9 Effortless Weight Loss Hacks

Health
weight loss hacks

Losing weight can seem like such a difficult thing to do, especially if you don’t know where to start. 

Diet and exercise are obvious changes that will help, but what about starting with some easier tasks first or even in addition to diet and exercise. 

Here’s a list of 9 effortless weight loss hacks to help you lose fat. 

1. Weighted Vest or Ankle Weights

I learned this hack from Melanie Avalon. If you wear a weighted vest or ankle weights, it tricks your body into thinking you’re heavier than you are. Your body likes to remain the same weight, so it will work harder to get that “extra weight” you’re carrying off. 

You burn more calories while wearing the weights than you otherwise would. This is why weight training is so effective for fat burning as well. 

But with the vest or ankle weights, you can just carry on with your normal day to day activities and you will burn more without having to exercise. Of course exercising with the weights would increase your results. But it’s not necessary.

You could even fill up a backpack with extra weight and carry it around with you. Kind of like rucking in your own house. 

If you have shoulder pain, I recommend the ankle weights. The weighted vest was hard on my shoulders–but I was having issues at the time. 

You can get various weights, but I recommend starting lighter and working your way up. Even an extra 5 pounds will make a difference.

I really like the Omorpho vest because the weight is distributed evenly and it’s lighter at about 5 pounds. You can still have full range of mobility in this vest and it has a ventilated back. They also offer workout clothes with 1-2 pounds of extra weight added. 

For ankle or wrist weights, the Bala Bangle is meant to be a more aesthetic way to wear weights. It almost looks like jewelry! You can wear them on walks or to your pilates class. 

Target also has some with a similar look at a cheaper price point. 

If you don’t care for the aesthetics, here is a highly rated pair on Amazon. You can adjust the weights to be 1-5 pounds per ankle, for a total of 2-10 pounds of extra weight attached to you. 

2. Fasting

Fasting is such an effortless way to help you lose weight. No need to meal prep 3-6 meals a day, just fast through half of them! 

Fasting is great as you can tailor it to your schedule. If you still want to eat 3 meals a day, just do it in an 8 hour time frame. If you like the convenience of not having to worry about food all the time, do two meals or even go OMAD (one meal a day) for a while. 

If you’re trying to figure out a good fasting schedule, check out my post How to Fast: Best Methods + 8 Ways to Make Fasting Easier. 

I stress the importance of quality ingredients over calorie counting–but for those concerned with calories, fasting is also a great way to keep it low. Although eating enough in your fasting window is crucial.

Fasting allows your body a break from digestion to take care of other things your body needs, including fat burning through ketosis.

Fasting also allows your pancreas to have a break from producing insulin all the time. This will help reverse insulin resistance. 

Signs of insulin resistance include: high fasting blood sugar levels (pre-diabetic or type II diabetes), skin tags and/or dark patches in your skin folds, high BMI or a waist circumference over 35 for women.

You will also lose inflammation from fasting. You will be amazed at how much smaller and less puffy your face looks when you start fasting. 

Some people call this cortisol face–and in my opinion the best way to get rid of it is through fasting.

Fasting can also help tighten up your skin as you lose weight. This is done by a process called autophagy which is activated while fasting. It gets rid of old and damaged proteins and cells in your body, including loose skin. 

This was a major factor for me when I first found fasting as a postpartum mom. I was concerned about my skin going back to normal. Dry fasting is the most beneficial for getting rid of skin issues, but water fasting works as well.

For more details on the benefits of fasting, check out this post: The Magic of Fasting. I go over the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits you can expect while fasting–including anti-aging, helps to fight illness and disease, mental clarity, mood improvements, and getting closer to God.  

3. Cold Therapy

Did you know that the scientists in Antarctica are required to eat 6000 calories a day because of how many more calories they are burning by just being in the cold weather?

Cold therapy is a great way to increase fat loss. And it’s pretty effortless. If a cold plunge isn’t your thing (it’s not mine either), try out a cold vest. 

Cool Fat Burner makes a cold vest that was lab tested and shown to burn triple the calories than you would by simply resting without the cold vest. Check out their lab testing video here. 

It has also shown to freeze fat to the same levels you would get from Coolsculpting–a procedure you can get at a medspa to freeze your fat that costs hundreds of dollars per session.

Aside from the cold vest, you could take a cold shower, an ice bath, or do cryotherapy.

4. Sauna

If cold isn’t your thing, sitting in a sauna is another effortless weight loss hack. 

Binghamton University did a study where participants lost 4% body fat in 8 weeks. They did 45 minute sessions 3 times a week at 122-140 degrees fahrenheit. 

Consistent sauna sessions yield the best results. This article from Clearlight explains that 5 sessions per week in an 8 week period had better fat loss results than 3 sessions per week for 12 weeks (from the same Binghamton study). 

But you will see benefits of using a sauna no matter how often you can do it! Women can lose up to half a pound in a single 20 minute session according to this study from the Scientific World Journal. 

Saunas can help you break down heavy metals, reduce inflammation, increase your metabolism, increase circulation and blood flow, and help to regulate hormones.

For a great at home option, I love the Higher Dose Infrared Sauna Blanket. You don’t need to dedicate a huge amount of space for a typical sauna. This sauna blanket option is convenient and portable. 

It’s a great option for moms who maybe can’t get away from the house to get regular sauna sessions at a local gym or spa.

5. Sleep

Did you know that sleeping actually helps you lose fat? Since you aren’t eating anything while asleep, your body is not producing insulin. So your body oxidizes fat instead.

Human growth hormone (HGH) is also higher while you sleep, which is another reason we are able to oxidize fat while asleep.

We also excrete fat from our bodies by CO2–so by breathing. So just simply breathing while you sleep is enough to help you lose fat. 

There was a study that showed those who restricted sleep lost significantly less fat than the group who did not restrict sleep. 

They did lose the same amount of weight, but those who restricted sleep were sparing fat and burning energy from other sources. Those who were getting enough sleep were able to burn fat.

The restricted sleep group also had a lower resting metabolic rate aka a slower metabolism–so they were burning less energy. 

The group that was restricting sleep had 5.5 hours of sleep for 5 nights during the week, and on the weekend they could make up for the lost sleep if they wanted. And this was enough to keep them from burning fat like the control group was. 

Rest is crucial if you want to lose fat. 

Some tips for getting better rest:

  • Set a bedtime and stick to it.
  • Limit exposure to blue light from phones and TVs for at least an hour before bed.
  • Journal at night to write down any thoughts on your mind that might otherwise keep you awake.
  • Keep your thermostat setting low–you want it cold while you sleep (I like it to be 68 degrees, some recommend 65 or lower).
  • Take a quality magnesium supplement with your dinner–I like Bioptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough.
  • Consider investing in a Chilipad to keep your bed cool as you sleep.
  • Sleep on a grounding sleep mat or grounding sheets.
  • Use essential oils: Lavender or the Peace and Calming blend from Young Living (I have no affiliation with YL, but the blend puts me to sleep).

6. Coffee

Coffee mobilizes fatty acids from adipose tissue. AKA it allows your body to get rid of fat. Drink plain, black coffee first thing in the morning on an empty stomach as a preworkout. 

Then do a short, low level aerobic exercise for 10-30 minutes. My favorite is to do 10-15 minutes on the rebounder (mini trampoline). You could also do a walk or a swim. 

Here’s a video of Ben Greenfield explaining this:

If you want to complete this 1-2-3 combo for weight loss, end your workout with a 5 minute cold shower. Or this would be a great time to use your cold vest from tip #3. 

Make sure you’re drinking a quality, organic coffee. Coffee is often sprayed with pesticides, so that’s why you want organic. And you want it tested for mycotoxins, as coffee often has mold. YUCK!

Kion is a great option for organic, mycotoxin free coffee. And they even make a light roast now, which is less bitter if you’re trying to drink black coffee for the first time. 

7. Strength Training

While exercise might not seem like an effortless hack to lose weight, there are ways to make exercise easier. 

Strength training should be prioritized because the more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate is. Increasing your lean muscle mass makes it easier to lose fat. 

You can do simple body weight exercises like squats, pushups, pull ups, etc. But I think the most effortless way to strength train is to use resistance bands. 

I love the X3 Bar for this. You can do a full workout in less than 10 minutes a day. You do 4 exercises each day. Each move you only do one set to failure. That’s why it only takes 10 minutes. 

If you don’t want to invest in the bar, simply get a quality set of bands and do the same workouts! 

8. Walking

Walking is such an underrated weight loss hack. It’s low impact, nearly everyone should be able to do it (even beginners), and it doesn’t spike cortisol like running or other exercise does. 

Walking also will not burn muscle mass like other forms of cardio. It will just burn fat. 

The best hack is to go on a short walk after meals for 10-30 minutes. This will help stabilize your blood sugar levels, which is crucial when losing weight. 

If you want to amp up your walking, try out 12-3-30 on a treadmill. This is a 12 incline at 3 mph for 30 minutes. You will be sweating! 

9. Stabilize Blood Sugar with Berberine and ACV

Stabilizing blood sugar levels and addressing insulin resistance will result in more weight loss. 

We’ve talked about a few things that stabilize blood sugar already, like walking after a meal, exercise, fasting, and sleep. 

Another way to stabilize blood sugar levels is by taking berberine or apple cider vinegar (ACV) before a meal. 

Berberine has been called “nature’s ozempic” lately because of its ability to lower blood sugar. It has similar results as Metformin, a popular diabetic drug,  without the side effects. 

This study showed a significant weight change for those on berberine versus the placebo. 

Another study summarizes their findings by saying: 

“Berberine prevents the development of atherosclerosis, DM2, and cardiovascular disorders. Furthermore, it has been shown to be administered preventively and it decreases the risk of developing the metabolic syndrome due to its neuroprotective and antidepressant activities. Berberine is also effective in the case of dyslipidemia, liver cirrhosis due to non-alcoholic or alcoholic steatohepatitis, infertility, and ovulation disorders. However, the most important and widely studied property of berberine is its anticancer activity, which is crucial, since the implication of the metabolic syndrome is a significantly increased risk of certain malignant neoplasms.”

That’s a lot of benefits in addition to blood sugar regulation and weight loss!

I like to have berberine on an empty stomach in the morning for weight loss benefits. Some like to take it with meals. I’m not a doctor so don’t take medical advice from me. But it seems that 1-1.5g is the most studied amount to take. 

AvalonX makes a quality berberine. It’s Melanie Avalon’s company and I highly recommend her podcasts as well: The Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast and The Intermittent Fasting Podcast. 

Apple cider vinegar is another way you can naturally regulate blood sugar levels, which will help you lose weight. 

Dr. Berg has a great breakdown on ACV and how it reduces the glycemic index of food by 30-40% for many different foods. You can add it to your rice, potatoes, salads, etc. 

Or you can simply take 2 tablespoons of ACV in 8 oz of water before meals and/or before bedtime. 

Here are the studies referenced for ACV:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16015276

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17712024

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16034360

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20068289

https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=googlescholar&id=GALE%7CA196160510&v=2.1&it=r&sid=googleScholar&asid=e942ab83

Summary

Let’s put this all together. Your schedule might look like this:

  1. Get a good night sleep
  2. Wake up and drink black coffee
  3. Put on a weighted vest
  4. Go on a walk
  5. Take a cold shower or wear a cold vest
  6. Fast until lunch
  7. Drink ACV before you eat
  8. Get in a quick 10 minute strength training workout
  9. Sit in a sauna
  10. Go on a short walk after dinner
  11. Repeat

This might seem like a long list, but all of this is so effortless and takes up minimal time. If you combine this with a nutritious diet, you’ll be in great shape.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13

Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or any personal health concerns. Reliance on the information presented on this blog is at your own risk. The content is not intended to provide medical guidance or recommendations, and the author is not responsible for any actions or decisions made based on the information provided. It’s important to consult with a qualified healthcare professional for individualized medical guidance.

That one friend who always shares random information you didn't ask for.

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