Yes, you read it right! If I were to tell you that you do not need to flow those old conventional strict diet plans and spend hours at the gym to lose weight, would you believe it? You wouldn't, right?

Gone are the times when the internet was flooded with compelling yet hard to follow information around weight loss and diet. The recent era demands effortless, flexible, and quick results around the corner.

Thanks to the pandemic, its onset brought about so many other health issues, apart from the mainstream virus, majorly because of a huge shift in our lifestyles, work approach, sleeping patterns and eating habits.. all because of staying at home 24*7. From working, to eating and sleeping, our beds had become one of those clingy best friends in every group, not wanting to leave their side anytime.
 

This pave the way to obesity, loss of stamina in adults, and even in children. Women, on the other hand developed hormonal imbalance issues and rise in lifestyle disorders like Policystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and thyroid was observed. This called for a greater need and attention to take care of our health, even while working from home and staying in all the time.

So here are 10 ways to lose weight without starving yourself or hitting the gym. You will be pleased to know that all of them are backed by science.
People, start taking notes-

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1. Eat right. Know what you're eating

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Be mindful about what you are consuming. Those ready to made and so called healthy soups and cornflakes are not at all healthy since they are packed with preservatives, to keep them fresh and edible for long. The best way to have soups is to freshly prepare them at home minus the cornflour.
In addition to this, you also need to avoid all those refrigerated snacks like fries which are ready within two minutes of deep frying and basically everything that's pre-cooked or half-cooked and promises to be made in such a short span.
Eliminate sugar, refined flour and refined oils completely from your grocery list. They come as weight clutter in our lives, without notice.
While refined oils have a direct proportionate rate with increasing heart diseases, sugar is the worst enemy for your skin since it promotes faster ageing and maida, needless to say, promotes obesity and other serious issues in our body.


2. Home cooked meals are your savior
 

Yes, freshly home cooked meals are what you should be having while trying to lose weight. Prepare garden-fresh, raw vegetables and try to add them to your meals at twice a day. Have your regular pulses, beans and lentils at least once in a day. Stick to your whole wheat or multi-grain chapati (2-3 in a day). You can also have white rice while trying to lose weight. Just make sure that you're combining it with pulses or veggies. Your perfect weight loss plate should look a lot like this. Chapatis for source of carbohydrates, pulses/lentils for source of protein and veggies as source of vitamins & fiber.

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3. Make Fruits and Salads your Best Friend

Fruits are an excellent source of essential nutrients and are packed with health promoting oxidants. Fruits are also highly rich in fiber and eating a diet rich in high fiber can not only boost your gut health, but also aid the weight loss mechanism. As yummy as they may taste, they have even better health benefits by reducing a person's risk of various health diseases. Make it a daily habit to indulge in one seasonal fruit per day after having a good breakfast. You can even opt for a mix fruit chat as your breakfast option.
Salads should be your really go-to option when that hunger pank hits you in the middle of the day or in the evening and you're about to give up on your diet.
Whoever thinks that salads are boring, really didn't have or learn to make a better one yet. Salads can be so delicious and fulfilling at the same time.
Have a basic plate cucumber, raddish and carrot salad half an hour before your lunch. To make this interesting, you can give it a Greek touch by adding lemon, seasoning olive oil, and a little more veggies like lettuce, tomato, bell peppers, and olives, etc. This will sure shot make you a salad fan.

4. Have a balanced diet
 

I remember being taught this so much in school in so many of our science classes, that we should be having a balanced diet. But I believe we were too young and naive to understand it then and realize its meaning and importance, now rather. A balanced diet ensures that all our bodies' functions are governed properly and systematically. Now, in order to lose fat from our body, a balanced diet or meal should be looking a lot like this:














It should consist of as much grams of protein as you weigh from a rich plant or animal source (pulses, lentils, beans, eggs, meats, etc.); plenty of vegetables and good fats along with carbohydrates to curb your hunger.

5. Control your portion size

It doesn't matter what you're eating if you're overdoing it. Please make sure that you're keeping a check on the portion size of your meals or even the handful of snacks that you do consider healthy, holds an immense amount of calories within it. This can be achieved by using smaller plates. Now, you must be wondering whether this will left your stomach half filled or something. Don't worry, we have got you covered. The key is to have frequent meals within 1.5-2 hours of gap in between. This will ensure that you do not starve as well as do not not overeat your main meals. You can have a fruit, a handful of makhanas, a bowl of salad or soup within some intervals to keep your belly satisfied. You can apply the same techniques to your favorite meals or cheat meals.


6. Be in a calorie deficit

What most people don't understand while trying to lose weight- is to be in a calorie deficit diet. Now, when we say calorie deficit, we don't mean you to count calories in all of your meals. This will left you in even more stress and will not give you a great feeling about having food.
How do you calculate a calorie deficit? Your calorie deficit is the energy your body requires to maintain your current weight, minus your dietary calorie intake. So for example, if your body requires 2,000 calories a day and you only feed it 1,200 calories a day, you are in a 800 calorie deficit.
To lose weight, you need to eat and drink fewer calories than you burn. That's called a calorie deficit. If you take in more than calories than you burn, then you don't have a calorie deficit and you won't lose weight.

7. Exercise

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It is a widely known concept that 70% of diet and 30% of exercise is all you need to shred those extra kilos off your body. So, please make sure that you're doing your bit. You do not have to get into rigorous and long hours of workout. It rather increases your cortisol levels which causes even more harm than good for females struggling with hormonal imbalances. 30 minutes of walk a day is considered to be a decent form of exercise while trying to lose and maintain a healthy weight. However, if you're willing to go an extra mile for your health, you can also strength train for 3-4 days a week for about 20-25 minutes, cycle, swim, run or even do yoga practice.

8. N.E.A.T
 

What is N.E.A.T? Have your ever heard of this term before in weight loss topics? No, right. Let's get you introduced to this one.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or N.E.A.T., is a fancy name to describe the calories burned from all of the movement you do during the day apart from exercising, and to your surprise, it can make a big difference in your fat loss program. Examples of N.E.A.T are cooking, shopping, walking, gardening and hell no, even standing. So, people, take that extra mile, ditch the escalators and call your bff right away to get set going for a shopping spree.


9. Water Rule

.Who drinks water? The Queen of England does. So does three-time NBA champion LeBron James. Even Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg drinks water. In fact, just about everybody across the world drinks the life-giving beverage. But are you drinking enough? We cannot imagine our lives without water, but we seem to take it for granted like all the other good things in our lives Doctors recommend that you drink 3 liters of water a day in order to stay hydrated and to perform at your best. Also, ladies, to have that glow.
But who knew that water could also help in weight loss? Water can curb your appetite and since it devoid of calories, it can help you reduce calorie intake. Drinking 500 ml of water before each meal is a great way to do so. Oftentimes, when people think they are hungry, they are actually simply dehydrated.

10. Lastly, have patience

Nothing happens overnight. You did not gain all of your weight overnight, and so with the loss. You just have to be consistent, pertain to everyday mindful actions and choices, and try to inbuilt these practices into your lifestyle. That way, it won't feel like you're restricting yourself from something. Moreover, all these healthy habits can transform your lives in a long run. So, people, put over your headphones, turn on that music and get set going for that motivation run or a walk, maybe!?

 

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