Disclaimer: In this post, I am sharing a few ways you can lose weight if you can’t exercise but I am not a nutritionist or dietician. It is to be used for informational use only and is not a substitute for professional advice. If you take any actions from the content of this post, you are do so at your risk and I am not responsible for any negative outcomes.
Regular exercise can help you lose weight faster, but not all disabled people have the ability to exercise. Disabled people sometimes can feel a little discouraged when they are on a weight loss journey because they can’t always use exercise to burn more calories like non-disabled people can. People sometimes think that in order to lose weight successfully, you have to exercise, and although exercise does help you get faster results, it is not a requirement for weight loss; your nutrition plays a much bigger role. If you are struggling to lose weight, your exercise routine is not always to blame, but sometimes you aren’t eating as healthily as you think you are. Nutrition plays a major role in your weight loss journey because it doesn’t matter what workout you’re doing; you can’t out-train a bad diet. Weight loss is more difficult and requires more discipline when you can’t exercise, but it is possible. How do you lose weight if exercise is not an option? In this post, I am sharing a few things that you can do to lose weight if you aren’t able to exercise.
Have some kind of plan– If you have a goal of any kind, it is so important that you have some kind of plan for how you are going to achieve your weight loss goals. What are you going to do to reach your weight goals? Write it down and be very specific because having a plan sets you up for success. It is so important to have a structured plan because when you wing it and have no plan, it’s easy to get off track.
Hire a nutrition expert-If you have been trying to lose weight and have been unsuccessful, it might be a good idea to consider hiring a nutrition expert, such as a dietitian or nutritionist. People who have degrees in nutrition can help you better understand what in your diet needs improvement, and sometimes can write you a diet plan that can set you up for success. Nutrition counseling can be expensive and will not be an option for everyone, but sometimes your insurance will cover some sessions.
Make a food journal- As a disabled person, I never struggled with not being able to stop eating cookies because I get constipated more easily and my stoma reacts to sugar which helps with weight management. If you are struggling with losing weight, I think that having a food journey is such a great learning tool because when you start tracking your food, it helps you see what your habits are and truly see what you are eating that could be contributing to your weight gain. I am not on a weight loss journey, but I keep a food journal to help me figure out what foods trigger my pain that I should eat in moderation. In my food journal, I don’t write how many calories I am eating because I am not using it for weight loss, but you can do that if you are trying to lose weight. You might not need to use a food journal forever, but it can be a good learning tool if you are just starting your weight loss journey.
Eat enough– People often think that weight loss is all about cutting calories and eating as little as possible. If you are trying to lose weight, being in a slight calorie deficit will help you lose weight, but at the same time, you want to make sure you are eating enough to fuel your body. Severe calorie restriction sometimes works in the beginning, but it is not going to work long-term, and eventually it will backfire, and you will become so hungry that you start binge eating, which will cause you to gain more weight. Everyone has different nutritional needs, and it is important that you figure out how much your body needs because less is not always better.
Get your stress under control- If you are a little stressed, it is probably not going to have a major impact on your eating habits but if you are overly stressed, it can cause some people to eat more. I am not an emotional eater, and when I am stressed, I usually have no appetite and eat less, but if you are one of those people who turns to food every time you are stressed, it can make weight loss more difficult. Destress and figure out what your triggers are, and do some yoga or talk to a therapist to help get your stress levels under control. People often turn to food when they are stressed, but you don’t always need to eat when you are stressed out because there are other ways to destress that are not food. Food can give you comfort when you are stressed, but it’s not a real solution and doesn’t get to the root cause of your stress and anxiety.
It’s not about what you take out but what you add in– People often think that weight loss is all about everything you can take out, which is why most people who start a diet end up quitting. If you are trying to lose weight, you will probably have to eat fewer cookies but weight loss is not always about what you can take out but what you can add in. I am not a fan of severe calorie restriction because most people fail these types of diets, and it’s unrealistic to say that you are never going to eat a cookie again. Do you eat a lot of vegetables, and could you be adding more to your diet? If you are trying to lose weight, add in more nutritious foods because severe restriction often leads to eating disorders, and you don’t have to give up the foods you love to lose weight.
Be mindful of calories from beverages-I am not currently on a weight loss journey, but I do try to stay at a healthy weight because it’s harder to walk with crutches when you aren’t at a healthy weight. There is nothing wrong with having a couple of glasses of wine every now and then, but you want to be mindful of how many calories from beverages you are consuming because you can add a lot of extra calories from the beverages you drink without even realizing it. Be mindful of how many calories you are consuming from beverages because calories from wine and even your coffee creamer count toward your overall calorie intake.
Cheat meal not cheat day- Fitness influencers sometimes will encourage people to have a cheat day, but I don’t necessarily think we need to designate an entire day for eating unhealthy and cheating on our diet, and if you have to do that, your diet is probably too restrictive. Allow yourself to have a cheat meal instead of a cheat day because you don’t need to spend an entire day eating unhealthy and risk slowing your progress.
Don’t beat yourself up over your failures- If you start a diet, you are going to have days when there are temptations and you fall off the diet. People sometimes beat themselves when they don’t eat as healthily as they wish they would, and quit. Don’t beat yourself over your failures because it happens to all of us, but instead learn from your mistakes and do better next time. You will never reach your goals if you let one bad day cause you to quit, and that could be the reason your weight loss is not successful. Bad days happen, just accept and move on because you only fail once you quit.
When it comes to weight loss, people sometimes think that you have to eat salads every day and raw vegetables. Salads and raw vegetables are things you can have if you enjoy them, but you don’t have to eat salads every day to lose weight. I eat healthy most of the time, but I don’t eat salads on a daily basis because there are so many other healthy foods with great health benefits. Weight loss is easier when you are able to exercise, but you can lose weight if you aren’t able to exercise, and it just may take a little longer. Be realistic with yourself and don’t start diets that set you up for failure and don’t fit into your lifestyle, because the key to weight loss success is doing something you can stick to long term. If you want to lose weight and are unable to exercise, try not to stress about it because it mostly comes down to the foods, and exercise plays a small role. Most people gain weight not because their exercise routine isn’t working, but because they aren’t eating the right kind of diet to support their goals. How do you lose weight if you can’t exercise? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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