How to lose weight fast without exercise? So, you want to lose weight fast, but you’re not really a fan of exercising. Maybe you hate exercising more than anything in the world. And now you’re wondering if it’s even possible to lose weight – preferably as fast as possible – if you don’t exercise.
The good news is: yes, you can definitely lose weight without exercising, and you can even do it quickly. The bad news is that it can be much harder to keep the weight off afterwards, if you’re not in good shape. Let’s dig into the whole ‘how to lose weight fast without exercise’ thing, so you know what you’re dealing with.
Avoid the Starvation Mode
As you probably already know, losing weight is a calorie game. If you eat more calories than you burn, you’ll gain weight. If you burn more calories than you eat, you’ll lose weight. It sounds so simple and theoretically speaking it is, but the body is so much more complicated (and wonderful) than a simple ‘calories in, calorie out’ game.
If you eat little to nothing (please don’t do that!) during the next three weeks, you’re guaranteed to lose a lot of weight very fast. Even if you just lie in your bed all day long. No exercise needed (you probably won’t have the energy for it anyway). That’s possible because your body uses a lot of calories just to keep you alive. It uses calories for building new cells, repairing old cells, breathing, pumping blood, using your brain, growing hair and a bunch of other stuff.
If you don’t provide your body with the calories and nutrients it needs for basic survival, it has no other choice, but to cannibalize itself. This means that you’ll not only be losing fat, but also muscle mass, bone mass, water, minerals, vitamins and even organ mass. It’s called starvation. And you definitely don’t want that. It’s unhealthy and dangerous and when you start to eat ‘normal’ again, your body will accumulate fat faster than ever before. It wants to be prepared for the next famine, which is actually pretty smart, if you still lived on the savannah like your ancestors.
Calories Needed for Basic Survival
What you can learn from the starvation mode – besides not starving yourself – is that your body actually do burn a lot of calories just to keep you alive. So you don’t have to exercise to lose weight, but you do have to provide your body with enough food to function properly.
So if you want to know how to lose weight fast without exercise the key is this:
you need to find your sweet spot, where your body gets not only the calories, but also the fat, carbohydrates, protein, minerals and vitamins it needs to keep you healthy. And yet so little calories, that it has no other choice but to start burning off the fat for everything that’s not basic survival.
One of the things that your body doesn’t see as basic survival, is to maintain a massive body weight. The more fat you have accumulated on your body, the more calories your body uses just to maintain it and carry it around. So basically you’ll start burning off the fat, just by not feeding it with more calories. The fat will ‘eat’ itself.
As an example: a person may have a need for 1500 calories (kcal) per day for basic survival. And yet this person weighs so much, that the body burns off a whopping 3500 calories (kcal) per day just to maintain this weight. If he or she starts to eat only 1500 calories per day, the body will need to find the remaining 2000 calories somewhere else – like body fat! A 2000 calorie deficit every day for a whole week will result in a (roughly) 2 kg / 4.4 lbs weight loss. Without any exercise whatsoever!
But… Basic Survival + Some Extra
The sweet spot is different from person to person. It depends on your height, gender, body type etc. If you search online for something like ‘minimum calories per day to survive’, you’ll often see the numbers 1200 to 1500 calories for women and 1500 to 1800 calories for men. But (yes, there’s a big, fat but involved) there are some risks involved, if you go down to the bare minimum of calories.
First of all it’s hard to determine whether you’re actually following the right amount of calories for you. Or if you’ve gone too low and into starvation mode. You can’t just take a number from the internet and be sure it’s the right one for you.
Secondly it can be difficult to get all the nutrients you need on a very low calorie diet. After all there’s only so much nutrient-rich food you can fit into a bare minimum of calories. So there’ll be absolutely no room for candy, cake, alcohol etc.
Thirdly there’s always a risk of destroying your metabolism in the long run. If you lose a lot of muscle mass along with the fat, you’ll be prone to accumulating fat much easier afterwards. Changes in your hormones from eating so little, may also result in difficulty regulating hunger, satiety, fat burning etc. afterwards.
So your best bet is probably to go for basic survival + some extra. You can calculate your daily calorie needs right here and go for the first (biggest!) number, if you want to be absolutely sure. And remember: always consult a doctor before changing your diet.
Why Exercise Is Not That Great for Weight Loss Anyway
So far, so good. You can lose weight without exercise. And you can even do it fast. So why do everyone talk about exercise for losing weight? Perhaps because they think it burns off a ton of calories = quicker weight loss. The truth is: it doesn’t! Really!
You may be having a real hard time during a workout: sweating like crazy, having difficulty breathing, feeling like you’re going to die. And even so you may have only burned off 300 or 500 calories doing something you absolutely hate. Equivalent to ½-1 chocolate bar. Worth it? Probably not.
Food generally contains more calories than people think. And exercise generally burns off less calories than people think. A recipe for disaster. Because a hard workout session can make you believe, that there’s ‘room’ for that bag of crisps or that favourite burger of yours. There probably isn’t! So you can easily get stuck here, not understanding why you don’t lose weight, even though you exercise ‘like crazy’.
Exercising will also make you more hungry. Especially if you’re doing cardio. Cravings for carbohydrates is not unusual, if you’re doing a lot of cardio: bread, pasta, cake, candy… you name it. If you give into these cravings, you’re very likely to eat more calories than you actually burned off.
The bottom line is: exercise is not that great for weight loss. It’s sooo much easier to eat less calories, than trying to burn them off by exercising.
Exercise Is Great for Your Health
You wanted to know how to lose weight fast without exercise. This means that you probably liked to hear, that exercise isn’t that great for weight loss anyway. In fact, now you know that you’re probably going to lose weight quicker without exercise. That’s good to hear, right?
It’s all true, but exercise is great for your health. Physically and mentally. Sitting is the new smoking, as they say. So you can definitely succeed with your weight loss, if you follow the above guide on how to lose weight fast without exercise. But at the same time, you’ll not get all the health benefits of exercising.
If you decide to go for the diet + exercise route, you’ll get the health benefits of exercising, but you’ll also get a much slower weight loss. You’ll need more calories for training and keeping your energy up. And you’ll start to built more muscle mass = more weight.
What’s more important to you?
For some people a weight issue can take such a big toll mentally and physically, that is actually more beneficial to lose a lot of weight first. And fast. And then worry about exercising later. If you’re in doubt, you can consult your doctor.
Exercise Is Great for Weight Maintenance
A good amount of muscle mass is the key to burn off a lot of calories, even when you’re doing absolutely nothing. Just like fat mass the body uses a lot of calories just to maintain it.
The difference is: it’s much more fun to eat a lot of calories to maintain muscles than fat. It just looks so much better, right? And it’s much healthier too. So basically you can get away with eating much more – and still look great – if you’re fit.
This is exactly why people tend to gain weight quickly after a huge (and fast) weight loss. They didn’t only lose fat, but also a lot of precious muscle mass. And now they don’t have a significant amount of muscle mass to keep the weight off afterwards.
So they’ll have to keep the calories quite low, ‘forever’, if they don’t want to gain weight again. And that’s very hard. Can you live with that? If not, you can take the slower route with diet and exercise. Or you can start exercising after you have followed the guide on how to lose weight fast without exercise. It’s all up to you, but now you know the facts.
How to Lose Weight Fast without Exercise
If you’re still up for losing weight fast – and without exercise – the key is to keep your calories super low, but without going into starvation mode. As mentioned earlier you’ll want to make sure, that you get enough calories, but also the fat, carbohydrates, protein, minerals and vitamins you need to keep your body healthy.
You’ll need to focus on healthy, nutrient-rich foods and perhaps even take some supplements just to be sure. Still, it’s easier said than done. Hunger and cravings can set in. Family gatherings and holidays may be quite hard. What to do?
If you don’t mind taking a few supplements, you’ll find that there’s an easy solution for pretty much any obstacle:
- An appetite supressant can help you beat the hunger.
- A metabolism booster can help you keep your motivation high and your energy up.
- A carb blocker and/or fat binder can make it possible for you to cheat on your diet – or eat more in general – without damaging your weight loss goal.
Keep an Eye on Your Body – and Your Overall Health
If you decide to follow this guide on how to lose weight fast without exercise, it’s extremely important to keep an eye on your body – and your overall health.
While a fast weight loss is theoretically ‘a success’ in this case, your body and/or health may not agree with this.
Some of the things you should keep an eye on is:
- Your sleep. Do you fall asleep easily? Do your sleep through the night? Do you wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day?
- Your energy levels. Do you have enough energy to get through the day? Do you have enough energy to do what you normally do?
- Your mental health. Is your mood ok? Do you experience any negative changes in your levels of stress, depression or anxiety?
- Your digestion. Do you go to the toilet like you normally do? Does your stomach feel ok?
- Your skin. Does it look healthy and nourished? Does it have a healthy colour?
If you’re pregnant, nursing, ill, not an adult or generally not in good health physically and/or mentally, you should not be following this guide. Or any other guide on how to lose weight fast without exercise for that matter. Going low on calories and losing weight very fast is not for everyone. And remember: you should always consult a doctor before changing your diet.
Your Action Plan on How to Lose Weight Fast without Exercise
Step 1: Determine your daily calorie needs. Go for the first (biggest!) number, if you want to be absolutely sure you’re getting enough.
Step 2: Start counting calories in the foods you eat and drink, and make sure to stay close to your target.
Step 3: Focus on healthy and nutrient-rich foods, to make sure you get everything your body needs.
Step 4: If you need some extra help getting through, you can use supplements: appetite supressant, metabolism booster, carb blocker or fat binder.
Step 5: Keep an eye on your body and overall health. Stop immediately if something doesn’t feel right.
Step 6: Enjoy getting slimmer without doing exercise! 🙂
How to lose weight fast without exercise – Free Calorie Chart UK © FreeCalorieChart.uk
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