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Lazy person's guide to losing weight

Regular exercise and counting calories is just too difficult. Yes, we know the benefits of keeping fit and eating healthy. But really, making exercise a regular part of our lifestyle can be a really difficult.

Fret not, there's hope! We can still lose weight without much physical exertion. AND, it's expert approved, mind you. 

1. Play mobile phone games! 

Kid you not. All that talk about mobile addiction being bad, here's one good reason to keep on playing. Research by journal Appetite found that playing video games reduces the frequency and level of cravings because it distracts you from that favourite bag of chips. 

2. Sleeeeeeep

Lazy people's guide to losing weight.

This has got to be the favourite weight loss tactic. According to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology, if you're getting 5 hours or less of sleep a night, you risk the weighing scales soaring 30 per cent compared to those who get 7 hours or more of sleep a night. 

So, next time you're chided for loving your sleep, tell them you're in weight-loss practice. 

3. Keep healthy options in close proximity

Another study published in the journal Appetite said laziness also has an effect on your food choices. If good or healthy foods/snacks are within reach compared with the bag of chips or pint of ice-cream that requires you to walk to the kitchen to get, chances are, you're likely to go with what's within reach. So, keep a bowl of fruit snackable vegetables like celery nearby. 

4. Switch meal courses around 

Eat your salad last. Just because it comes first doesn't mean you have to eat it right away. 

Instead of having seconds, or dessert, have your salad after your main course. It'll be lower in calories than helping yourself to another dish, and it'll give your stomach and brain enough time to catch up and realise you're actually already quite full. 

5. Ditch the dips 

You probably want to pass on the dressings and dips too. No point trying to eat healthy when the "evil" is in the high-caloried dips and dressings.

6. Alcohol or dessert 

Lazy people's guide to losing weight. Choose alcohol or dessert. Not both.

This is the tough one. You've got to choose one or the other. You can't have both, unfortunately. 

7. Swap fizzy/sweet drinks for water... and don't believe those diet drinks

Forget the diet drinks. It isn't what it's made out to be. Research from a US university that tracked close to 500 people over a decade found that those who drank diet sodas had a 70 per cent greater increase in waistlines compared to those who didn't drink diet sodas. Worse, if they had two or more diet sodas in a day, the increase was 500 per cent! 

If you must have a drink, go for unsweetened stuff, like plain coffee or tea. None of the flavoured stuff too. 

Best of all, just stick to good 'ole water. We've already know we need to drink enough water. We just have to do it. Even if you reduced your calorie intake, drinking water before meals will help the body lose more weight, than if you reduced calorie intake but didn't drink water before the meal, a study by Virginia Tech found. 

 

Source: health.com