Keto, Paleo, Low Carb: three of the numerous diet trends.  However, if your goal is to lose weight, ditch the fad diet and adopt lasting lifestyle habits that you can sustain. Below are some small changes you can implement today to lose weight without dieting.

Yummy Body’s 10 Tips to Lose Weight Without Dieting 

1. 1. Cut Back on Foods High in Added Sugars 

Added sugars provide excess calories without any nutritional benefit. Try to limit added sugar to 28 grams or 7 teaspoons each day. Some tips to reduce sugar intake include: using honey as a natural sweetener, selecting fruit for dessert, saving cookies, cakes, and other sweets for special occasions, and drinking fruit-infused water or seltzer instead of sugary drinks. 

2. 2. Get Enough Sleep 

Ever find yourself reaching for a sweet or salty snack when you are tired? That is because a lack of sleep can reduce the body’s ability to produce leptin, the hormone responsible for regulating fullness, and increase the body’s production of ghrelin, the hormone that regulates hunger. Aim to get an adequate night’s sleep to keep your hormones balanced.  

3. 3. Practice Mindful Eating 

Simply paying attention to what you eat is a great strategy to consume less. Focus on eating slowly and do not eat while distracted, such as in front of the TV or while sending emails. Distracted eating often leads to overeating and emotional eating.  Instead, we recommend enjoying your meal and focusing on the taste, texture, and smell of food, which can help you tune into your body’s fullness cues, leading to eating less in the long run.

4. 4. Cut Back or Eliminate Alcohol 

Alcohol contains many empty calories, or calories that do not provide any nutritional benefit. In addition, alcohol stimulates hunger and often leads to overindulging in unhealthy foods. Consider cutting back on your alcohol consumption, such as only drinking alcohol on weekends and decreasing your total number of drinks. In addition, try consuming more water between drinks to slow down and stay hydrated.  

5. 5. Eliminate the All-or-Nothing Mindset

Many of us fall victim to an all-or-nothing mindset. Monday through Friday, we stick to home-cooked meals and healthy snacks, but once the weekend hits we pig out.  If you ditch your healthy eating habits all weekend, that accounts for 7 meals a week, which accounts for 33% of your meals!  It is important to remember that balance is crucial; aim to engage in more of an 80:20 ratio of healthy to indulgent meals spread out throughout the week.  

6. 6. Drink More Water 

Staying hydrated is a simple way to help achieve your weight loss goals.  Aim to drink anywhere from 2-3 liters of water daily. If this seems unattainable, start with less and work your way up.  We recommend purchasing a refillable water bottle to carry everywhere you go and setting a goal for the number of refills you need each day to hit your target number of ounces.  For example, if you have a 32-ounce water bottle, you only need to refill it 3 times to hit almost 3 liters.

7. 7. Be Aware of Hunger and Fullness Cues

Growing up, many of us were told to “clean our plates.” It is difficult to leave behind one last bite of a delicious meal, but it is important to listen to your body when it tells you it is full. It takes roughly 20 minutes for your brain to recognize fullness signals from the stomach, so aim to stop eating when you are around 80% full.  Focus on slowing down and listening to your body’s natural cues to stop eating, instead of finishing your plate (you can always have the rest of your meal as leftovers the next day!).  

8. 8. Consume More Fiber 

Fiber: a powerful nutrient that many of us do not eat enough of.  It is recommended that we consume 25-35 grams daily (females) or 38 grams daily (males), but most people consume only about 10 grams. Fiber is found in a part of the plant that our bodies cannot digest, so it contains few calories and creates a sense of fullness.  In addition, it helps prevent blood sugar spikes since it increases transit time through the digestive system. We recommend including fiber with every meal and snack. Fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds are all good sources of fiber.   

9. 9. Eat Enough Protein

Ever find yourself hungry twenty minutes after breakfast? It may be time to examine the protein content of your meal.  Many consume a breakfast primarily composed of grains, leaving them hungry shortly after. Protein is important for appetite because it increases feelings of fullness and enables you to eat less by controlling hunger.  We recommend including protein in every meal and snack. Some examples of protein-rich foods include fish, chicken breast, Greek yogurt, and eggs. 

10. 10.  Keep a Food Diary 

Oftentimes, we are unaware of how much we truly eat throughout the day. If you write down what you eat and drink in a physical journal or track your consumption on an app, you get a clearer picture of your dietary patterns. For example, you may find out you do not have any vegetables until dinner, you never have protein with breakfast, or you always reach for a late-night snack. In addition, by keeping track of what you eat and drink, you can become more mindful of portion size. Once you discover certain patterns, you can work to make choices to address them and learn what serving sizes are appropriate for the foods you like to eat (particularly higher-calorie foods like nut butter and avocado).