The Best Home Remedies for Weight Loss

When it comes to home remedies for weight loss, take these weight-loss solutions to heart. All these little weight-loss tips can really be of help in the short and long run!

Where and how you live can have a big impact on your health. So is it time to give your home a wellness makeover? Everything from what time of day you eat to how you organize your kitchen could make it harder to lose weight and have a healthy body weight.

Want to hear more ways to create a healthy-living sanctuary? Read on for my favorite advice that promotes weight loss.

If you’re at a happy weight, don’t stop reading. The below advice can help you improve digestive health and also help reduce your risk of heart disease.

Makeover Your Kitchen for Weight Loss

I recently did a little kitchen makeover, shelving away food products into the cupboards and fridge. I do this periodically because I’ve known for years that out of sight usually means out of mind when it comes to snack foods! And for me, usually out of house for the really tempting treats like cookies and ice cream!

And research from Cornell University shows that the food on your kitchen counter may have a significant impact on your weight. In the study, people who left candy, cereal, dried fruit, and soda sitting out in the open weighed between 21 and 32 pounds more than those who did not.

In particular, women who kept regular or diet soda out in the kitchen weighed about 25 pounds more—and ladies who stored cereal on the counter weighed 21 pounds more.

On the other hand, normal-weight women were more likely to store snacks in a set cupboard and less likely to purchase large packages of food.

Interestingly, men who kept their toasters out were likely to weigh more. The study authors say the appliance may lead to overeating carbs.

There’s one thing you can (and should!) leave on your kitchen counter, however: a fruit bowl. In the study, women who kept one on the counter were likely to weigh 14 pounds less. Researchers say that visible fruit may serve as a trigger for healthy habits.

Want more tips for organizing your kitchen for weight loss success?  I share five easy ways to make doing this second nature in this Facebook Live video I did with NBC News BETTER!

Hint: One of my tips involves owning a set of measuring cups and measuring spoons for easy portion control!

And an occasional doughnut can most definitely be part of a healthy-eating plan. But I did give TheEveryMom.com some better options to try when you’re craving something sweet in your day-to-day life!

Eat Off a Small Plate to Lose Weight

I have these cute little salad plates in my cupboard that I often use for dinner plates. Each one is a different color with a different vegetable pictured. If I fill up a salad plate, it’s not as much food as if I were to fill up a dinner plate.

We’ve heard for years that eating off a smaller plate may help you eat less. Now, a review study in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews–essentially the gold standard in scientific health research–confirms this. The study also shows that the size of glasses and food packages affects the amount of food eaten, too.

The study authors reviewed 72 studies, finding that continuing to eat from smaller plates and cups could lead to up to a 228-calorie daily decrease. Over the course of the year, this could equal a 20-plus-pound weight loss!

I’m not saying this is a way to lose weight fast or to immediately reduce body fat, but that’s the point. I don’t encourage my clients to focus on losing belly fat in days. Instead, small, sustainable changes are the way to go.

And of course, maintaining a healthy weight yields many health benefits.

The findings also work in reverse. If it’s a glass of water that you’re drinking, try this strategy. The review found that drinking from a shorter, wider bottle could increase intake, versus drinking from a taller, narrow bottle. If you drink tea daily, that counts as water, too.

I don’t know about your, but I’m going to eat my dinner off of a small plate tonight with a water glass that’s short and wide!

Have a Small Dinner to Nudge Weight Loss Along

I’ve long wondered whether eating a big dinner–or snacking in the evening–makes it harder to lose weight, and a review study in the journal Biochimie investigated this very topic.

The study authors found that eating a larger percentage of daily calories earlier in the day helps weight loss, while eating more in the late afternoon and/or evening may lead to weight gain.

In fact, research shows that eating more than a third of daily calories at nighttime doubles obesity risk, versus when the same amount is eaten at or before noon. Likewise, having a late lunch may make it harder to lose weight. Wondering if being a night owl impacts weight loss?

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends eating the majority of daily calories during the day, not in the evening. Here’s why: You don’t need a lot of energy after dinner, when most activity is centered around winding down and sleeping. Late eating may also disrupt sleep cycles, in turn affecting weight.

The study authors also looked into whether eating several small meals throughout the day helps weight loss. Research shows little or no benefit—and doing so may even cause weight gain when snacking leads to consuming more daily calories than you need. Eating often isn’t shown to increase metabolism or better control appetite.

Another habit that can provide weight-loss solutions? Cutting back on added sugar could be one of the easiest ways to support a healthier you. Note: I didn’t say completely ditch, even though that’s the title of the article featured here!

Now that you’ve read these healthy-weight tips, you might notice that my advice doesn’t include embracing apple cider vinegar, aloe vera, and lemon juice to burn fat. That’s because I’m all about small, sustainable changes. You can also check out my mix-and-match meal plans, which make healthy eating and weight loss very manageable!

This blog post was updated in September 2020. A version of this content originally appeared on WeightWatchers.com.

Sources

• Slim by Design: Kitchen Counter Correlates of Obesity, Health Education & Behavior 
• Design Your Kitchen for Weight-Loss Success, Facebook
• Portion, Package or Tableware Size for Changing Selection and Consumption of Food, Alcohol and Tobacco, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
• Metabolic Impacts of Altering Meal Frequency and Timing – Does When We Eat Matter?, Biochimie 
• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Ditch Added Sugar & 6 Other Ways to Encourage Healthy Eating, TheEveryMom.com 

I’d love to hear from you! What are your home remedy weight-loss tips? What are your tips for preventing weight gain?