For whatever reason it may be, you might spend most of your time at home. That’s ok, but health and nutrition can sometimes take a hit as a result. If you feel like you need to get back on track then follow these 15 weight loss tips at home.
By following these tips, you will have a ton of options for whatever obstacle you have that is keeping you from getting the health you want.
1. Weight Loss Tip at home #1: Track calories
Tracking your calories might seem like a dull and even frustrating task.
I have two things to say to that.
#1 The tools we have at our disposal for this makes tracking calories super easy.
#2 You don’t have to track calories for the rest of your life to gain huge benefits.
Most people underestimate how many calories we actually eat. In a wide survey conducted by Morning Consult, the average calorie estimation of 40 foods was off the mark by an average of 110 calories.
If you ate three meals a day and had that exact issue, that means you’d be eating 330 more calories every day then you thought.
Tracking calories, even if it is for a short period of time, allows you to gain a better understanding with your diet and how much your eating habits really affect your weight.
Action Steps:
- Download a diet app like MyFitnessPal
- Fill out all the information and follow the brief tutorial
- Start inputting your meals shortly after eating them. Try to be accurate to get good results
2. Set Reminders to move
You don’t necessarily have to go to the gym to lose weight, although doing so has clear benefits.
The small movements you do throughout your day add up over time substantially.
Did you know that walking can help you lose about 0.4 calories per step? 10,000 steps is the recommended daily amount for healthy adults, doing that means burning about 400 extra calories each day.
(Read: Can you lose weight just by walking? 5 Reasons it can, and how to start now. )
If you could just set a reminder throughout the day, maybe once an hour to remind yourself to get up and move you would be burning hundreds of more calories every single day.
Action Steps:
- Choose a reminder system, be that your phone, a clock or even sticky notes
- Decide on how often you want to remind yourself to get moving
- Start
- Make adjustments if you feel like you are doing too much or too little. Be honest!
3. Meal prep in bulk
A great weight loss tip at home is to prepare your meals beforehand. (Read: Meal Prep Guide For Beginners. Step By Step. )
Meal prepping is a common diet tool because of how beneficial it is in exchange for a small time investment.
A big issue common among new dieters is finding and/or preparing healthy meals each day. For someone with previously unhealthy eating habits, this is especially difficult.
Having each meal ready takes away excuses of little time or difficulty of making decisions.
Action Steps:
- Brainstorm your favorite healthy meals. Research options online as well.
- Decide which meals fit best into your diet and go by the ingredients.
- Set a block of time, probably a few hours, dedicated to cooking.
- Prepare each meal.
- Store them equally and freeze them for longer lasting.
4. Sleep
According to sleepfoundation.org , our body needs sleep to maintain good health physically. On top of that, poor sleep will impair our ability to think properly.
In relation to weight loss, poor sleep has been shown to negatively impact our ability to make proper food choices as well as lessen our overall daily exercise.
With proper sleep, you can expect to feel more energized to exercise and think more clearly about diet choices.
Action Steps:
- Develop a bedtime routine to help you get into a sleep state
- Lessen blue light before bed, it has shown to stimulate your brain. Try blue light blocking glasses.
- Consider getting sleep apps or journals to help keep your habit in chec
- Stay consistent and don’t let a bad day derail you
5. Hydrate
To a lot of people, water is bland. You have so many choices out there from juices to soda.
But, you should improve your water intake because it can have a big impact on your weight.
Dehydration will make you feel exhausted, even though you might feel sleepy, the answer could just be a glass of water.
The calorie difference is also vital too. A can of soda typically has 140 calories. 3 of those a day would have equated to a much more filling salad or even slice of pizza.
Action Steps:
- Get a smart bottle or water app
- Set water intake goals that are reasonable
- Control your intake of caffeine
6. Track your progress
Just like tracking calories, tracking your progress will be a game changer for being able to make changes when things are going too quickly or slowly.
You can even use the same diet apps or a weight journal.
By tracking your progress in weight loss overtime, you can ignore fluctuations in weight. These can occur from a variety of factors but you would be focusing on the overall trend instead of day to day.
Action Steps:
- Set what kind of weight loss pace you want. Ex: 1 pound a week
- Gather your tools like a weight scale and/or fitness App
- Input your weight daily
- Pay attention to the weekly trend, this is a more accurate representation of your weight
7. Weight loss tips at home #7: Keep Bad snacks out
Snacks are made to be addicting and also are very calorie dense.
A regular snickers bar by itself has 250 calories. If you reach for snacks a couple times a day, that could ruin your weight loss attempts.
Instead, take preemptive measures by removing unhealthy snacks out of your home.
This helps avoid mindless eating or in the moment cravings.
Action Steps:
- Figure out which foods you want to remove.
- Donate any useable foods
- Minimize how often you purchase these in the future
8. Focus on whole foods
Heavily processed foods tend to be less filling than whole foods with an equal calorie level.
They take less time to digest and have various added ingredients that pack on the calories.
By focusing on whole foods you can feel satisfied at the end of your days, feeling probably fuller than before while also losing some weight too!
Action Steps:
- By fruits, veggies and meats to snack on or for meals
- Avoid too many fast food items or heavily processed foods
- Plan ahead of time before going to a restaurant by taking a look at their online menu
9. Eat a filling breakfast
Ever go a long time without eating, only to over indulge once you get the opportunity.
Not only is this bad for your weight loss attempts but it also promotes bad eating tendencies like binge eating.
Starting your day on the right foot with a filling breakfast like an omlette, helps you avoid bad choices and keeps you in a good mood to keep going
Action Steps:
- Wake up at a reasonable hour that allows you to cook breakfast
- Choose whole foods, preferably higher in protein
- Keep things interesting with different foods if variety is important to you and your success
10. Increase protein
Did you know that some of the calories in food are used to digest the food itself.
This is called the thermic effect of food, and they vary between the macro nutrients.
The thermic effect of fat is between 0 – 3 %, 5 – 10% for Carbs, and a leading 20 – 30% for Protein.
By loading up on protein, you can burn more calories daily without having to lift a finger!
Action Steps:
- Find your recommended protein level, between 0.7 to 1 g per pound of body weight
- Use a diet app to track
- Eat protein dense foods like chicken or seafood
11. Try intermittent fasting
Have you ever heard of intermittent fasting? You set a period of time in the day where you can eat, the rest of the day is spent fasting.
There are a lot of supposed benefits that have contradicting studies, but the reason I mention it here is because the time restriction allows you to eat more. If you aren’t prone to binge eating, and enjoy bigger meals than this might be the best weight loss tip at home for you.
Action Steps:
- Decide on your fasting schedule. If you are a light eater in the evenings or in the mornings, then aligning with that might be best.
- Stay hydrated during your fasted times
- Stay committed, but it is ok to be lenient during special occasions
12. Use Smaller Plates
What if I told you controlling your weight might be as simple as changing the type of plates you use to eat?
Although there might not be a ton of data to support this claim, many swear by it as a dietary tool that has helped them shed pounds.
The idea is that some individuals might pack their plate according to the amount of space. Bigger plates mean bigger portion sizes and vice versa, regardless of how hungry they are.
While the reasoning behind this method might not be that accurate, it is something worth trying.
Action Steps:
- Remove or just stop using oversized plates. Purchase some smaller ones link
- Serve yourself without piling these plates up.
- When finished, take time to let the food settle before heading back for seconds
13. Practice Mindful Eating
Are you someone who enjoys having meals in front of the television or maybe while you scroll on your phone?
You might be surprised to hear that doing so lowers your satisfaction with the meal. Not enjoying the meal or eating too quickly can harm your mental connection with food, leading to the feeling that you need to eat more to be satisfied.
If you also notice that you eat too quickly, take your time with each mouthful. Try to take 20 seconds to chew and eat brie.
So by putting away the screen at meal time you can improve your ability to control how much you eat.
Action Steps:
- Sit down away from distractions at meal time
- Put your phone on Do Not Disturb and turn off the t.v
- Unless it is a emergency, keep these devices put away
- Take your time when eating
14. Weight loss tips at home #14: Read Labels
Finally the last item on this weight loss tips at home is to simply just read the nutrition labels of the things you eat throughout the day.
A big issue that people have that causes weight gain is not understanding the foods they consume.
You might believe that your favorite snack has a lot less calories than it does. Maybe the serving size is a lot smaller than you normally do.
Reading nutrition labels gives you a better understanding of nutrition which in turn makes the task of making a healthy choice much easier.
Action Steps:
- Before eating something, take a minute to read the label. If it does not have one, a quick google search should give you what you are looking for.
- Focus on the macronutrients and calories
- If you choose to, try to accurately use the portion sizes.
Weight loss tips at home Conclusion:
Being at home makes weight loss a little more challenging. With these 14 tips, you can mix and match what best suits you for your journey!
Everyone is unique so find the best combination for yourself, regardless of what works for the people you know.
To get even better results, consider pairing your diet with a workout plan. I have a free workout plan that I created for beginners.
You can get that sent straight to your email here! link