15 Sep Can I Lose Weight by Just Dieting [Reasons You’re Not Losing Weight]
After nearly spending eternity under quarantine, stressing out, and bingeing over comfort foods, the routine now must change.
Many of us are already looking forward to getting healthy and taking off all those quarantine pounds in the next coming months.
Well, losing weight is all about exercise and diet; burning out more calories than you take in.
But if you simply wanna shed some pounds, you don’t exactly need to devote a lot of time and effort to sweat it out each morning. Seems improbable, right?
But you don’t always have to work out to lose weight, you can just go on a restricted diet!
So, how can you lose weight just by eating healthy and not working out?
Here’s everything you need to know…
Can You Lose Weight by Eating Less and Not Exercising?
Can you lose fat just by eating healthy? With no exercises and no walks?
Well, yes you actually can.
Shedding weight is not an easy cup of tea and is often surrounded by automatic assumptions like the simplest way to lose weight is only through intense workouts.
That can not be farther from the truth.
While workouts do help in reducing your calories, almost 80% of the task is done by your diet.
The foundation of your weight loss plan actually lies in your caloric deficit meal.
Hence, whether you want to reduce or maintain your body weight, what matters is your diet plan.
However, for cutting down the numbers on your weighing scale without working out, there’s a general rule you need to follow:
Eat healthy with fewer calories than your body needs.
But a “healthy diet” is a broad term and people often have problems in choosing what they should eat.
Often when you search for a healthy diet to lose weight, there’s a range of choices.
Some of the common diets that people follow these days are discussed below along with their effects on weight loss.
How Different Diets Affect Weight Loss?
The internet is full of various health choices and diet ideas for people to choose from.
But the three most common diets that remain on top include:
[vc_accordion style=’accordion’] [vc_accordion_tab title=’#1. Traditional Vegetarian Diet’ icon=” icon_color=”]The traditional diet comprising plant-based food is popular among people for various reasons.
Being a vegetarian can promote weight loss by offering nutrient-dense but calorie-deficit foods on the menu.
However, being a vegetarian can also work in the opposite direction as it might contain animal-based products that don’t promote weight loss.
Hence, you can modify your regular vegetarian food into a vegan diet if you are stubborn about not switching the diet entirely.
[/vc_accordion_tab] [vc_accordion_tab title=’#2. Non-Vegetarian Diet’ icon=” icon_color=”]Non-vegetarian diets can also promote weight loss if you follow the correct portion sizes and maintain the food sources.
The non-vegetarian foods contain both foods that promote weight loss and foods that promote weight gain.
Hence, it’s more about making a conscious choice to select foods that do not go over your calorie limit.
[/vc_accordion_tab] [vc_accordion_tab title=’#3. Flexitarian Diet’ icon=” icon_color=”]Flexitarian is a good option for your waistline and belly. It is mainly because the diet involves reduced calorie intake.
Further, it also focuses on limiting processed foods.
[/vc_accordion_tab] [/vc_accordion]
We can see that losing weight is possible through all these diets only when we maintain the right calories and the right nutrients.
Hence, what matters the most while following any diet is following the right proportion of nutrients as guided in the following section.
Diet and Weight Loss – What Kind of Diet Plan Really Helps?
Eating healthy is not just about eating veggies or restricting to meat. A healthy diet is a lot more than all of this.
It mainly requires you to eat a wide variety of foods in the right proportions.
According to experts, to achieve a healthy diet for good weight management, people must try:
#1. Eating 5 Portions of Different Fruits and Veggies Every Day
Including fruits and veggies in your diet supplies more vitamins and fewer calories.
You must try keeping your day healthy and light with 5 portions, with ideally each portion comprising about:
- 80 grams of fresh or canned fruits and veggies
- 30 grams of dried fruits (only during meals)
However, if you start your day with just 1 apple or a similar-sized fruit, it will be equivalent to 1 portion.
#2. Focus on Fiber-Rich Meals
Starchy foods rich in fiber should make up 1/3rd of everything that you eat.
You can choose from a variety of wholegrain foods to prepare this base of your meals.
#3. Include Dairy or Dairy Alternatives If You are Lactose Intolerant
Milk sources provide you with calcium and protein in enough quantities. However, always try going for lower fat and sugar-free products.
Choosing skimmed milk and lower-fat hard cheese can be a good option.
In case you are lactose intolerant, soy milk is a great option for your healthy diet.
#4. Have a Platter with Rich Protein Sources
Beans, pulses, fishes, and eggs are good sources of proteins to promote lean muscle mass and reduce fat levels.
However, make sure you go for lean meat and skinless poultry in your diet to reduce fat intake.
Try including at least two portions of fish every week to boost your weight loss efforts.
#5. Keep a Small Corner on Your Plate for Healthy Fats
Only a small part of fats is required in your diet to make it a healthy meal.
However, the fat should only come from healthy sources. Avoid saturated and trans fats.
This will help you not only in losing weight but also in controlling your cholesterol.
Adding all of these colors to your platter is what makes up your diet healthy and effective enough to trim down your weight.
However, people often chase restrictive diets to help them in melting away fat quickly and effortlessly. Some examples include vegan, paleo, and keto diets.
Though, there’s no shortcut to quickly melting away body fat.
On the other hand, restrictive diets are often boring and won’t even motivate you to eat less.
Plus, diets usually don’t work for everyone the same way.
Sometimes, people face a lot of discomfort in losing weight and struggle with their self-esteem.
There could be a number of reasons for it.
When Diets Fail – Why Can’t I Lose Weight Even After Dieting?
There are almost as many different ways of losing weight as there is the number of people trying to do it.
However, not all strategies work the same way for everyone.
This can be either because of:
- Difficulties in maintaining expected weight loss standards or unrealistic expectations.
- High stress level.
Here’s our take on what makes people give up on weight loss after months of trying.
#1. Not Abiding by the Three Pillars of Weight Loss
Your diet could contain many foods for weight loss.
You might even work out! But if you fail to maintain the three pillars of weight loss, all your efforts go down crashing:
- Taking in fewer calories than your body burns
- Staying hydrated
- Getting enough sleep
#2. Not Keeping a Track of What You are Eating
Just planning a diet is not enough.
You must also keep a track of what and when you eat. Scheduling your meals is very important when focusing on weight loss.
One of the best ways to maintain a meal plan is to plan a food journal each day first thing in the morning.
#3. Not Sleeping Well
Good sleep is again an important factor for weight loss.
According to studies, poor sleep cycles are a risk to health and one of the leading reasons for weight gain.
Adults with poor sleep patterns have around 55% more chances of being obese.
#4. Not Drinking Enough Water
According to a study conducted over 12 weeks to measure the role of water in diet plans:
People drinking half a liter of water 30 minutes before meals lost 44% more weight than those who didn’t.
#5. Your Metabolism is Slow
Metabolism is a genetic factor that governs your weight loss.
Many people often have poor metabolism which slows down weight loss for them.
In such cases, even if you go on following extensive diets, your results will take longer to show up.
But you don’t have to worry as there still are ways to boost up your metabolism.
#6. Medical Conditions
Many medical conditions can make it tough for you to lose weight.
Some of these conditions include:
- Hyperthyroidism
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome
- Sleep apnea
When these factors are not at play, eating healthy does make you lose belly fat and even achieve a healthy weight.
However, if you want to boost the efficiency of your diet plan for the same, you can even follow the following tips.
Weight Loss Tips to Get Success
You already know that you can lose weight just by eating fewer calories, but how to reduce those calories?
Don’t you worry, we have some interesting plans for it:
#1. Eat Regular Meals
You can lose weight just by eating healthy food at regular intervals. This will help keep the calories low while not starving yourself on a constant basis.
#2. Don’t Skip Breakfast
Skipping breakfast is a common mistake that people make when following a diet for weight loss.
Missing out on breakfast can actually lead you to gulp down more calories than what you’re planning to.
#3. Read Food Labels
We often don’t read the food labels given behind the food packets. But make it a habit of reading it out to stay away from those excess calories.
#4. Use a Smaller Plate
Smaller plates regulate your portions and make you eat less.
Though it won’t satisfy your hunger all of a sudden, it will gradually reduce your appetite.
#5. Don’t Banish Your Favorite Meals
We already told you no restrictive diet is gonna make you succeed in losing weight. It will just make you crave more.
Hence, don’t ban the foods that you love to eat completely.
#6. Cut Down Alcohol
A glass of wine can actually up your calories as much as a bar of chocolate.
Hence, stay away from any form of alcohol when thinking of losing weight without workouts.
#7. Trying Out Diet Ideas
The following diets can actually help cut down weight:
- Mediterranean diet – It contains all the healthy nutrients that your body needs while on a weight loss regime.
- DASH diet – This diet mainly focuses on helping people with blood sugar problems and provides good nutrients.
The Takeaway Message
So, how to lose love handles in a month and cut down those fat layers?
There are many such questions that people often google.
While you might find many different views around it, one that remains constant is a healthy diet.
Yes, a healthy diet is what you need to cut down your fat layers and maintain a healthy weight.
But a healthy diet is not as easy as eating your veggies for the day.
Rather, it is a complete chart of the nutrients that you need to have every day from a variety of sources to see substantial results.
Hence, pick up a diet that does not restrict you, rather enriches you with healthy nutrients.
FAQs
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