5 Ways to Lose Weight with Less Exercise

Paige Lopez • October 29, 2018

Our whole lives we’ve been taught that weight maintenance comes from managing calories in and calories out. Just eat less and exercise more. Deny yourself anything that tastes good, and spend 2 hours each day at the gym. Sure, this sounds simple. But don’t you think there could be a better way? Don’t you deserve to find a better way?  

When I struggled with my weight, I thought I knew what I was doing wrong. I was careful with what I ate, but I just didn’t have time for hours at the gym. And the pounds kept piling on. I kept telling myself that once work settled down, I would put myself first again. But it was one project after another after another until I was 20 pounds heavier and thought, “what’s the point of going to the gym now?”

via GIPHY

Sound familiar? 

So here’s the good news: There IS a better way. And calories in does not always equal calories out. The real culprit is hormones. 

There are over 48 known hormones that govern your weight, and more are still being discovered. There are hormones that make you hungry, make you full, make you crave certain foods, and impact how you metabolize the foods that you do eat. The complex hormone structures are why you can eat the same foods as your best friend and gain twice as much weight, or why you just can’t seem to get enough sweet treats at night. 

Here are our top tips to help balance your hormones: 

1. Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS):

HFCS is a common sweetener that wreaks havoc on your hormones – specifically on Leptin. Leptin is one of the many hormones that regulates your hunger and satiety levels, and eating more HFCS can lead to weight gain, and increased appetite. Hearing that HFCS is in foods like soda and candy may not be a surprise to you, but did you know that HFCS is often found in fruit flavored yogurts, salad dressings, breads, canned fruits, and even breakfast cereal?

2. De-Stress Yourself:

We’re all familiar with the “fight or flight” stress response that gives us the massive adrenaline rush of energy–and it can be great–if we need to lift a car. But it’s not necessary to have super-human strengthwhen we’re worried about traffic on the way to work, or wether we’re going to get the big promotion. Any stress response releases the hormone cortisol. Cortisol actually works to slow down our metabolism (which makes sense–if we were running from a bear in caveman days, we would need to save all of our energy!). De-stressing yourself can be hard! But we recommend our Self Mastery Technology. Our SMT tapes are now available online to all of our clients – access them here!

3. Avoid diet soda and sugar-free gum:

It’s easy to think that sugar-free products pack all the value with none of the harm, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. There is one artificial sweetener that is worse than the rest: Acesulfamine Potassium, or Ace K. This sweetener doesn’t get a lot of press, but it’s known for spiking your Insulin levels each time you consume it. Insulin is the fat storing hormone, and by constantly keeping this hormone activated, you make it nearly impossible to lose fat. Cut the soda, and the gum–Zevia is a great substitution!

4. Get Better Sleep: 

We know that sleep is important, but how deeply you sleep also matters. Each night when you sleep, your brain secretes Human Growth Hormone (hGH), which helps promote a healthy metabolism and longevity. HGH is primarily secreted when your body is in deep sleep, so if we are interrupted or sleeping poorly, hGH is hardly released. Making sure you are in a dark, quiet environment and eliminating screen time 2 hours before bed are two great changes to help you sleep deeper!

5. Cut back on the sugar

Most of us have heard that cutting back on sugar is a great step towards losing weight, and it could not be more true! Cutting back on sugar helps our body balance many of the hormones we’ve already talked about today – including insulin, leptin, and cortisol. Without as much sugar, your body will produce less of the fat-storing hormone, your appetite will be more regular, and your stress response can even decrease.