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Tips on How to Lose Weight Even Without a Home Gym

This coming 2020, give yourself the gift of change, of challenge, and pushing yourself to achieve goals. If your number one goal this year is to lose weight but don’t have a home gym set up yet, you have come to the right place.

Losing weight was never the easiest of tasks. There are days when you just feel too tired or just demotivated because you feel like no amount of exercise can help you reach your target weight. I’ve been there and in this post, I will be sharing with you tips that have helped me lose weight even without a home gym.

Top 3 Tips to Help You Reach Your Target Weight this 2020

1. Focus on What You’re Eating.

Researches on weight loss are supportive of focusing on the food you take in rather than the amount of physical exertion that you put out.

And, I, too, believe this to be true.

I have tried fad diets, weight-loss capsules, even snacking on Weight Watchers bars, you name it, I’ve eaten them all in my bid to lose weight. Sadly, none of them worked.

I gave up on these “diets” and just decided to start eating healthier food. While the weight-loss effect wasn’t as fast as I wanted it to be, I started to notice a lot of changes to my body when I began eating healthier food.

Since incorporating more vegetables and more fruits, I started noticing that my face has been becoming more “cooperative”. In other words, I was starting to have less frequent breakouts. It only motivated me further to eat healthy and drink more water.

Speaking of drinks, I also decided to forego a lot of sports drinks and focused on just drinking more water. For me to not miss out on any “sweet” drinks, I would juice fruits without adding sugar. Having a freshly prepared glass of fruit juice post-workout is one of the treats I look forward to.

Even if I were eating more healthy veggies and fruits, I still kept in mind that I had to eat only until I was satiated.

When I started going to the gym, I had a lot of days where I would binge POST-WORKING OUT because, I justified it by “I deserve this”.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for self-love, however, there are times when the “I deserve this” should be toned down just a bit.

This leads us to the biggest problem with cheat days, which is the overindulgence on the food that you’ve been controlling.

Just because it’s your cheat day doesn’t mean you have to overdo it. Cheat days aren’t a go-big-or-go-home type of situation.

Focusing on nutrition and on the amount of what you’re eating is what will be best for your body is you’re trying to lose weight without a home gym.

Pro tip: Try Mindful eating.

Mindful eating is an invitation to approach food, well, in a more mindful way.

What is mindfulness, anyway? How does it even apply to how I eat my food? Great questions!

Mindfulness, is, as the word implies, becoming more mindful and more aware of what is happening in the present moment. It is all about welcoming your present thoughts, emotions, and your own bodily feelings.

But, to put it simply, by being mindful or through mindfulness, you are staying in the present and becoming in the present of what’s happening within you and around you.

How it applies to your eating is just pretty simple and it can be explained in two familiar situations:

  1. We binge because, we don’t take time to appreciate and enjoy our food.
  2. When we’re hungry and we go to buy grocery and we act on impulse to buy processed foods that are easy to cook and prepare rather than buying, preparing, and turning fresh ingredients into delicious home-cooked meals.

If we apply mindfulness in these situations what we’ll get will be:

  1. Taking time to chew and savor the food. Reminding ourselves that right now, we are in the process of taking in nourishment for our body. Stopping once we are feeling satiated.
  2. In such a situation, mindfulness can be applied by taking the time to ask whether this food item that you’re currently holding in your hand will give you the necessary nutritional value that your body will need or is it just to satisfy a craving. Most of the time, impulsively buying a cake or a bag of chips is mostly because we are not trying to address the current situation in your body. These issues can only be identified through mindfulness.

The ratio of what you are eating to how much you’re working out is important to note and the magic number is 70:30. This means, diet is equivalent to 70% in the success of your weight loss but even tho, exercise is the smaller 30%, it shouldn’t be left out.

2. Find the Workout that Works BEST for YOU.

The equation for an effective weight loss is 70:30, where 70 is the diet and 30 is your exercise regimen. There are so many exercise methods out there but, you may ask yourself, which is actually the best one?

Well, the answer will only come from you. You have to find the fitness regimen that works best for YOU.

And, I do not only mean works best as in making you lose weight, but works best that you can commit yourself to doing too.

So many of us fall off the wagon so easily when we are working out. A lot of factors play in. For example, women tend to feel a little less motivated to work out around the time of their period. I’ve had so many of my friends tell me this, but I always tell them that it’s just because of their hormones playing on their motivation. Once they let it sit and let that feeling take over, the further they fall from the wagon.

Believe me when I say that it’s harder to get back at it than to just stick with working out.

So, in order to prevent such an unfortunate thing to happen, finding a workout that you can stick to and gives you result, is the correct answer to the question “Which work out is the best?”

Pro tip 1: Try exercise apps.

In order for you to find out which work out will be “the one” for you, I would highly recommend getting the “Free trial” of exercise apps.

Exercise apps are such a great way to lose weight without a home gym. Most of these apps rely on your own body weight and high intensity movements which bring your heart rate up thereby increasing your ability to burn fat.

The number one advantage of an exercise app is that they offer so much more than the exercise itself.

Through these apps, you can monitor your weight loss and even fat loss. Premium features will even give you meal plans to follow and reminders for your workouts so you won’t have to miss any of your sessions.

Basically, these apps are like your very own personal trainer all within your smartphone.

I’ve used several of these apps when I couldn’t commit to going to the gym. One of my favorites is the Nike Training Club. I’ve been a fan of the app since I had my first smart phone. That app is packed with a lot of varieties of exercises and has different levels which you can choose from. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, with or without access to a gym, Nike Training Club will have something for you.

Pro tip 2: Take advantage of free day passes at your local gyms.

Taking advantage of your local gym’s free pass is another way for you to learn which exercise will be the one for you.

There’s a lot of gyms that offer such pass to give their potential patrons the chance to survey the place and in turn, become a regular gym goer.

I have done this with some of the gyms around me because I was trying to find that nice “fit”. For me, finding a gym was just like finding a home to live in. After all, I would be spending an average of 2 hours per day in one so, to increase my motivation to go to a gym, it has to have that good feel to it.

Plus, another up side to trying these free day passes is the chance to try out different gym workouts such as spin classes, weight training, calisthenics, and many more, with the guidance of a professional trainer and without having to purchase your very own equipment.

3. Don’t Stop Trying.

Remember what I said about falling off the wagon? Well, there will be times that you will and you will need to get back on if you really want to lose weight. While you’re at it, you shouldn’t ever stop trying to get back on. No matter how hard it takes.

So many people who are trying to lose weight lose their battle because, sadly, they lose the motivation to continue doing so. It may sound so cliche to say this but, once you feel like you don’t want to work out, that is exactly the moment that you have to go because nothing is greater than the feeling of achievement after pushing yourself and getting the results that you’re going after.

In my many days of losing my motivation, what I found to have worked the best to put me right back on track is to see how far I have come. This introspection and reflection allows me to see just how successful I am at my journey to losing weight. I also look at my old pictures and see just how great I did and it allows me to give myself that necessary pat on the back, which we all need anyway.

Trust me when I say that you will have to face these many days too. Many days of questioning what is the result of your efforts. Many days of questioning whether you’re working hard enough for your goals. But this is the time to breathe and continue to keep fighting.

Your biggest battle is not the number on your scale it’s that keeping yourself motivated throughout the whole journey.

Conclusion

I will not lie to you, losing weight is hard. It will be one of the hardest challenges that you will take on as an individual if you’re planning to lose weight.

However, the hardships that you’re going to face while you’re working towards your goal weight will be nothing compared to the fruits of your labor and seeing this journey through.

As a final word, or phrase rather, trust in the process and have patience. Going through these hoops will not only make you stronger physically, but a lot more stronger person once you come out of this journey.


Flashlight

10 Comments

  1. Alana Grimes Reply

    Losing weight is a very controversial topic. So much fad diets, fad diet pills, fad exercises, that you just want to mute these words on Twitter. Seriously, what’s with the pressure??? What i found to be the most helpful is to have a community who believes in your goals as much as you believe in them. If no, it would be harder to motivate yourself to get up and keep up with your own goal. Find an exercise buddy who will support you!

  2. adam williams Reply

    been using NTC since it first came out and it’s the best app out there. Way before all these fitness “gurus” started out flooding the app store! I’ve been committed to it, i even bring it with me to the gym and that’s how I come up with my WOTDs. It’s very helpful and so easy to use even!

  3. gerbera lady Reply

    I was very addicted to diet pills. I gained more weight tho, because I just can’t hit my goal. Until I started to do the mindful eating course. https://www.udemy.com/course/mindful-eating-how-to-stop-overeating-and-enjoy-your-food/ I found it very very helpful. I felt ashamed that I wanted to do a short cut on my weight loss as if I was going to compete on some pageant or getting married. The course helped me, now I’m helping my sister cope with her weight and PCOS. thats all. 🙂 I just wanted to share what worked for me!

  4. jenna mcewan Reply

    I chose running because I couldn’t really commit to the gym. I bought a step counter and I targetted meeting my 10k steps goal every day. The step counter was a big help for me to monitor my progress. Sometimes, when I really didn’t feel like moving, I just aimed to reach my 10k steps then go home to rest. But when I’m in the correct disposition, sometimes I go for 15k steps! So, try walking or running as a very free option when you don’t have a home gym or a gym membership for that matter!

  5. JennyHouse Reply

    Hello everyone! I’m 28/F BMI 26. My doctor recommended that I go through a behavior therapy session to treat my obesity. She was a firm believer that I should start with how I approach my diet. I was previously an anorexic, but I swung to obesity within 3 years. She said, she’ll recommend diet pills if the behavior therapy won’t work. In the behaviour therapy, they taught me about mindfulness and i studied mindfulness eating to supplement what i’m learning through the sessions. I was able to lose some of the pounds within the first few sessions. It took reframing of my mindset to finally kickstart my weight loss. Now I’m eating better, sleeping better, lesser anxiety as well. I just feel generally better overall. I think mindfulness eating helped me more than any of the weightloss pills i’ve tried before.

  6. I’m a marketing dude in his 30s and 2 years ago was the worst year of my life. Just when the year began, i popped my knee while doing weights. I was very frustrated and kinda developed some form of a trauma towards the gym, I haven’t stepped in the gym since then. But, I ballooned and became obese. I just completely let it go. It did affect my work. I was depressed. My manager noticed this and asked if I wanted to join him in his nightly walks. at first it was awkward, but it was a great way to be mentored for work and of course, life! I didn’t expect having a colleague support me through my depression. Now I got promoted and my boss, moved on to another company. But we still go on our occassional walks. 10K steps! I knew it put me in the better position health-wise and even mentally.

  7. Allison_Bale Reply

    Cool blog, nice post. Thanks for sharing these tips. I really don’t know why i cant lose weight at the gym. so might as well go out and not do typical gym work. anyway, it really depends on your body if these tips will be beneficial, but really great article for including mindful eating

  8. Not a BRIDEZILLA!!! Reply

    I’m currently doing mindful eating as another step of trying to lose weight. My trainer introduced me to this when i reached a weight plateau. He told me that maybe, it was some mindset issue and that i was possible pressuring myself to lose weight… well, what can I do i’m getting married. starting to become bridezilla. Dont wanna look like a stressed out bride so I got into mindful eating, well, mindfulness in general. I feel more relaxed these days and more motivated than ever… But it was a positive motivation rather than giving into the pressure of losing weight for the wedding!

  9. LilyPotter Reply

    I’d like to join in this thread! One of the best things I could share (when I couldn’t really go to the gym because of my home’s location and the additional commute I will have to take because of the distance of the gym) was having a workout buddy! I began running outside because I always felt so tired when I got home. I didn’t want to let my fatigue and burnout turn into a big messy depression. One time as I went out the door my neighbor jess was just about to run. We went together and we’ve paced each other through our runs. She motivates me and I motivate her. I’m glad i went out that day, because I now have a shopping buddy even! I’ve only been living in this part of the city for about a few months now so I’m very glad I made a friend. If you can’t find a gym or join it, look for a work out buddy.

  10. A Girl in her 20s Reply

    I recently discovered that I have a condition called PCOS. I never noticed it because I’ve always thought that my body’s been normal. Had I not felt some terrible cramps similar to that when youre getting your menses, I wouldn’t have gone to the doctor to get it checked. I was distraught when I found out. I am such a family oriented woman that it was kinda unacceptable that one of the risks involved is difficulty to have a child. One of the things my doctor noticed was how overweight i was. She said I needed to lose about 3Kg and it will make a difference. So, I did. For the first time in my life, I wanted to be healthy. Had I not discovered the existence of these cysts, I wouldn’t have started doing exercises. I couldn’t afford going to the gym so I did a lot of body weight exercises and got into running. So, for anyone who couldn’t lose weight without the gym, this post is really helpful. More importantly, it touched on the factor of motivation 🙂 I think it’s easy to lose motivation without a gym membership, so just keep trying!

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