How to Lose 20 Pounds in 30 Days Without Exercise

You may be surprised to know that more than 1.9 billion adults worldwide are overweight.

In the USA alone, around 42.4% of the adult population is obese. And this is kinda understandable; With foods and desserts ranging from Yakitori to Gulab Jamun, It’s not easy to maintain weight.

Long working hours also add to the problem. An average person spends more than 8 hours in the office. And most of that time is spent sitting in front of a computer.

After completing work, most people don’t have the time or energy to exercise. That’s why in the 21st-century, obesity is slowly becoming a global health threat.

However, there is still a way to keep your weight in check even if you spend most of your time in the office.

Since weight loss depends more on diet than exercise (Weight Loss = 80% Diet + 20% Exercise). You can still lose weight by making few dietary & lifestyle changes, even If you are not desperate enough to exercise on a day-to-day basis.

Here are eight changes you need to lose 20 pounds in 30 days without exercise:

1. Start Consuming a Fat Burning Drink

If you are looking for a magical drink that can help you in losing weight consistently, then your search ends here, As I am going to inform you about a drink that you can use every day to lose weight.

There are several fat-burning drinks you can create at home. However, this is one of the best fat-burning drinks. It’s called Cinnamon Lemon Honey Drink!

As the name suggests, this drink contains cinnamon, lemon, and honey.

Cinnamon is known for its ability to improve digestion and regulate the production of insulin. Whereas pectin present in lemon can help in keeping your appetite in control and making you feel fuller.

Moreover, a 2011 study found that replacing sucrose (sugar) with honey can prevent weight gain. Another study on the effect of honey suggests that it activates hormones that suppress appetite.

In brief, This drink will help you in weight loss by boosting your metabolism, keeping your appetite in check. Moreover, It will also help you in avoiding sugary beverages.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp of cinnamon powder (freshly ground)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1 glass of warm water

Preparation

• Put 1 tsp of cinnamon powder in a glass.
• Add the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 tbsp of honey.
• Mix it until it becomes a paste. Now add 1 glass of warm water and mix again.

Consumption

Consume it once a day, preferably after you wake up, on an empty stomach.

2. Start Consuming Green Tea

Green tea is a hydrating beverage made from Camellia sinensis leaves and buds. It is arguably one of the healthiest beverages on the planet.

Since it contains caffeine and is loaded with antioxidants like polyphenols, EGCG, and flavonoids, It can also assist in weight loss. 

One of the antioxidants present in green tea is EGCG. EGCG can inhibit an enzyme that breaks down norepinephrine. As a result, the amount of norepinephrine increases which promotes fat breakdown.

In a study on the effectiveness of green tea extract in 60 obese individuals, participants that consumed green tea extract lost 7.3 more pounds and burned 183 more calories per day than those not taking the green tea extract.

In brief, the consumption of green tea periodically can boost your metabolism, reduce your appetite, and make you feel fuller.

Consumption

You can consume green tea between meals or before a workout session

3. 7-Hour Nap Time

Sleep is one of the most important yet overlooked aspects of health. Most people realize its importance but never pay the respect it deserves.

As kids, one of the most potent skills all of us had was our ability to wake up and go to bed at the right time. As adults, keeping a strict sleep routine was something most never thought was worth the effort.

However, this simple skill is more useful than you realize. Several studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that there is a correlation between lack of sleep and weight gain.

A study on lack of sleep found that sleep-deprived people tend to snack more at night and are more likely to consume high-carb snacks.

Moreover, studies also show that lack of sleep can disrupt the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin, making it easier for you to gain weight.

All this points to one change; It’s time to bring back a proper sleep routine

Recommendation

Go to bed at 10:00 pm sharp and wake up at 6:00 am.

4. Reduce Stress From Your Life

The present world, with its growing complexity, is slowly becoming more and more chaotic and stressful. And even if some people deny it, almost every person is suffering from stress to some extent. 

Moreover, there is no way to avoid stress (Unless if you become a monk and stop pursuing materialistic gains, stress is pretty much unavoidable). 

The problem is stress can lead to unintentional weight gain. Cortisol, aka stress hormone, is released in the body during times of stress. 

Poorly managed stress leads to elevated levels of cortisol. High cortisol levels stimulate appetite, which makes it harder to lose pounds.

Studies have also shown that elevated levels of cortisol can affect where you put on weight. For example, If you have elevated levels of cortisol, you are more likely to gain fat around the abdominal area.

To prevent this from happening, you need to manage stress. The good thing is there are thousands of ways to manage stress. Here’s a video on how to manage stress by Sadhguru; I think this video can really help you in defeating stress. 

(I consistently consume content created on Sadhguru’s official channel. Over the years, it has helped me manage stress, meditation, and in improving myself mentally.)

5. No More Sugary or Alcoholic Beverages, Junk Food

Consuming junk food, alcoholic or sugary beverages is an open invitation to stubborn fat. It’s not even worth consideration. You need to avoid them for the next 30 days if you are determined to lose 20 lbs.

Junk food, alcoholic or sugary beverages are easy ways to add hundreds of calories to your diet on a day-to-day basis. They can only help you in gaining weight. So, if you are consuming them periodically, there is no way to lose weight.

Since the number of calories you will consume will be too many to burn without exercise.

However, Quitting junk food, sugary or alcoholic beverages is like walking on glass barefoot. It is as hard as it seems. So, prepare yourself mentally and at least limit its consumption to some extent.

6. Start Following The Ketogenic Diet

One of the easiest ways to lose weight consistently is by following the keto diet.

Keto has helped millions of people worldwide drop hundreds of pounds and that too in months. Even if you have miserably failed at losing weight with every other diet, chances are keto can still help you out. 

Last year (2020), I managed to lose around 24.5 pounds in 47 days using keto.

For those who don’t know what keto is, It’s a low-carb diet with a moderate amount of protein(75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs). The diet works by depleting the body of its sugar reserves which result in the breakdown of fats for energy.

Molecules called ketones are formed in the body as fuel. When the body burns fat, it results in weight loss. The effectiveness of keto has been proven in a lot of studies.

A study on the ketogenic diet even suggests that people who followed the keto diet lost 2.2 times more weight than people on a low-calorie and low-fat diet.

Moreover, Multiple studies and anecdotal evidence verify the effectiveness of a low-carb and ketogenic diet for fat loss, particularly in the abdominal section.

And yes, it will work perfectly for you even if you are over 40. On the flip side, You may be surprised to know that keto is considered one of the best diets for adults due to its unique health benefits.

To follow keto, you have to plan your meals by dividing your calories in such a way that you consume 5-10% calories from carbs, 20-30% calories from protein, and 60-70% calories from fat.

By dividing your calories in this way, you will get into ketosis within the first few days. If you’re not in ketosis within 1-2 weeks then, chances are your diet plan contains hidden carbs. In that case, this article on how to get into ketosis fast can help.

Beginners most often commit small mistakes while creating their meal plans that harm their health and results. So, stay extra vigilant while creating your meal plan.

Here’s an article on How to Start a Keto Diet & 10-Day Keto Diet Meal Plan you can use to start your keto journey.

However, The best & fastest way to lose weight with the keto diet is under the guidance of a nutritionist as they can help you in planning your meals properly.

So, for best results, I would recommend you to consult a nutritionist, or If you are like me and consider visiting a nutritionist an unnecessary hassle, then you can get a custom keto diet meal plan from here.

This diet plan will be tailored to your weight loss goals. It will help you in avoiding nutrient deficiencies, maintaining ketosis, losing weight, and preparing healthy meals.

Moreover, This custom diet plan will also respect your food preferences and will be created based on the expertise of certified nutritionists, personal trainers, and chefs.

Remember, The keto diet is a medical diet. Utilizing it for losing weight without the proper guidance of a health expert can lower your results.

7. Consume More Zero-Calorie Foods

On your weight loss journey, you will carry a long list of things you need to avoid. Starting from junk food all the way to processed food.

On the list of things you can consume, you will not find much. However, there are certain foods that will support you through your transforming journey, and those foods are zero-calorie foods.

Zero-calorie foods are fruits and vegetables that are very low in calories and supposedly take more energy to digest than they can provide to your body.

To make yourself feel fuller, you can consume these foods on a day-to-day basis without worrying about calorie intake. For example, Apple, a zero-calorie food, contains around 52 calories per 100 gm.

Here’s a list of zero-calorie foods you can consume daily:

• Mushroom: 22 calories/100 gm
• Apricots: 48 calories/100 gm
• Capsicum: 31 calories/100 gm
• Broccoli: 31 calories/91 gm
• Papaya: 59 calories/152 gm
• Tomatoes: 18 calories/100 gm
• Zucchini: 17 calories/100 gm
• Grapefruit: 42 calories/ 100 gm
• Carrots: 41 calories/100 gm
• Cucumber: 45 calories/300 gm
• Iceberg Lettuce: 14 calories/100 gm
• Cauliflower: Just 25 calories per 100 gm
• Lemon: 29 calories per 100 gm
• Cabbage: 25 calories/100 gm
• Beetroot: 43 calories/100 gm
• Turnip: 28 calories/100 gm
• Green beans: 31 calories/100 gm
• Onion: 40 calories/100 gm
• Romaine Lettuce: 17 gm/100 gm
• Radish: 16 calories/100 gm
• Raspberries: 53 calories/100 gm
• Green tea: 1 calorie per cup
• Black coffee: O calories per cup
• Cold Water: Zero calories
• Spinach: 23 calories/100 gm
• Strawberries: 33 calories/100 gm
• Asparagus: 20 calories/100 gm
• Watermelon: 30 calories/100 gm
• Apples: 52 calories/100 gm

8. Boost Your Metabolism

You are gaining weight not just because of your lifestyle and diet. With age, metabolic rate (aka the rate at which your burn calories) decreases, which makes things that never affected your weight, make you gain pounds.

Moreover, the higher your metabolic rate is, the easier it will be for you to lose weight. So, here are few things you can do to boost your metabolism:

1. Eat more protein: The body requires more energy to digest protein than it does for fats or carbs. As a result, protein can temporarily boost your metabolic rate.
2. Drink more cold water: Drinking cold water can help boost metabolism as your body uses energy to heat it up to your body temperature.
3. Drink green tea: Due to its caffeine and antioxidant content, Green tea can boost metabolism up to 5%.
4. Eat more peppers: Most chili peppers contain capsaicin. Capsaicin can boost your metabolism by up to 20% for 2 hours.

Conclusion

By making these changes in your diet and lifestyle, you will get one step closer to your dream physique. However, Your dream will not become a reality through magic.

It will take determination and hard work. So, believe in yourself, push your limits, and conquer your goals.

P.S Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this article on How to Lose 20 Pounds in 30 Days, feel free to share it. Moreover, leave a question down below in the comment section if you have any

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