As we mentioned earlier, we recommend a ketogenic diet to lose weight as fast as possible without exercise. However, you may be wondering what to eat instead of your favorite carbohydrate-rich foods like pasta and rice.
As well as plenty of healthy protein and fat, including a few simple low-carb swaps can help make your meals bulkier and more varied. To do this, we suggest investing in a spiralizer. This piece of kitchen equipment turns vegetables such as zucchini and carrots into healthy, low-carb spaghetti and noodles. So, you can enjoy your favorite sauces without the carb hit. Plus, you get extra vital nutrients for better all-round health, including that all-important vitamin c quota.
There are plenty of creative solutions for using vegetables to make your meals low-carb. Food processing cauliflower coarsely creates a texture that perfectly replaces rice or couscous. If you’re feeling creative, you could even try making a low carb pizza with a cauliflower crust.
17. Weigh yourself regularly
The scales don’t lie, so weighing yourself regularly is the only way to accurately track your progress and keep yourself accountable. In fact, research shows that a daily weighing habit helps you lose more weight and avoid putting it back on again.
However, bear in mind that your weight will fluctuate day to day for reasons that have nothing to do with your weight loss efforts. Factors from your monthly hormonal cycle to water retention or even overdoing it on the salt can all cause temporary weight gain. Instead of fixating on the daily figures, look at the pattern over time. If the big picture is that you’re meeting your targets over time, you’re doing just fine.
To get an accurate picture of your weight loss, you need to weigh yourself consistently at the same time of day, every day. The best time to weigh is when you wake up in the morning before you eat anything.
18. Resist diet fads
When we say fads, we mean short-term diets that severely restrict your calories or confine you to a limited selection of foods. Diets like this will work to an extent, in that they will make you lose weight if you stick to them. In fact, any diet that creates a calorie deficit will ‘work’ if all you’re worried about is weight loss.
However, sticking to a diet like this is difficult and tedious at best and dangerous at worst. Forcing your body into starvation mode isn’t healthy, and a restricted diet means that you may not get all the nutrients your body needs. It’s much safer and more enjoyable to follow a clinically-proven diet plan like the ketogenic diet.
19. Eat probiotics
Probiotics are healthy bacteria that promote good digestion. However, research shows that they play a crucial role in weight management and maintaining a healthy metabolism. Adding probiotics to your diet won’t help you lose weight without exercise on its own, but it can be an excellent addition to your plan when you combine it with other weight loss tips in this article.
To get more good bacteria into your system, you can either take a supplement or add probiotic-rich foods into your diet. Suitable options include:
- Miso
- Kombucha (a type of slightly fizzy, fermented tea)
- Yogurt
- Kimchi
- Kefir
20. Boost your vitamin D
It’s not entirely clear how vitamin D impacts weight loss, but there’s some evidence that higher vitamin D levels in your body help you burn fat and lose weight more easily. Your body can make its own vitamin D when you spend time out in the sun, or you could take a supplement. There are also some dietary sources of vitamin D:
- Salmon, mackerel, and other oily fish
- Red meat
- Eggs (yolks only)
- Fortified cereal and bread
- Some types of mushroom
- Liver
- Some parts of the world also fortify cow’s milk with vitamin D.
While upping your vitamin D intake isn’t a magic weight-loss bullet, it may help. It also offers a range of other health benefits, including a reduced risk of osteoporosis and certain cancers.
FAQs
Q: How can I lose 20 pounds of fat in a month without exercise?
A: A 20-pound weight loss in one month will be an unrealistic target for most people, although this depends on your body weight. If you want to lose weight as quickly as possible, a ketogenic diet low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein will help you achieve your goals. You could also take fat-busting weight loss supplements or try some of the other tips in this article.
Q: What is the fastest way to lose weight in a month?
A: The fastest way to lose weight in a month is to create a large calorie deficit, which means that you need to eat fewer calories than you burn off. You can create a calorie deficit by eating less food, doing more exercise, or a combination of both. We recommend eating a low-carb ketogenic diet and taking a diet supplement to burn fat for faster results.
Q: How can I lose tummy fat fast?
A: To lose tummy fat fast, you’ll need to reduce your overall body fat percentage as you can’t target weight loss. The most effective way to do this is to eat a low-carb ketogenic diet and limit your calories. You could also consider taking a supplement to lose weight fast and trying some of the other weight loss tips in this article. While you can lose weight fast without exercise, adding in some extra physical activity will help increase your calorie deficit.
Q: How can I have a flat tummy?
A: To get a flat tummy, you’ll need to reduce your body fat percentage. You can do this by eating a calorie-controlled diet and reducing your carbohydrate intake. Taking a fat burning supplement or appetite suppressant could also help. While you can get a flatter tummy without exercise, physical activity that strengthens your core muscles may help make it flatter and improve its appearance.
Q: Where do you lose weight first?
A: When you first start losing weight, you shed the hard fat from around your internal organs first. Next, your body sheds the softer, visible fat in areas like the stomach and legs.
Q: How can I lose my belly fat without exercise?
A: You can reduce your belly fat without exercise by eating a calorie-controlled diet. A low-carb diet like the keto diet may be the most effective. This creates a calorie deficit, allowing you to shed pounds from your entire body, including your belly. You can find other tips for losing your belly fat quickly without exercise here (link to the previous article on losing belly fat).
Q: How many calories do you burn in a day without exercise?
A: The number of calories you burn while resting is known as your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This varies from person to person depending on your body composition, and you can find various BMR calculators online. However, you’ll likely burn off more calories than this daily even if you don’t hit the gym as all physical activity burns calories for energy, even walking to the store or cleaning your home.
The Bottom Line
Whatever the reason you want to lose weight quickly, the tips in this article can help you achieve your goals safely and without any exercise. While some of the methods in this article require you to spend money, such as weight loss supplements, many are totally free and straightforward to manage.
Before you start any weight loss plan, you may wish to consider consulting your healthcare provider for advice. This step is especially essential if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a health condition like diabetes or high blood pressure. Some of the tips on our list may be unsuitable for people with certain health statuses.
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