13 Simple Ways to Lose a Few Pounds in 2 Weeks

Stress at work, bad sleep, and junk food don’t contribute to the perfect body shape and only make things worse. In September, it’s even more difficult to follow good eating and living patterns and we just can’t help eating something tasty. But losing weight isn’t always about strict diets and exhausting workouts: there are many tricks that will help you lose excess weight in just 2 weeks.

Bright Side always tries to find things that can make our lives easier and we’re ready to share 13 tips that can help you get rid of excess belly fat that most people don’t even know about.

13. Wake up earlier.

Don’t let a few extra hours spent in your bed stop you from being fit. Getting enough sleep improves your metabolism but if you sleep too much, you may harm your body. Scientists have found that people who sleep 8-9 hours and wake up after 10:45 AM, eat 250 calories more than early birds. And on top of that, they usually crave more salty, sweet, and high-fat foods.

12. Brush your teeth more often.

A toothbrush not only cleans your teeth but it also helps you fight against excess weight if you use it during the day. More than 14,000 people took part in research that showed there was a link between brushing your teeth and losing weight. Toothpaste removes food leftovers and it stops communication with our receptors — our brain receives a signal that says, “lunch is over.”

11. Laugh more.

This isn’t a joke: sincere laughter uses about the same energy as walking since it involves different muscles, especially abdominal ones. This data was published in the International Journal of Obesity. In other words, 10-15 minutes of laughing can burn 40-170 calories. And we think no matter what, a positive attitude is always great! So we recommend you go watch some more comedies.

10. Drink more water.

Drinking enough water speeds up the process of fat-burning. In research where participants had to drink 2 large glasses of water, their metabolism became 30% better and faster. Scientists claim that by drinking 50 fluid oz more a day, a person can burn around 17,400 calories per year (approximately 4 lb). We think it’s worth trying.

9. The 2.5 minute rule

This rule is described in Physiological Reports magazine. The thing is, 5-30 seconds of hard exercise during a workout (for example, speeding up while riding a bike or running on a treadmill) with 4-minute breaks may increase your metabolism and you’ll burn 200 extra calories. Let your workouts be more effective!

8. Eat less but more often.

It’s easy: when you eat frequently, you let your body know that there’s no need to accumulate fats. Thus, when we skip eating, we send the opposite signal. Dr. David Jenkins’ research shows that eating little and often reduces cholesterol levels by 15% and insulin levels by almost 28%. Insulin plays an important role since it controls the level of sugar in the blood. If there’s a lack of insulin, glucose reaches neither fat cells nor muscles. All in all, working muscles burn “old” fats to produce energy.

7. Remove bright blue light from electronic displays.

Here’s another simple way to increase your metabolism: remove the blue light from your phone if you use it before bedtime. Studies show that bright light confuses our brains and it stops producing melatonin. Our metabolism is tightly connected to our sleeping patterns, the amount, and quality of sleep. Adjust the light tones emitted by your screens and you’ll see that your sleep will get better.

6. Stop counting calories.

Nutritionists recommend to stop focusing on calories and to pay more attention to the quality of products we eat since not all calories are equal. For example, a high-calorie burger can be harmful but high-calorie nuts are useful. Good products are natural and minimally processed such as vegetables, nuts, and seeds — all of which contain more useful and healthy elements than their powdery dietary analogs. These products help us get used to our new diet, enrich the body with vitamins and minerals, and satisfy hunger.

5. Letting cool air into your bedroom

Inspiring experiment results published in Diabetes suggest that cool temperatures in a room influence our brown fat (a fat layer that protects the body from freezing). It, in turn, splits white fat and burns chemical energy to create heat. Subjects had to sleep in rooms with different temperatures: neutral, cool, and warm. After 4 weeks of sleeping in a cool room, men got rid of a great amount of white fat on their abdomens.

4. Forget about daytime sleep.

Science proves that people burn less fat while sleeping during the day and being active at night. To come up with such results, a group of researchers from the University of Colorado had been studying 14 healthy people within 6 days. During the first 2 days, subjects slept during the night and didn’t have daytime naps. Then they changed their sleeping patterns to imitate owls’ sleeping schedules. It turned out that when people took a nap, their metabolism worsened since their biological clocks didn’t completely flip to fit their schedules. If you work night shifts, doctors recommend reducing the number of calories that you consume by 50-60.

3. Once a week, break your diet deliberately.

Cheat meals are a rather popular phenomenon among amateur and professional athletes that means you can break your diet once a week. You’re allowed to eat everything you want even if these foods are banned. The thing is, you trick your psychology: when you know you’re going to be rewarded for your efforts, it’s much easier to refuse to eat “bad food” to satisfy your spontaneous desires.

2. Get rid of stress.

According to a study published in Biological Psychiatry, stress slows down our metabolism. What’s more, when we’re stressed out, we tend to eat more greasy, sweet, and salty food. Scientists say that consuming high-calorie products in stressful situations affects our metabolism and causes weight gain.

1. Sleep enough.

A few more words about getting good sleep: a healthy 8 hours of sleep (from 10 PM/11 PM to 6 AM/7 AM) contributes to great metabolism and getting rid of unwanted belly fat. 60,000 women took part in a study and scientists found that subjects who slept less than 5 hours were prone to weight gain and obesity more than those who slept enough.

More research conducted in Finland studied twins. It showed that lack of sleep caused visceral fat gain since the level of the stress hormone called cortisol that accumulates fats increases. What’s more, is that frequent sleep deprivation causes glucose tolerance problems. In other words, the body can’t transform sugar into energy, not fats.

What tips do you follow to stay healthy and fit? Share your experience with us!