Easy ways to burn more calories every day (without going to the gym)
If burning fat effectively were easy, we’d all be at our ideal weight without the need to break much of a sweat. But once you know the best ways to eat and train, you may start shedding your unwanted fat easier than you thought possible.
Of course, the usual mantra of eat right, move more and end up in a calorie deficit (the key driver for fat loss) is the number-one solution when you want to learn how to lose fat, but there are ways of reaching that point in an accelerated timeframe.
Key fat-loss factors, such as maintaining good sleep patterns, incorporating increased daily movement habits, and engaging in more varied training, are often easily neglected. We’ve spoken to experts to get the lowdown on the habits you need to incorporate in your life to lose weight easily and keep it off.
Resistance training is key
Michael Betts, a personal trainer with over 35 years of experience, says that resistance training (also known as strength or weight training) takes the crown for fat burning, especially for women over 40. ‘While cardio burns calories during exercise, resistance training creates an afterburn effect that keeps your metabolism elevated for hours afterwards. Your muscles need energy to repair and rebuild, which means you're burning calories even while watching television later that evening.’
Betts continues, ‘Compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and push-ups work multiple muscle groups simultaneously, giving you more bang for your buck.
‘The beauty is that you don't need marathon gym sessions. Three 30-minute resistance sessions per week will transform your body composition far more effectively than hours on the treadmill. As women age, muscle mass naturally declines by about 3-8% per decade after 30. Resistance training not only halts this decline but reverses it, building lean muscle that burns calories.’
Different types of resistance training include:
- Free weights – classic strength training tools such as dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells.
- Weight machines – devices that have adjustable seats with handles attached either to weights or hydraulics.
- Resistance bands – like giant rubber bands – provide resistance when stretched. They are portable and can be adapted to most workouts. The bands provide continuous resistance throughout a movement.
- Your own body weight can be used for exercises such as squats, push-ups, and chin-ups. Using your body weight is convenient, especially when travelling or at work.
Keep moving throughout the day
When it comes to burning fat, everyday movement counts just as much as what you do in the gym. Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) - all the movement you do outside of formal exercise often makes up 15-30% of your daily calorie burn.
Every day activities add up - vacuuming for 30 minutes burns 90 calories. Gardening can burn 200-400 calories, depending on the intensity. Washing dishes by hand burns 136 calories per hour. Even standing instead of sitting burns 50 calories per hour.
As Betts explains, these little movements add up, ‘The magic happens through accumulation. Taking the stairs instead of the lift, parking further away from your destination, cleaning with extra gusto, pacing during phone calls or doing calf raises while brushing your teeth all count. Some people naturally burn 350 calories more per day through NEAT than others - that’s equivalent to a 35-minute jog.’
Simple modifications can help: using a basket instead of a trolley for quick shopping trips, or setting phone reminders to stand and stretch every hour.
Get your steps in
According to the British Heart Foundation, the average person is sedentary for around 9.5 hours per day. This prolonged inactivity can weaken muscles and bones, affecting our body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and metabolise fat, all of which can lead to serious consequences and weight gain. The good news? Walking daily can have a massive impact.
Personal trainer Adam Clark says, ‘I recommend brisk, daily walking for my clients, as it doesn’t put strain on muscles, heart or joints, yet you’ll still enjoy all the benefits of cardio exercise. Quite simply, it’s the simplest and best form of exercise you can do.’
‘All walking is good walking,’ says Rosaria Barreto-Ellis, a sports scientist and the founder of Mature Movers, ‘but how you approach it is person-dependent. If you’ve been fairly sedentary, start by aiming for a relatively low amount like 3-4,000 steps a day. If you’re more active, figure out your average step count and focus on increasing it as there is always room for improvement. A minimum of 10,000 steps a day is good to aim for.’
The faster, further and more frequently you walk, the greater the benefits, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic. If you hit 10,000 daily steps over a week, you could be well on your way to losing 10lbs over 10 weeks.
Eat more protein
According to Betts, protein is a secret weapon for fat loss. ‘A lot of people are unaware of what a big role protein can play when they are trying to change their body composition. Compared to carbs or fats, our bodies use significantly more calories simply digesting protein, with around 30% of the calories in protein being used just to break it down.
‘Protein triggers hormones that send messages to the brain telling it that you feel full - helping you resist those mid-afternoon or late-evening snacks that can derail your progress. Studies have shown that people naturally eat 400-500 fewer calories per day when their protein intake increases from 15% to 30% of their total calories per day.’
Betts recommends aiming for roughly 1.6-2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight daily. That's about 20-30 grams per meal for most women. Greek yoghurt, eggs, lean meats, fish, and legumes should become your best friends. Spreading protein throughout the day works better than loading it all into one meal; your body can only process about 25-30 grams effectively at a time.
Cut back on sugar and refined carbohydrates
Refined grains undergo processing to remove the bran and the germ, which contain most of the grain’s fibre and nutrients. These grains include white rice, white bread, and regular pasta.
A 2023 study links the consumption of more refined grains with weight gain. A 2021 review suggests that whole grains are more likely to reduce hunger and increase fullness, which could lead to lower calorie intake.
To experience these benefits, try swapping highly processed foods for more nutritionally dense options. Potential swaps include:
- Whole grain rice, bread, and pasta instead of the white versions
- Fruit, nuts, and seeds instead of high-sugar fizzy drinks
- Herbal teas and fruit-infused water instead of high-sugar juices
- Smoothies with water or milk instead of fruit juice
Studies have found that eating more soluble fibre – whole grains, fruits and vegetables – can help you lose belly fat and stop it from creeping back on. A study published in the journal Obesity found that a tiny 10g increase in soluble fibre was linked to a 3.7% lower chance of gaining belly weight. Just one cup of oats contains 8g of the good stuff, while a banana contains around 3g.
Slow down your eating
As well as what you eat, focus on how quickly you are eating. ‘When you eat too fast, you don’t notice how full you are and your receptors can’t keep up,’ says integrative health coach and nutritionist Arina Kuzmina. ‘Try slowing down, take a break from running around, sit down and actually enjoy your well-deserved meal.’ That also means eating away from the distractions of TV, emails or social media.
The greater the time spent on screens, the greater the chance of weight gain. That’s according to research from the World Cancer Research Fund International, and is largely because the majority of our time on screens is spent sitting down.
Drink more water
In a 2015 study, those who drank 500ml of tap water half an hour before each meal lost 1.3kg more over 12 weeks than the control group, who didn’t drink the water before eating. The authors suggested that individuals trying to lose fat could try drinking a pint of water before each meal, three times a day.
Manage stress
Personal trainer and mindset coach Chloe Thomas says managing stress is crucial for fat loss. ‘High cortisol levels make it harder to lose fat, especially around your middle, so sleep, breathwork, and slowing down is a priority. I work as a life coach and therapist and I see how much this impacts people and is key to work on. You often cannot control your life or stress but you can control your response to it.’
Of course, finding ways to reduce stress is often easier said than done, but yoga, meditation or even regular fresh-air walks are some tried-and-tested methods.
Improve your sleep
If only it could be as easy as losing weight by sleeping, but a healthy amount of sleep is vital for your fat-burning ambitions. ‘When we don’t have enough sleep we all know that just about everything in our lives suffers, from our concentration to our mood,’ explains Clark. If you’re tired, you'll make poorer food choices and find it harder to train. Sleep deprivation is also linked to an increase in the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger levels in the body.
Clark says, ‘A two-week study found that during a period of calorie restriction, one group that slept normal hours (8.5 hours per night) experienced 55% of their reduction in body weight specifically as fat loss. This was compared to another group with restricted sleep (5.5 hours per night), which experienced only 25% of the reduction in fat loss.
‘This suggests sleep loss increases the loss of muscle mass during dieting. So, use your phone or wearable device to track your current sleep patterns and try to improve the quality and volume of your sleep.’
Yoga or pilates?
Thinking about taking up yoga or Pilates but not sure which to choose? We asked the experts to weigh them up so you can find out which one suits you best.
