The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists numerous serious health issues linked to being overweight, including a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, respiratory problems, and mental illness.
You’ll naturally want to do everything you can to avoid these potentially life-changing conditions, but this is sometimes easier said than done. Not everyone is fully-mobile, and you may be looking for tips on how to lose weight when you can’t walk.
The good news is that this is not as difficult as it might first seem, and there are 6 effective ways you can achieve your weight loss goals without walking.
Table of Contents
Let’s find out how you can slim down to your ideal weight.
1. Change Your Diet
The cornerstone of any weight-loss plan is nutrition, and you could be surprised by how much fat you’ll lose by eliminating unhealthy foods from your diet.
Plan your meals in advance and ensure you keep plenty of vegetables, fruits, brown rice, and lean meats such as chicken and turkey in your home. This will make it easier to prepare tasty and wholesome meals rather than reaching for snacks that are high in fat.
Reducing portion sizes is an excellent strategy, and you may find using smaller plates and taking more time to chew and digest your meals helps you eat less at each sitting.
You can also shop for fat loss supplements, as these can make it easier to get rid of your extra weight while maintaining a high energy level, making them a welcome addition to your diet.
2. Drink Plenty of Water
When thinking about what to include as part of your diet to lose weight, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of water. While you may already consume fluids such as sugary drinks, these can actually add fat and increase your weight gain.
In contrast, water speeds up your metabolism so your body can burn fat throughout the day and even when you’re sleeping. If you drink water before and during a meal, you’re also likely to feel fuller more quickly. As water also helps to break down fat, there is every reason to keep a bottle close to hand.
3. Perform Non-Standing Exercises
If you can’t exercise in the way that you’d like because you can’t walk, there are alternative options. For example, there are upper body exercises you can do while sitting down, such as shoulder presses and bicep curls.
Not only can these help you burn fat, but they will also aid with muscle growth and tone. If you’d like to give your legs a workout, knee extensions and toe lifts are exercises you can do from the comfort of your chair.
Should you be able to get to a swimming pool, you can expend plenty of energy in the water, and this can also be a brilliant way to socialize and get you out of the house while you lose fat. Even though your choices may be more limited, there are still a lot of excellent ways to lose weight when you can’t walk.
4. Get Enough Sleep
If you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces a stress hormone called cortisol. This tells your body to conserve energy as you will be feeling tired and need to rest. Unfortunately, this can result in your body retaining fat, which is obviously going to hinder your weight loss plan.
Another way in which sleep can affect your fat levels is that if you wake up tired and grumpy, you may decide you can’t be bothered to cook a healthy breakfast. Instead, you might feel like picking up a fat-laden chocolate bar or drinking a sugar-infused coffee.
This gets you off to the worst possible start to the day, and you might then find it challenging to get your weight loss efforts back on track. To give yourself the best chance of sticking to your diet, go to bed on time and wake up feeling well-rested and refreshed.
5. Stay Motivated
There are times when you might need weight loss help. Rather than trying to go it alone, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask for assistance.
If you have friends and family who would be happy to listen to you when you’re feeling down, be sure to lean on them for support. They can then give you encouragement to keep going. Or there are online support groups where you could meet people who are going through the same issues and understand how difficult the journey is for you.
The other side of this is that you can share your success with others when the pounds are dropping off. This can help keep your spirits high, pushing you to get over the line and lose that last bit of excess weight.
6. Cut Your Alcohol Consumption
Getting rid of fat isn’t easy at the best of times, and trying to do it while you’re consuming too much alcohol is even harder. Many alcoholic drinks are high in sugar. They also contain lots of calories that have very little nutritious value.
When you drink alcohol, you might also be tempted to order an unhealthy takeaway meal. This can push your calorie intake well past the limit that you’d set for the day.
Now You Know How to Lose Weight When You Can’t Walk
When you know how to lose weight when you can’t walk, you can look forward to slimming down and looking and feeling amazing. Review and adapt your current diet plan accordingly, and make sure you get plenty of water and sleep. You may find talking to others about your weight-loss progress helps you stay motivated, and performing exercises that don’t require walking can help you get rid of those extra pounds.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this weight loss article, check out more helpful posts in our Health section.
