4 Inexpensive Ways to Lose Weight

Weight loss is always a challenge, and many methods for weight loss can seem expensive. Gym memberships and diet plans can be very expensive, so people sometimes need to become creative in their methods to lose weight and become healthier.

1. Start Eating At Home

Eating at home is one of the simplest and easiest ways to both save money and lose weight at the same time. Food in restaurants and fast food chains is often unhealthy, high in calories, and served in deceptively large portions. Eating at home puts you in direct control of the ingredients that you use, and allows you to prepare your own healthy and fresh meals. It can also reduce your food budget significantly. The more you cook at home, the faster and easier the process will get. If you're very busy, you can consider frozen diet meals, or making your food for the week during the weekend.

2. Try A Vegetarian Or Low Carbohydrate Diet

A restrictive diet such as a vegetarian or low carbohydrate diet will often automatically reduce the amount of calories you're eating. These diets aren't always ultimately sustainable but they can be used to lose weight in a healthy way and a short amount of time. Vegetarian diets save money by avoiding the most expensive food items, which are meats. Low carbohydrate diets involve ditching a lot of empty calories such as snack foods and desserts, so they're also cost effective. Diets don't have to be adhered to completely, so making a few exceptions on certain days can keep you motivated. You should however exercise caution when eating a restricted diet and ensure that you are getting sufficient vitamins and minerals. There are a wide range of supplements in NZ available and a quick Google search will point you in the right direction.

3. Exercise Portion Control

Portion control is a simple and cheap way to control the amount of food that you're eating. Placing the food that you take to work in a single small container, or using smaller plates, can make it appear as though you're eating more food than you actually are. You should also concentrate on eating slowly. The stomach usually doesn't register the feeling of being full for ten to fifteen minutes, which means that people who eat quickly can overeat before they realize that they have already eaten enough. Eating slowly can be achieved by eating socially, and allows your brain to catch up with your food.

4. Become More Active

Becoming generally more active is a great and cheap way to lose weight. This means taking up cheap hobbies such as running, tennis, or hiking. Not only will becoming more active help you shed the pounds, it will also increase your general health, and often make you more socially active. You can check with your local community to locate cheap and free yoga or aerobics classes, and you can go to the local community center for pool and facility access. Biking is also a great activity for weight loss. Sports equipment can usually be found very cheaply by using online classifieds as long as you don't mind secondhand items.

Written by Steph K