Health tips : How to lose weight at home and avoid weight gain: 7 tips and essential equipment for home weight loss

Keep the weight off during lockdown with diet and home workout essentials

Want to know how to lose weight at home? No surprises there. Weight loss at home – or perhaps more accurately, avoiding weight gain at home – is suddenly a big deal for a lot of us. A few weeks into lockdown and a lack of daily activity, no access to the gym – unless you managed to scramble some home gym equipment together – and a wholly understandable urge to comfort eat are a dangerous combo, waistline-wise. But it’s possible to avoid weight gain in isolation.

Managing your weight is beneficial for both your physical and mental wellbeing. With a few simple tricks and lifestyle adjustments, you can make sure the pounds stay off and who knows, you might even shed a few kilos in the process. The fact is, the best way to lose weight fast is to pay close attention to your diet. Not surprisingly, the best way to get a six pack is to eat right (and, to some degree, to work out).

The tips below can be used on their own or you can even combine them as you see fit. Very important, however, is not to overdo it and do vigorous exercising while not eating much at all. That is just plain dangerous and can get you injured in no time. Be sensible and if you had any issues with obesity before or are really unfit, consider talking to a health professional before you implement any drastic changes in your lifestyle.

HOW TO AVOID WEIGHT GAIN AT HOME

TIP #1: MANAGE YOUR CALORIE INTAKE

It’s really not rocket science: if you don’t want to out on weight, you have to stop eating more than your body needs. Even if before the mandatory isolation you have been living a relative sedentary lifestyle, being indoors for 99% of time means you are burning less calories than you used to. And this means you should eat less to adjust to this new lifestyle.

Of course, you can offset the lack of outdoor exercising with indoor exercising but there are other ways to keep the waist slim that doesn’t involve gruelling physical activity. And the best of them all is to be more mindful about how and what you eat.

Without trying to convert anybody to mindfulness and being present, try stopping for a second anytime before you raid your cupboard for some food. Ask yourself the question: am I hungry or just bored? Was there anything I was supposed to do before I decided to eat? Something I had to deal with? Unhealthy eating habits often stem from procrastination and us not wanting to deal with the task at hand.

If you are a big fan of fried food, one obvious way to reduce calorie and fat intake is to get one a best air fryer. Air fried food isn’t necessarily as delicious as deep- or even shallow-fried, but it does retain a fried/roasted taste and mouth-feel whilst using as little as a tenth of the fat of frying or roasting. We know they’re in demand right now, cos they keep selling out

Tefal Actifry Genius 2in1 Air Fryer

This culinary Actifry genius Air Fryer takes the hassle out of meal times, producing delicious and healthy low-fat results. Simply add your ingredients to the Acti Fry Genius XL’s bowl, choose from one of the nine automatic cooking programmes and let this smart health air fryer do the rest. It sets the temperature and cooking time, and even knows when to stir so you don’t have to. The nine programmes include chips, rolls, bread snacks, meat & vegetable balls, battered snacks, chicken, desserts, plus two “1-meal-in-1-go” programmes. Wok is perfect for stir fries, sautés and rice dishes, while world cuisine is great for curries, tajines and more. All of this can be done with little to no oil*, thanks to Tefal’s dual motion technology that combines hot air circulation and a stirring paddle to deliver perfect results. Stuck for inspiration? the free My ActiFry APP has over 300 recipe ideas, 150 of which have been created specifically for the ActiFry genius xl’s nine intelligent cooking programmes. A generous 1.7kg capacity produces enough for five main meal or eight side dish servings – ideal for dinner with the family or a party with friends – and dishwasher-safe, removable parts make tidying up a breeze!

Kore PVC 20-50 kg Gym Set with 3 Ft Curl + 5 Ft Plain Rod + 2 x Dumbbell Rods with Gym Accessories

No time to head to the gym? Don’t worry! With Kore 20KG Combo Gym Set, you can now work out in the luxury of your own home! This complete set enables you to work out your arms, legs, biceps, abs and so much more. Perfect for fitness enthusiasts , beginners or veterans alike.

Fitbit Versa 2

Meet fitbit versa 2—a water resistant smartwatch that elevates every moment. Use your voice to create alarms, set bedtime reminders or check the weather with built-in voice control.* Take your look from the gym to the office with its modern and versatile design. See your stats with an always-on display mode.** Plus get daily sleep-quality scores, apps, notifications, 5+ day battery life, 24/7 heart rate and store 300+ songs for an experience that revolves around you. Third-party account and app may be required. Voice control not available in all countries, see fitbit.Com/voice. **Always-on display mode requires more frequent charging. Notifications available when your phone is nearby.

TIP #2: TRY INTERMITTENT FASTING

Even if you don’t want to swap out Mars bars for kale and broccoli, you can drastically reduce calorie consumption by only eating in a certain time-window a day. Probably the most popular way is to do intermittent fasting. There are two ways to go about it: either the 5:2 diet or the 16:8 fast diet.

With the 5:2 diet, you restrict calorie intake for two days a week, down to 700-800 calories, while for the rest of the weeks you eat normally. The 16:8 diet is a daily fast, where you eat only in an 8-hour window. With the latter, the most convenient way is to fast while you sleep: have your last meal at around 8 pm, and have the next one at 12 pm the next day. This way, you sleep through most of the fats, making it super easy to do so. Well, somewhat easier anyway.

RINE Bars High Protein Sugar Free Bars for Workout & Snacks, Mighty Chocolate

All hail the Mighty Chocolate! Whether you lift weights, are a marathon runner or love to lap the pool, this Rine Bar helps you build lean muscle while giving you the strength you need to last longer, for any exercise. When you need a guilt-free chocolate fix that also helps you achieve your fitness goals, reach for Mighty Chocolate – your perfect work-out partner.

TIP #3: DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

Drinking more water is beneficial for a lot of reasons and now that we are all grounded in our homes, people can’t really use the usual excuse not to drink more, which is “I’ll need to go to the toilet more often”, since the loo is really always available at home (we hope so anyway).

Drinking plenty of water can help metabolism and, most importantly, it can also help you feel fuller for longer. The best combination is eating more fibrous food – more vegetables, mainly –and drinking plenty of water. Cold-pressed bars are okay as a snack too with lots of water, although they are by nature quite high in sugar.

Low-sugar protein bars and savoury snacks like beef or vegan jerky are a great alternative to chocolate bars as a mid-afternoon snack. Nuts are okay although they are very energy dense (high in good fats) so you should only eat a small portion at the time.

TIP #4: USE A FITNESS TRACKER

Although we are stuck indoors, having a fitness tracker or running watch around your wrist can still be beneficial. One of the more casual feature of these fitness wearables is the ‘movement reminder’ that prompts you, once every hour, to get up and walk for a bit. Now, being in isolation doesn’t help but getting off from the sofa periodically can be beneficial for your overall wellbeing nevertheless, even if it is just to have a stretch or to put away some washing.

Fitness trackers and running watches also measure calories burned so you it can adjust your calorie consumption to your calorie expenditure. These devices are not ultra precise but they will give you a good estimate nevertheless.

TIP #5: GET A SMART SCALE

Just like fitness trackers, bathroom scales – the smart scale variety – can also measure energy expenditure and tell you how many calories you burn, as well as other deets about your body, like bone/muscle mass and, most importantly, body fat percentage. They don’t even cost the earth either: the Tanita BC-401 body composition monitor is less than £80 and measures 10 different body metrics. Cheaper than getting a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro, for sure, although the Tanita BC-401 won’t be that much of a help when it comes to navigating forest trails, unlike the Garmin’s offline topographic maps.

TIP #6: DO HIIT WORKOUTS

HIIT workouts have never really gone out of fashion but they are definitely ‘in’ at the moment, mainly because they are an effective way to burn calories and can be done indoors, using your bodyweight only, a kettlebell, dumbbells, treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machines and basically everything you can think off. We have seen a gym water bottle tabata workout before, too.

TIP #7: CHALLENGE YOURSELF

Best way to motivate yourself to move more and therefore to burn more calories more efficiently is set up a challenge for yourself. Although you can’t leave the house for leisure activities but you still have plenty of options. How about a 30-day push up challenge? Start with doing one on day one and adding one more every day and see if you can keep up with the pace.

Have you got a pull up bar? How about learning how to do pull ups properly? Or mastering chin ups. Don’t know what the difference is? Here is a handy article on the subject: chin up vs pull up – which one is better for you? If you have an ab wheel knocking about somewhere in the house, you can challenge yourself to actually learn how to use roller properly.

Maybe you can improve your mobility? Improving hamstring flexibility can be quite challenging for some but being more flexible can improve your general comfort levels significantly. Shoulder mobility is also a massive issue among the adult population: get some resistance bands and do two-arm shoulder circles.