Last Updated on 5 years by Sophie

Losing Weight without Exercise

Do you believe it is possible to lose weight without exercise?

Simply weight gain is due to over eating, adding 3500 calories beyond your daily needs will lead to 1 pound weight gain. 3500 calories equals to eating 11 six inches Subway sandwich or 10 cheeseburgers.

If you want to burn 3500 calories through exercise you need to do 10 hours of aerobics, or Tai Chi. It is easier not to eat (not adding extra calories ) than removing it from your body. Exercise is important for improving your health and if you can combine eating less with exercise regime you will lose weight and stay in shape.

Exercise alone will not help you lose weight if you are consuming too much calories, more than what you need. But keeping your calorie intake within the healthy limit will help you slim down in the long run.

It is all about what you eat and the portion. In general without knowing we all eat more than what our body need, and when it comes to food we forget what we had 1 hour earlier. To find out how much food you are consuming it is suggested that you write down what you eat every day, with smart phones it is easier now to count your daily calories, there are many free application that help you to watch what you eat.

Eating healthy does not mean skipping meals, or not taking breakfast because you had large dinner the night before. Eating well–balanced, moderately sized meals and snacks throughout the day is the key to stay full and avoid hunger.

To start adjusting your diet and changing your eating habit, you need to know what is your daily calorie requirement based on your lifestyle, use calorie calculator to get an estimated figure.

You need also to pay attention to food label (product label), food labels are useful in helping you decide whether a food fits into your daily meal plan and how it can meet your nutritional requirements. With today’s food labels, you can get:

1. Information about all the ingredients that make up a food product.
2. Nutrition information from the Nutrition Information Panel on the package. Information on healthier food products by looking for the ‘Healthier Choice Symbol’ on the food package.
3. Information on nutrient claims. Nutrient claims show that a particular food product is ‘high in fibre’, ‘cholesterol free’ or ‘low in fat’.

Paying attention to calorie content of the food you are eating is important, calories are measured in kilocalories (kcal) and kilojoules (kJ). A kilocalorie is commonly known as a Calorie. 1 kcal = 4.2 kJ or 1 kJ = 0.24 kcal

How to reduce total daily calorie intake

1- Avoid or reduce portion of food rich in fat, such as fried food, red meat and chicken with skin.

2- Try healthy meal replacement product as an easy and healthy way to reduce your total daily calorie intake without depriving your body from nutrition. Meal replacements –shake mix- available in different flavours and are easy to prepare. Herbalife Formula 1 is one of the good products available. If you are allergic to dairy and gluten then Formula 1 Allergen is the best, it is also available in Lactose-free Instant healthy meal

3- Avoid snacking or snack smarter. Sometime we cheat ourselves buy eating single-serving cookies, crackers, even cut-up vegetable sticks. But if you are eating too much of small sizes you will end up adding calories. Snacking has made many fail to lose weight.

4- Take more fiber. Fiber makes you feel full without adding calories because it moves slowly through the digestive system and stomach. Daily fiber requirement is 20-30g

5- Go for low Gylcemic (GI) food. The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods with a high GI are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health. Low GI diets have been shown to improve both glucose and lipid levels in people with diabetes (type 1 and type 2). They have benefits for weight control because they help control appetite and delay hunger. Low GI diets also reduce insulin levels and insulin resistance. Source

It is great when you lose weight through dieting but getting active is important for your heart and will help you burn fat and lose weight faster.

Simply choose what to eat and you will lose weight, for example eat a medium apple instead of four shortbread cookies and you’ll save 80 calories.

1 pound = 454 gram