Weight Loss Shortcuts to Try If You Sit at a Desk All Day

Losing weight with a 9-to-5 job can feel impossible. But some healthy shortcuts to weight loss may help you. Try some proven and tested methods and see your body get fitter in no time.

Having a healthy and fit body while working from nine to five can feel impossible. No matter how hard you manage your time, your tasks just don't allow a daily workout. What's more, stress from work makes your body crave comfort food, and they are often unhealthy.

Even if you try to work out on weekends, the temptation of a happy hour will derail you. Your virtually non-existent work-life balance makes drinking an appealing pastime. But, later, when you realize how much weight you've gained and how low your energy is, you may regret your unhealthy coping mechanisms.

But you'll go back again to the cycle of not finding time to work out and getting stressed about it. Hence, stop focusing on what you can't do. Instead, think about what you can control. As a result, weight loss will work out for you even if you sit at a desk all day.

Try these healthy shortcuts to weight loss:

1. Drink Coffee

Great news for coffee lovers: Caffeine may increase the release of fatty acids in your bloodstream. It can help you train longer and more intensely, benefiting you if you can squeeze in a workout in your everyday routine. Caffeine is also full of antioxidants that can reduce your risks for serious diseases.

However, high-calorie lattes, cappuccinos, frappes, and other fancy coffee-shop variations don't count as healthy. Try black coffee instead. Control the sugar you add to avoid offsetting coffee's health benefits.

2. Drink More Water

If you often get hungry while working, maybe you're just dehydrated. Your body can mistake dehydration for hunger. Hence, aim to drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Track your daily water drinking to ensure that you'd meet your goal. You can also eat more brothy soups and salads. Studies show that filling yourself up with food primarily composed of water can help keep you full without excessive calories.

3. Cut Portions

Cutting your portions can reduce your overall calorie intake. To see more effective results, shrink your plate as well. This psychological hack can help you reduce your calorie intake overnight. However, it can also make you get hungry fast.

A calorie-deficit diet coupled with undereating can leave you hungrier, crankier, and more tired. And if your brain's reward system has been used to looking for cheeseburgers or pizza to satisfy your hunger, you'll crave them more strongly. Thankfully, you can avoid this side effect using a few tricks.

Make at least half of your plate veggies to fill your stomach with low calories. Decrease your servings of starchy carbohydrates, like potatoes or white rice. Add more protein to your plate, such as eggs, skinless poultry, fish, or seafood. Beans, tofu, chickpeas, and nut butter make good protein sources if you're vegan.

Add low-calorie soups or salads to your meals. They can make you full before eating your main course. However, don't skip your main course or any meal at all. Skipping meals to reduce your portions and calorie intake can affect your blood sugar, energy levels, and overall wellness.

4. Quit Junk Food and Vices

Quitting junk food and vices for a week will make a significant difference in your life. Hence, you'll see more noticeable results if you quit them for good. Find healthier pastimes and hobbies to fill up your idle hours. If you're free on the weekend, try working out instead of eating out. You can make workouts fun by doing it with a friend or choosing lighthearted activities, like dancing.

But don't overexercise. Consult a professional fitness coach or trainer to know long you should exercise given your weight and physical activity level. Overexercising may put you at risk of injury, overfatigue, and sleep problems, to name a few. Besides, even one hour of exercising every week can improve your stamina and strength, eventually leading to weight loss. Don't pressure yourself to work out like a fitness influencer.

5. Consider Weight Loss Procedures

If budget permits, consider getting a weight loss procedure done. You can have a non-surgical procedure if you don't want to go under the knife. Popular belly fat reduction treatments have no downtime and are painless and affordable. But manage your expectations because they won't make you several pounds lighter overnight. Fat loss treatments typically require multiple sessions for results to show. In addition, it's best to combine it with a healthy diet for maintenance.

Final Thoughts

Manage your expectations from any of these weight loss shortcuts. Effort and determination are still necessary to make them work. Commit yourself to a healthy diet and lifestyle to avoid circling back to your bad habits. And be patient. Fat takes time to leave the body.