With these insider tricks, weight loss can be simple, easy-to-understand and cheap-or even free! Who's ready to snap an after picture?
1. Get messy
Candy wrappers, fruit peels, nut shells, chicken bones: When it comes to eating messy food, it may be better to let the garbage pile up on the table rather than demurely throwing it away as you go. Seeing the debris left from your food is a visual reminder of exactly how much you've eaten and can provide a reminder to stop when you're full, according to research done by the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.
2. Hang out with friends of all sizes
Forget opposites attract. Researchers have long noted that people tend to gravitate toward those who are the most like them. We prefer people who share our political and religious views, who are of a similar heritage or geographic location and, it turns out, who have similar weights as we do. But if you're overweight and trying to drop a few pounds this could work against you, according to a study published in Obesity. Researchers found that dieters lost more weight when they hung out with thinner friends, possibly because of social pressure and because they followed their friends' examples. This doesn't mean you should only hang out with people skinnier than you; just make sure your friend group includes plenty of people who are different than you and can challenge you to improve-in all areas of your life.
3. Change one single word
If you think of eating veggies and hitting the gym as unbearable hardships, then they will always feel that way and you'll never do them. But if you can change your mindset to a more positive one, you can increase your chances of success. How? It's as easy as swapping out one little word, according to Susan David, PhD, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, co-founder of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, and CEO of Evidence Based Psychology. All it takes is reframing your thoughts from "I have to" to "I want to," she told Business Insider. That expression puts you in the driver's seat. It makes being healthy your choice, not your burden.
4. Turn up the lights
Dim, sultry lighting may be ideal for a romantic dinner-there's nothing more flattering than candlelight!-but if you're watching your waistline you're going to want to brighten the place up, according to a study published in the Journal of Marketing Research. Diners who ate in well-lit dining areas were 16 to 24 per cent more likely to order healthy fare, the researchers found.
5. Ditch the diet drinks
Ordering a diet soda may seem like a good compromise between sticking to your diet and still having a beverage you love. But the artificial sweeteners used in most calorie-free drinks don't lead to weight loss and can even cause weight gain, according to research published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. The artificial chemicals interfere with important enzymes and hormones in your body, leading to increased waist size, they report.
6. Outsource portion control
Portion control is one way to lose weight without exercise. But while that makes sense in theory, when you're faced with the reality of a gallon of ice cream and a bowl, how exactly are you supposed to know how much a half-cup serving really is? Fortunately, taking the guesswork out of portion control is as easy as buying a set of dishes or containers that are calibrated to measure out a single serving of different types of foods. Another option is to buy food prepackaged into single-servings, like frozen entrees. People who used outside measures of portion control lost considerably more weight than those who tried to figure it out on their own in a study published in Obesity.
7. Dine in your dining room
Eat-in kitchens are great for convenience but may be not so great for your waistline, according to a study published in Environment and Behavior. Researchers found that people who ate in open concept areas-like the kitchen/great room in most new homes today-ate more food than those who ate in a separate room. Being able to see the extra food and having such easy access to it encourages people to eat more, even if they'd already eaten until they were full.
8. Dab a little vanilla on your wrists
Vanilla, one of the key smells in homemade cookies, may be a key to effortless weight loss, according to a study done by St. George's hospital in London. Participants who wore a vanilla-scented patch reported fewer cravings, especially those for desserts and sweets.
9. Clean your kitchen
Cluttered, messy kitchens take a toll on your sanity and your waistline, according to a study published in Environment and Behavior. People who ate in a cluttered kitchen ate twice as many snacks as those who had cleaned up their space. And the effect was even worse for people who reported being under a lot of stress. When you're having a hard day, doing chores may be last on your list, but if you're trying to lose weight without exercise, it may be worth it to suck it up and do it. Bonus: Clean spoons for breakfast tomorrow!
10. Eat lunch with your boss
Women who ate with someone they considered "high status," ate significantly less than people who dined with those they saw as equals, according to research done by Vanderbilt University. "Arguably people with higher status are more weight-conscious, they're more concerned about their own body image, and they're more likely to practice weight-related lifestyle such as dietary habits and physical activities and control their weight," says Lijun Song, PhD, lead author and professor of sociology. "And if you are surrounded by people like that, you're exposed to a stronger network norm of weight control. You're more likely to become more conscious of your body weight, more likely to receive assistance with weight management, and are more likely to observe and imitate weight-control behaviours."
11. Vacation in the mountains
There's a reason why Colorado is the both the slimmest and the steepest state in the U.S. The higher up you live, the lower your weight, according to a study done by the U.S. Air Force. But don't sell your beach-front property and head for the hills just yet-the altitude effect can be balanced out by cultivating other good weight-related habits that can taken up anywhere, like walking outdoors and managing your stress. Case in point: Hawaii is the third thinnest state, and they're the definition of sea level.
12. Swap dinner plates for salad plates
A quick fix to the portion problem is to simply use smaller dishes in an effort to lose weight without exercise. Eating off of salad plates instead of dinner plates or using children's bowls instead of large soup bowls can help you feel like you're still getting a full plate's worth of food but with less actual food on the plate, says Cornell's Food Lab Cornell's Food Lab.
13. Water, on the rocks
Drinking more water can help you feel full and eat less food, but if you're really trying to lose weight without exercise, make sure yours is on ice. People who drank six cups of chilled water a day raised their resting metabolism by 12 percent, burning an extra 50 calories, according to a study published in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism. The body has to work harder to bring the water to a warmer temperature before digesting it, therefore burning more calories. Fifty calories may not seem like much but over time it can help you lose about five pounds a year, the researchers say.
14. Take a good multivitamin
Vitamins have come under fire recently for being a waste of money but if you're trying to lose weight, they might be worth your cash. In a Chinese study of obese women, researchers found that those who took a daily multivitamin lost significantly more body fat than those who took a placebo pill. Why? It's possible to be overweight yet undernourished, a state that could cause the body to crave more food as a way to get necessary nutrients, the authors note.
15. Eat a serving of beans every day
Beans, beans the magical fruit. The more you eat the more you… lose weight? It's true, according to research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In the study, people who ate just 3/4 cup of beans, peas, chickpeas, or lentils a day lost half a pound a week without changing their diet or exercise habits. Legumes are full of fibre and protein, a combo that can keep you satisfied for hours.
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