Gym memberships are expensive, so are heavily promoted protein powders, and of course super-hyped superfoods like kale and acai berries are insanely priced as well – putting all of them together – a lot of us tend to deduce that losing weight is indeed an expensive affair, but believe us, it isn’t! Also, the price tags on the fat burner pills that are promoted as fat-cutting magic wands (with hardly any studies to back their claims) reinforces the belief that losing weight is gonna burn a big hole in your pocket. But let’s focus on this issue – why shouldn’t losing weight be easy on the pocket – there are a lot of inexpensive and effective to lose a few inches and burn a lot of extra pounds, much more effective than the ways mentioned above. While exercise does help in shedding weight, but you have to focus on your diet to see remarkable changes in fat loss. Likewise, it’s not always the “low calories + exercise” formula that would bring about the change, there are some overlooked factors which when corrected can motor up your journey. The bonus is that all of them are easy to follow and most of them are free!

1. Swap Imported Superfoods with Indian Superfoods: As we had mentioned at the beginning of this post, superfoods like kale, acai berries, goji berries are a bit too high on the price range, but the good news is that you can find better nutrient-dense superfoods at a fraction in India, and since they are locally produced, they retain maximum nutrients. Spinach instead of kale, gooseberries and jamun instead of goji and acai berries, sabja seeds instead of chia seeds – the list goes on. Here’s the list of “14 Indian Alternatives for International Superfoods” that you should absolutely check out.
2. Sattu can Replace Expensive Protein Powders: If you are looking for a cheap plant-based protein source, look no further than sattu (roasted bengal gram powder) which is not only rich in protein, it also has calcium and vitamins, and fiber too. With loads of vitamins, minerals, potassium, magnesium, and of course protein, it boosts metabolism and aids in the fat-burning process. Consider this, 100 gm of sattu can give you 20 gm of protein along with other vitamins and minerals – all of which aid in the fat-burning process.
3. Practice Hara Buchi: “Hara Hachi Bu” is an eating technique that originated from Okinawa region of Japan where people live an exceptionally long life, are not obese, and rarely suffer from any metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, stroke or cardiovascular issues. “Hara Hachi Bu,” literally translates to “eat until you are 80% full.” It’s a part of mindful eating where one is alert about cues from the body when the satiety point has been reached. For weight loss to happen, it is important to remain in calorie deficit, and hara hachi bu is an effective eating practice that can help us shed weight by keeping us in calorie deficit. In short, eating only until 80% full will help you eat less, lose weight, and live longer and healthier. Here’s how you can practice hara hachi bu all by yourself.
4. Give up Refined Sugar: Giving up on refined sugar (without adding artificial sweeteners) from your diet can be a game-changer if you are trying to lose weight and improve overall health in general. Eliminating white sugar is the most easiest and effective ways to shed some initial pounds without breaking a sweat and lowers the risk of so many diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and even certain cancer.
5. Sleep Like a Baby: Without good sleep, metabolism and fat-burning hormones and enzymes go for a toss. Even if you exercise every single day and eat literally nothing, but if you don’t get that mandatory 7 hours of sleep, no significant weight loss is going to happen. So, make sure you sleep for 7 hours or more.
6. Avoid Processed Foods At All Costs: You will be saving so much money and saying bye bye to extra weight just by cutting out processed food. Processed foods contain empty calories, artificial flavours, preservatives, that interfere with body’s normal functioning and raise inflammation. Also, a lot of processed food may also contain transfat  that makes body cells insulin resistant and eventually the cells stop responding to the activity of insulin, raising blood sugar levels abnormally and that leads to diabetes. It’s commonly found in fried food, packaged baked items, and even margarine (that’s considered a healthy alternative to butter).
7. Fill Half of your Plate with Protein and Fiber Rich Veggies: Most veggies are extremely low in calories, high  on nutrients, protein and minerals, and they are extremely filling too. They nourish the body with vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, protein, minerals, necessary to synthesize essential hormones and enzymes that boost weight loss. Diet experts recommend getting 2 to 3 servings of vegetables each day for optimum health.
8. Get Up Early and Get Some Sunshine: Early morning sunlight helps to set the body’s internal clock, shift your hormones to turn up fat burning and turn down the hormones that stimulate your hunger and appetite. Most remarkably, certain studies have shown that optimum vitamin D levels in the body not only helps build strong bones, it also boosts weight loss by lowering body fat percentage. So, wake up early and bask in the sunlight for 20-30 minutes.
9. NEAT Activities and Household Chores: Abbreviated as NEAT, it is the energy we use for everything we do in our day-to-day life except for when we are sleeping or exercising. Using the stairs instead of the lift, squatting on the floor to lift something up, walking while talking on the phone, and doing basic household chores like sweeping, mopping, dusting all come under NEAT activities and help to burn some amount of calories and these bits of calories spent here and there, add up to a considerable amount when you are trying to lose weight. NEAT activities help to burn tiny amount of calories through the day, and when they add up, you have torched up a significant amount and are now on your way to drop excess weight pretty soon. Certain studies have established that one can burn up to 150 calories in one hour by doing NEAT activities!
10. Relax and Slow Down: Chronic  stress can create several imbalances in the body and weight gain is one of them.  Stress affects the functioning  of fat-burning  hormones and also has a negative effect on metabolism.  It’s essential to live in the moment and find ways to fight fear, stress, and anxiety to lose weight effectively.

Most importantly, drink at least 2 liters of water every day, it’s a calorie-free inexpensive drink that helps to boost weight loss. Also, if weight loss is on your mind, you should check out the inexpensive diet program on the Rati Beauty diet. Download the Rati Beauty app for more details.

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