How to Lose Weight Fast Without Exercise: Proven 1 Month Plan

Figuring out how to lose weight fast without exercise in just one month may sound impossible to some, but you can make slimming down a reality with a few small tweaks. 

Sure, it may be hard with all the fad diets, weight loss plans, and various instruction guides floating around the internet, but dropping pounds without exercising is possible if you know the right methods to stick to. 

In this article, we explain everything you need to know to thin down without breaking a sweat. This includes a few easy changes to promote weight loss, how to establish realistic goals, and, more importantly, the best way to set yourself up for long-lasting success. 

Is it Realistic to Lose Weight Fast Without Exercise in 1 Month?

While exercise can speed up weight loss, you shed pounds if you diet or simply watch what you eat. This isn’t easy to overcome because limiting your intake requires serious self-control and some sacrifices. But ultimately, the most important aspect of weight loss is controlling the number of calories consumed. [1].

Remember that adequate nutrition is important for any diet, and restricting your calories too much can cause negative health effects. Trying to lose weight quickly should be a method you use in the short term, not for your long-term weight loss goals. Losing weight quickly can kick-start your diet, but you should ease up your calorie restrictions after a month. And if you are up to the challenge, it’s encouraged to add exercise into your daily routine after this one month to promote a healthier lifestyle. 

Doing this will make you less likely to suffer from yo-yo dieting, and your weight loss will have a better chance of becoming permanent [1]. You should always consult your healthcare provider before trying a new or extreme diet. That being said, here are a few tips to put yourself in a position to lose weight.

Set Yourself Up for Success

What is the fastest way to lose weight in 30 days? Setting a good foundation for yourself is one of the best ways to guarantee success. By creating an ideal environment for weight loss and planning, you will have a greater chance of being able to lose weight fast in a month [2]. To help yourself along the way, you should do the following:

Store Your Food Wisely

One of the best ways to make weight loss easy is to prepare your kitchen by stocking up on healthy foods like vegetables for your pantry, freezer, and fridge. Any unhealthy foods you have in your house should be stored out of sight to avoid temptation. By keeping junk foods hidden, they’ll be out of sight and out of mind, and you’ll be less likely to graze without realizing it. So go ahead and put those cookies in the least used pantry. 

In the same vein, you should make healthy foods accessible in your kitchen and keep them in your line of sight. 

Decide on Your Strongest Motivations to Achieve Weight Loss Fast

Focus on your biggest “why.” The stronger your motivation is, the more likely you will stick to your diet plan and lose weight without hitting the gym or going for a run. Write your motivation down and find ways to remind yourself of it every day. Common motivations include:

• Looks: If getting your summer body means the world to you, tape a picture of your dream bathing suit on your fridge.
• Health: If you care most about living a long, happy life free of obesity-related disease, post a sticky note on your mirror with an affirmation about how much you value your health.
• Mental Health: If your weight causes you anxiety or depression, download a meditation app and schedule it to remind you daily to reflect on how losing weight will help you feel better emotionally.
• Dating: If you care the most about finding a match, stick a note in front of your pantry reminding you of how confident and attractive you will be in a month after dropping some weight.
• Fitness: If you want to be able to climb mountains and lift heavy things without feeling winded every time, try visualizing yourself hitting a personal record or climbing a difficult trail. 

Ultimately, internal motivations like wanting to be healthy or have more energy will be stronger than external motivations like wanting to look good, so choose your main reason wisely if you want to see quick results [3]. Once you have your motivators and your reminders of them, following your new diet plan will seem so much easier because you’ll be doing it with purpose.

Reduce Your Overall Stress

Stress can be a huge hindrance to weight loss since our stress hormone called cortisol can make our body hold onto fat [4]. It’s nearly impossible to get rid of every source of stress in your life, but there are a few things you can do to lower your cortisol levels and help your body lose fat easier. 

As a bonus, you’ll feel better overall as a result of lowering stress regardless of how much weight is lost. Try these things:

• Set up a healthy sleep schedule and routine: A sleep-deprived body is a stressed-out body. No matter what else you might try to lower stress, if you’re not getting the recommended six to eight hours of sleep each night, your body is going to be stressed. Try to set a consistent bedtime and wake-up time. Turn off all screens and take a hot shower an hour before bed. If you struggle to fall asleep, melatonin may help.
• Reduce the time you spend on social media: Studies have shown that social media is terrible for our mental health and causes increased anxiety and stress  [5]. If you spend a lot of time on social media, try installing an app on your phone that limits your screen time each day. Or use the productivity feature on the latest iPhone IOS. 
• Practice Meditation: Meditation is a well-known method of increasing mindfulness and lowering stress. Download a meditation app and try a two-minute guided meditation (we suggest the “Waking Up” app). Try to increase the time you spend meditating by a minute every day until you get to 10-30 minute sessions.
• Go outside: Time spent in nature is healing to our minds. Find time every day to take a walk around the block or even sit out in the sunshine for a few minutes. You will feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle the rest of the day with a lower level of stress.

Build a Routine that You Can Stick To

The number one way to create a successful diet is by creating a weight loss routine that is both simple and consistent. If you’re doing the same thing every day, it will become a habit, and you will soon be doing healthy things that will help you lose weight without even thinking about it. 

Avoid fad diets that are easy to fail, and instead, build a successful weight loss routine by doing the following:

• Create a weight loss-friendly environment: Don’t bring unhealthy foods into the house and get rid of any unhealthy food that’s already there. Look at restaurant menus at home so you can decide on a healthy order with lots of vegetables before you get there. Only have water as an option to drink at home and don’t keep alcohol at home. Set up automated delivery of fresh produce each week.
• Don’t allow electronic distractions during mealtimes: Get in the habit of paying attention to what you’re eating, how it makes you feel, and when you start feeling full. Watching TV or playing games on your phone can distract you from your body’s natural cues and cause you to overeat.
• Meal plan and prep ahead of time: Spend your Sundays making healthy breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks for the rest of the week. If you do all the prep in one day – including portioning out your meals – you won’t ever have to think about food except for when you pull it out to eat. You’re much less likely to deviate from your meal plan or order takeout for lunch at work. Try a new healthy recipe each week to spice it up a little.
• Eat at a set time each day: Your body might fight you on this at first if it’s used to a different schedule, but spacing your meals out evenly throughout the day will ultimately help you feel satisfied all day and reduce the chances of binging on unhealthy foods [1].

Home Remedies to Lose Weight Fast Without Exercise

You don’t need to do anything extravagant to lose weight at home, and you also don’t need to follow any of the restrictive weight-loss diets to succeed. There are tried and true methods of losing weight that you should incorporate into any weight loss plan. If you want to know how to get fit in no time, follow these methods:

Create a Caloric Deficit

This is the most obvious and crucial aspect of losing weight: eating fewer calories than your body burns every day. Use an online tool to calculate your basal metabolic rate (BMR) – the number of calories your body needs to perform its basic functions every day. Then calculate your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) – how many calories your body burns every day on average [6]. For weight loss, you should eat fewer calories than your TDEE to create a deficit. The greater the deficit, the more calories you’ll burn each day. Eating lots of vegetables is a great way to do this since they’re filling and low-calorie. Keep in mind that it’s not recommended to eat less than your BMR. Doing this might slow your weight loss as well as create other health problems [7].

Chew Slowly

This is a simple trick that might seem odd, but it works to keep you from overeating. When we eat, it takes some time for our stomach to send signals to our brain to tell us that it’s full. This delay can cause problems if we eat quickly. By slowing ourselves down with slow chewing, you’re giving your brain enough time to catch up with your stomach and tell you when you’re no longer hungry [8].

In addition to the at home tips, you can try out natural home remedies like honey or tea to lose weight in 7 days as well.

Fill Your Diet With Healthy Foods

This should go without saying, but you need to eat healthy foods to get that dream body you have in mind. If you want to increase the amount of weight that’s lost in a month, consider these food choices:

• Protein. Found in meats and legumes, this macronutrient keeps you full because it takes a long time to digest. Protein is also important for almost all of your body’s processes, including muscle growth [9]. Filling up on a big, high-protein breakfast will keep you full all morning, so don’t skip this important meal.
• Fiber. This nutrient is found in fruits and veggies and is essential for a healthy digestive system. Fiber has also been linked to cancer prevention, and it also keeps you full, so adding it to your diet will help you avoid grazing [9].
• Healthy fats and oils. Unsaturated fats found in foods like nuts and avocado are important for your overall health and can also help you feel satiated [9].

If you’re used to eating well over your BMR, cutting calories will probably be a struggle for you in the first week or so of your diet. By filling up on these foods, you will be able to eat smaller portions and still feel satisfied.

What Foods to Avoid to Lose 10 Pounds Without Exercise

Dropping weight fast means cutting out certain things from your food choices so if you want to see progress, try cutting out these types of foods:

• Sugar: There is very little nutritional value in simple sugars like table sugar. Your body turns it into fat when there is excess sugar in your blood, and high-sugar diets cause insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes [10]. Avoid all processed sugars and limit your fruits.
• Fat-free foods that aren’t naturally fat-free: Manufacturers often make up for eliminating fat by replacing it with sugar and artificial ingredients to make it taste good. The fat in regular foods like yogurt is better for you than the junk in fat-free varieties [11]. Avoiding diet foods and sodas, in general, is a good idea for this reason.
• White carbs: These carbohydrates have been stripped of their nutritional value and are mostly made up of simple sugars, which, as stated before, go straight to your fat cells when you have excess in your body. Note that complex carbs like whole-grain bread and brown rice do have nutritional value, and you should eat them in moderation [9].
• Alcohol: Is full of empty calories. It has no nutritional value and dehydrates you.

Practice Mindfulness and Accountability

Mindfulness and accountability are two weight loss must-haves to control overeating. When we eat mindlessly, it’s easy to go over our calorie budget without even realizing it. When we have no accountability, we’re unlikely to stop those bad habits. Try these methods to keep yourself mindful and accountable:

• Keep a food journal: Track every meal and add up your calories for each. At the end of the day, you’ll have a clear picture of what you’re eating, and you’ll be able to see how many vegetables you’re getting. Making changes to your eating habits is much easier if you can see what you’re doing right and wrong.
• Keep track of your stats: Weigh yourself daily or at least weekly. Track it in an app or a spreadsheet. Not only will you be able to spot weight increases and adjust your meal plan quickly, but you’ll also be motivated to keep going when you see the numbers drop.
• Tell others about your goals: By telling a supportive friend or family member that you’re trying to lose weight, they can act as accountability tools.
• Practice portion control: Never eat anything straight from the bag or box, and try to portion out each meal smaller than you normally would. This is especially true for carbs. An exception to this rule is raw green vegetables, which you should eat as much of as you want to add fiber to your diet.

Use Psychology to Your Advantage

When you’re trying to lose weight half of your battle is with your brain. We are hardwired to eat food when it’s available. This instinct harms us today when there’s an overabundance of food available to us [12]. But losing weight fast can be made easier if you use these psychological tricks to your advantage:

Make Your Plates Work for You

• Use smaller red plates for unhealthy foods. We associate red with negative things, so putting any unhealthy foods on red plates will make you think about what you’re eating, and you are more likely to eat less of it. This also forces you to be mindful while preparing your meals [12]. Smaller plates work by making it simply impossible to give yourself a giant serving of something unhealthy.
• Split plate into thirds. Imagine your plate has three compartments. Fill 2/3rd with lean meat and vegetables for protein and fiber. The other 1/3rd will have healthy grains. This ensures you fill-up mostly on protein and fiber while still getting a healthy amount of complex carbohydrates.

Eat in a Quiet and Dim Room

Studies have shown that eating in a bright and loud room makes us eat more [13]. To combat this, turn the lights down and keep your dining room quiet. As a bonus, this will help you focus on your meal and help with mindful eating.

Make Your Healthy Food a Work of Art

If you enjoy sharing your life on social media, this trick is perfect for you. When you make a healthy dinner that’s full of vegetables, try to arrange it on your plate in a beautiful way as if you’re a chef at a 5-star restaurant. Snap a photo of it and post it on social media. 

By doing this, you’re giving yourself something to be proud of, and you’re showing your friends and family what you’re eating, which helps you be accountable [5].

Watch What You Drink

A common source of empty calories is the liquids we drink. You may not associate your beverage with weight gain, but those calories can sneak up on you. When reaching for a drink, keep the following things in mind:

• Drink lots of water: Hydration is key to losing weight. Not drinking enough water can make your body hold on to water weight. Carry a bottle with you everywhere and drink a glass of water before each meal to help you feel fuller. Add a slice of lemon for flavor and vitamin C, or drink green tea if you don’t like plain water.
• Don’t drink sugary drinks or diet sodas: Remember that sugar is what gets made into fat and can cause insulin resistance. Diet sodas are full of artificial ingredients that are bad for you. Stick to water when you can. If you want something sweet, eat fruit instead of drinking juice so you can benefit from the fiber in the fruit.
• Be careful what you put in your morning coffee: Black coffee has no calories and is fine if you want to drink it to lose weight [14]. But creamers and milk can make your coffee add up to over 500 calories easily.

Other Things to Help You Lose Weight Without Exercise

Here are some other ideas that might help you find success with your weight loss:

• Take cheat days (responsibly): Give yourself a less-strict day to have a less healthy meal once a week. Take this day to enjoy a slice of cake or one hamburger if you want it. But still, eat lots of vegetables and protein throughout the day. Doing this can make you feel a sense of reward for sticking to your diet each week.
• Specific diets: Try a Meatless Monday or elimination diet if you suspect you might be sensitive to meat or other foods. You can also try intermittent fasting, where you fast for most of the day and only eat your fiber and protein-rich foods in a specific four-to-eight-hour window.
• Turn down the heat: In the chillier months, having your house colder will force your body to burn more calories to maintain its internal temperature.
• Smart swaps: Try swapping unhealthy foods for healthier alternatives to still enjoy a certain meal. If you want pasta, try swapping out traditional noodles for zucchini noodles.
• Get your vitamins and probiotics: Adequate levels of vitamin D are associated with weight loss, and having good gut health is linked with lower body fat [15].
• Diet pills: You can try diet pills to lose weight quickly. Always discuss these with your doctor before adding them to your weight loss plan.
• Park further away: Low-intensity movement like increasing your steps not only burns calories while walking but also encourages your body to burn more calories while resting too. 

FAQ

Can I Drop 20 Pounds in a Week?

If your starting weight is very high, it’s possible to lose 20 pounds in a week, but this is generally considered too fast, so it’s not recommended. How much weight you can lose depends on how many calories you cut from your daily intake [1]. Add lots of fiber and protein, and never eat fewer calories than your BMR. Expect most of the weight you lose in the first week to be water weight.

Can You Lose Weight While Walking Every Day?

Again, adding walking into your daily routine is one of the easiest ways to lose a lot of weight fast with exercise. Does walking reduce tummy fat? Yes, along with overall body fat. If you want to combine your healthy eating habits with 30 minutes of walking every day, you can speed up your weight loss [16].

How Many Calories to Eat to Lose 10 lbs?

You need to burn 35,000 calories to lose 10 lbs since there are 3,500 calories in a pound. So how many calories you should eat depends on your current weight. If you calculate your TDEE as mentioned above, you can see how many calories you need to cut to create a calorie deficit of 500 to 1000. Doing this will make you lose 10 lbs in one to two months. Make sure never to eat fewer calories than your BMR [7].

The Bottom Line

Losing weight fast in a month without any exercise is doable if you remain conscious of what you consume. By filling your plate with healthy proteins and fiber, drinking lots of water, and avoiding simple sugars, you can drop a significant amount of weight fast. 

Keep in mind that you can find ways lose weight in a few hours, but crash dieting and fad diets are not healthy long term. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is with steady lifestyle changes that include exercise. 

Knowing how to lose weight fast without exercise is simple if you make even just a few changes found in this guide. Ultimately, the key to losing weight is not giving up and trying different methods to see what works for you. 

References

[1] Strasser, B., Spreitzer, A., & Haber, P. (2007). Fat Loss Depends on Energy Deficit Only, Independently of the Method for Weight Loss. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 51(5), 428–432. https://doi.org/10.1159/000111162

[2] Cleo, G., Hersch, J., & Thomas, R. (2018). Participant experiences of two successful habit-based weight-loss interventions in Australia: a qualitative study. BMJ Open, 8(5), e020146. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020146

[3] di Domenico, S. I., & Ryan, R. M. (2017). The Emerging Neuroscience of Intrinsic Motivation: A New Frontier in Self-Determination Research. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2017.00145

[4] Hewagalamulage, S., Lee, T., Clarke, I., & Henry, B. (2016). Stress, cortisol, and obesity: a role for cortisol responsiveness in identifying individuals prone to obesity. Domestic Animal Endocrinology, 56, S112–S120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.domaniend.2016.03.004

[5] Karim, F., Oyewande, A., Abdalla, L. F., Chaudhry Ehsanullah, R., & Khan, S. (2020). Social Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Cureus. Published. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.8627

[6] TDEE Calculator: Learn Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. (n.d.). TDEE Calculator. https://tdeecalculator.net/

[7] Benton, D., & Young, H. A. (2017). Reducing Calorie Intake May Not Help You Lose Body Weight. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12(5), 703–714. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617690878

[8] Hawton, K., Ferriday, D., Rogers, P., Toner, P., Brooks, J., Holly, J., Biernacka, K., Hamilton-Shield, J., & Hinton, E. (2018). Slow Down: Behavioural and Physiological Effects of Reducing Eating Rate. Nutrients, 11(1), 50. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11010050

[9] Important Nutrients to Know: Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Fats. (2019, April 29). National Institute on Aging. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/important-nutrients-know-proteins-carbohydrates-and-fats

[10] Abedini Najafabadi, H., & Shahrokhi, M. (2015). Model predictive control of blood sugar in patients with type-1 diabetes. Optimal Control Applications and Methods, 37(4), 559–573. https://doi.org/10.1002/oca.2178

 [11] Nguyen, P. K., Lin, S., & Heidenreich, P. (2016). A systematic comparison of sugar content in low-fat vs regular versions of food. Nutrition & Diabetes, 6(1), e193. https://doi.org/10.1038/nutd.2015.43

[12] Rand, K., Vallis, M., Aston, M., Price, S., Piccinini-Vallis, H., Rehman, L., & Kirk, S. F. (2017). “It is not the diet; it is the mental part we need help with.” A multilevel analysis of psychological, emotional, and social well-being in obesity. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 12(1), 1306421. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2017.1306421

[13] Spence, C. (2014). Noise and its impact on the perception of food and drink. Flavour, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/2044-7248-3-9

[14] Tabrizi, R., Saneei, P., Lankarani, K. B., Akbari, M., Kolahdooz, F., Esmaillzadeh, A., Nadi-Ravandi, S., Mazoochi, M., & Asemi, Z. (2018). The effects of caffeine intake on weight loss: a systematic review and dos-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 59(16), 2688–2696. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1507996

[15] Entezari, M., Khosravi, Z., Kafeshani, M., Tavasoli, P., & Zadeh, A. (2018). Effect of Vitamin D supplementation on weight loss, glycemic indices, and lipid profile in obese and overweight women: A clinical trial study. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 9(1), 63. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_329_15

[16] Bond Brill, J., Perry, A., Parker, L., Robinson, A., & Burnett, K. (2002). Dose–response effect of walking exercise on weight loss. How much is enough? International Journal of Obesity, 26(11), 1484–1493. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802133