We all have days when hanging out at home and ordering takeout win out going to the gym and doing meal prep.
But there’s no need to feel guilty or toss your health goals aside when relaxation takes over.
Instead, here are seven ways you can continue to lose weight on your “off days” without dieting or working out.
1. Meditate
You might not believe that losing weight can be as easy as deep breathing and sitting in silence for a few minutes each day.
But the truth is, meditation has been proven to significantly reduce cortisol levels, which directly impacts your ability to lose weight (1).
Cortisol is a hormone your body releases to help you cope with stress. And while cortisol is helpful in the short-term, having elevated levels of blood cortisol tells your body to begin storing fat, rather than burning it. This is why losing weight is next to impossible when your stress levels are through the roof.
To help lower your cortisol levels and promote sustainable weight loss, it’s important to manage stress on a daily basis with relaxation techniques, such as meditation.
Even 5 to 10 minutes of meditation each day can make a big difference in your stress levels. You can try guided meditations, visualization or simply focus on deep breathing. All forms of meditation help lower cortisol levels, which means they can also promote weight loss.
2. Eat Protein First Thing in the Morning
Protein is the ultimate blood-sugar-balancing nutrient, which is why it should always be included in your first meal of the day.
Eating protein first thing in the morning helps prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes. And when your blood sugar levels are unstable, your body is constantly releasing insulin, which is a fat storage hormone.
Having 20 grams of protein first thing in the morning will start your day off with stable blood sugar levels, and prevent the spikes and crashes that can trigger fat storage and lead to weight gain.
Organic eggs, hemp protein powder, quinoa, organic turkey bacon, chicken and steak are all ideal sources of protein to have in the morning to promote natural weight loss.
3. Drink Apple Cider Vinegar in the Morning
Before you have a protein-rich, blood-sugar-balancing meal in the morning, try drinking 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar diluted in a cup or so of water.
Apple cider vinegar contains a nutrient called acetic acid, which has been shown to help reduce the body’s insulin response to carbohydrates, and prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes (2).
4. Eliminate Gluten
If you have a diet rich in pro-inflammatory foods such as gluten, it can be very difficult to lose weight. This is because chronic inflammation has a negative ripple effect throughout your body, which disrupts your fat burning and appetite regulating hormones.
As you can guess, chronic inflammation can result in a slower metabolism, an increased appetite and unwanted weight gain.
Removing gluten from your diet is one way to begin reducing internal inflammation right away. You can replace glutenous grains such as wheat, spelt, oats, barley and rye with quinoa, brown rice and almond flour.
5. Heal Your Gut
An overgrowth of bad gut bacteria is a common, yet silent, culprit in weight gain.
Studies have shown that an excess of unfriendly bacteria can lead to intestinal inflammation, prevent natural detoxification and promote metabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes (3).
Also, bad bacteria overgrowth (also known as gut dysbiosis) promotes cravings for starchy, sugary foods, and impair your ability to absorb essential vitamins and minerals for hormone balance.
You can begin improving your gut health by adding fermented foods to your diet. Fermented foods contain strains of probiotics or friendly bacteria, which help replenish the good bacteria in your colon.
Sauerkraut, coconut yogurt, kimchi, beet kvass, coconut milk kefir and fermented greens powders are all great sources of dietary probiotics. For a higher dose of probiotics, you may want to take a probiotic supplement in addition to eating fermented foods.
Since pro-inflammatory foods such as gluten, alcohol and refined sugar deplete friendly gut bacteria, they should also be avoided to promote optimal gut healing.
6. Get Enough Sleep
Studies have shown a strong association between sleep deprivation and weight gain.
In fact, having an irregular sleep schedule and receiving fewer than five hours of sleep per night has been shown to increase the risk of obesity in women by 15 percent (4).
When you don’t receive consistent, restful or adequate sleep, your circadian rhythm gets disrupted. This is dangerous because your circadian rhythm regulates every physiological process in your body and how your hormones function.
And as you now know, whether or not you gain or lose weight depends entirely on the health of your hormones.
The amount of sleep you need each night will depend on your current state of health, stress levels and lifestyle. As a general guideline, 7-8 hours is a good amount of sleep to aim for.
7. Contract Your Muscles
It may sound silly, but one of the easiest ways to lose weight without dieting or exercising is simply by contracting your muscles.
As you already know, your body demands a hefty post workout meal after intense physical activity to replenish lost nutrients.
So naturally, this is when your muscles are most “primed” to quickly digest and absorb nutrients from the food you eat.
Since your body can’t tell whether you’re at the gym or dinner table, contracting your muscles at any time will produce the same physiological reaction.
Flexing (or contracting) your muscles before you eat can “trick” your body into thinking you’ve just finished a workout, so you absorb nutrients right away rather than having them stored in fat cells.
Consistent, Healthy Choices Matter
Now, it has to be said that nothing can replace or have a greater impact on your health than eating plenty of fresh, whole foods and exercising regularly.
However, these techniques to lose weight without dieting or working out will keep you on track to reach your health goals, even on the most challenging days you have.