I have a confession. After one month of quarantine, I had gained so much weight around my midsection that I was afraid to step on the scale.
Like many of you, quarantine (and even before that) brought about a lot of concern and stress. Stress can manifest in different ways and for many of us it results in emotional eating and snacking.
Previously, dieting and calorie restriction would have been the first option but I decided to implement a few daily habits that I could do forever if I had to. The goal was to still enjoy food and maintain balance, but the excess fat had to go.
If you’re ready to shed some extra pounds while staying at home, the methods I have been using to lose the extra 15 pounds or so are quite straightforward.
Aside from the main weight loss methods of drinking water and cutting down my intake of processed foods, this is how I am losing quarantine weight easily.
1- Get Rid of Tempting Foods
Humans have the capacity to be incredibly disciplined and strong-willed. If you don’t have a weakness for certain foods, it’s easy to quit eating them cold turkey.
This principle does not apply to foods that we love to eat for comfort or as an emotional crutch.
(Read: How I stopped eating sugar for 3 months)
The easiest way to eat less calories is to limit our access to high-calorie processed food and resist the temptation.
Instead, plan to eat healthy meals by getting fresh fruits and vegetables. You can meal prep, create healthy snacks ahead of time, or purchase healthy snacks.
2- Choose a Savory Breakfast
Smoothies, cereals and pancakes are popular and convenient breakfast meals.
The downside is that they spike your blood sugar levels and as soon as your blood sugar starts to decrease, you feel a craving for sugar. This starts a cycle of snacking and craving high carb meals throughout the day.
The excess carbs will lead to additional weight and other side effects. So the best way to avoid this is to eat a savory breakfast that consists of protein, healthy fat, and unprocessed plant-based carbs like quinoa, sweet potatoes, squash, or a generous green salad.
This will keep you full for a significant time period and provide a slow and steady release of energy.
3- Commit to working out daily
15 minutes normally gives you enough time to warm up, do at least 2 sets of cardio, and start working up a sweat. Try doing this as a part of your morning routine every day.
4- Time Your Carbs
To pair with the last weight loss tip, I have started to time my carbs so that they are being used up instead of being stored. The best time to eat carbs is within a 90 minute window before or after your workout.
Your body uses more glycogen and burns more fat during this period. You can read more about it here.
For the rest of the day stick to vegetables and high protein meals, with a serving of healthy, high quality fat such as nuts, avocado and coconut products.
5- Make vegetables at least half of your meals
If you decide that keto isn’t an option right now, you can choose to start a low carb diet or a plant-based diet. This will rewire the way your body processes carbs.
It also helps that you will be giving your body more nutrients and fiber that will improve digestion and inflammation.
Losing Quarantine Weight
Due to Covid, I am not comfortable going back to the gym just yet so these are the ways that I’ve already started to lose weight from home. I am not on a diet, nor am I lifting extreme weights or doing anything difficult. These little actions are easy to do daily and have helped me to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks at the time of writing this.