Everyone, or almost everyone, is clear about what are the keys to lose weight or, at least, not to gain weight. Food and exercise is the basic duo for anyone who wants to maintain a healthy weight. However, what happens when we are forced to be in bed? Injuries, bone fractures, pregnancy or a postoperative period are situations that can be prolonged and force us to rest, something that over time can cause us to gain weight. That is why in we bring you the definitive guide so that you know how to act and how not to gain weight while at rest.
How to lose weight by resting: key points
I am at rest and need to lose weight: what to do? First of all, it is essential that you stop to think about how your diet was before you had to maintain rest and what you should change so that these days standing do not translate into kilos. How did you eat? In what quantities did you do it?, What kind of food did you eat?, Was it a balanced diet? Once you have answered all these questions you must take into account the following points, as they are the keys that should guide your rest diet:
- You should consume less food.
- Avoid eating processed or industrial products, even those that may seem healthy such as packaged soups, sauces, packaged juices, or yogurts that contain fruit.
- Eat in an orderly way, that is, eat 5 times a day and do not skip any meals.
- You must drink at least 1 liter and a half of water daily, for this you can accompany yourself with infusions.
- Do not follow very strict diets, you must eat well to recover as soon as possible. Food is essential to be able to do so.
In addition, to know how to lose weight while in bed, you must banish some ideas that we have very established and that, in reality, have no scientific basis. A clear example is that carbohydrates should not be consumed at night. This is totally false, in fact, it can be good not to get fat while at rest. Of course, you must do it correctly.
When you eat carbohydrates at night you should always do them accompanied by vegetables, better if it is raw, since it will satiate you, make you not feel like eating anymore and will help you not to gain weight. Of course, when we talk about eating carbohydrates it does not mean that you can eat as much as you want. You can eat a small plate of pasta -boiled al dente- accompanied by vegetables.
Diet for people at rest
Here's what the diet should look like for people at rest so as not to gain weight or even lose weight:
- Breakfast: it has been repeated ad nauseam, but it must be repeated as many times as necessary: breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that is also true in diets for people without mobility. Eating enough at breakfast will cause our metabolism to kick in and burn more calories throughout the day. We must avoid eating sugar that causes us a rise and fall in glucose that causes us hunger. Considering all this, your breakfast should include: fruit with a low glycemic index, coffee or tea, low-fat milk, cereals or whole wheat bread with turkey or fresh cheese.
- Food: this is the meal in which we must incorporate carbohydrates, proteins and some healthy fat. One way is a good salad with avocado, tuna and nuts or brown rice with chopped turkey, tomato and onion.
- Dinner: it should be the lightest meal of the whole day since we do not need calories that we will not be able to burn. That's why a nice dinner should be a small portion of something like vegetables or protein. A mashed vegetable or a scrambled with vegetables are an ideal option for before going to sleep.
In this diet to lose weight while at rest, it is important to make small snacks between meals, a small lunch and snack are essential to keep glucose levels stable and prevent us from getting hungry and sweeping away the fridge. The ideal is to eat a piece of fruit; however, they can also combine it with a handful of nuts, a yogurt, dehydrated fruit or vegetable and fruit smoothies.
Burn fat at rest with exercise
Exercise is the best option we have to burn calories, counterbalancing and balancing what we consume so as not to gain weight. Beyond that, movement and sport is essential for a multitude of benefits in our body such as accelerating metabolism, maintaining toned muscles and preventing cardiovascular diseases. However, if we are forced to rest, either due to injury, pregnancy or an operation, our mobility can be very limited.
If this is your case you can rest assured, physical exercise is not only dumbbells and going for a run, we have a wide variety of exercises at our disposal to burn calories and avoid a sedentary lifestyle even if we are at rest. Here's how to burn fat at rest with exercise:
Isometric exercises
Isometric exercises are an ideal alternative to exercise while at rest and thus avoid gaining weight. These exercises can be performed to gain strength and tone:
- Biceps.
- Shoulders.
- Back.
- Legs.
- Chest.
- Abdominal.
- Buttocks.
- Triceps.
The fact that isometric exercises are ideal for people who are at rest is because they are exercises in which no movement is performed. We often believe that sport is only possible by moving, but isometrics show that it is possible to exercise muscles effectively statically. It is about tightening the muscle, either pushing, stretching or making force for a certain time, and for this it can be done with specific material, with a wall, with towels or with our own body. Although hypopressive exercises are very varied, depending on the condition that has you in bed, you should opt for one or the other, avoiding doing those that compromise any of the affected areas. To do this, it is always advisable to talk to a doctor or physiotherapist who tells you which is the best option. Below you can see some isometric exercises for the abdomen or legs.
Muscle toning exercises in bed
The exercises that we are going to explain below focus on the legs, the extremities that suffer the most with rest and the most important to have toned so as not to suffer once our days of rest are over. All of them are done in bed, lying up and with their legs and arms stretched out. In turn, we will perform between 10 and 15 repetitions, alternating one leg and another. These are the exercises to avoid gaining weight while at rest:
- Starting from the legs stretched, extend and flex them while moving the tips of your feet down and up.
- Without the foot losing contact with the mattress, bend your legs up and stretch them again.
- In the event that your condition allows it, repeat the same exercise but without the foot touching the mattress.
- Starting from the stretched legs, raise one leg 30 centimeters on the mattress, hold it for 5 seconds and repeat it with the other leg.
- Stretch your leg and place a cushion or bent towel under your knee. Once you're like this, press your leg down as you raise your tip looking toward you.
We have chosen easy to perform exercises so that anyone can carry them out, however, it is always better to talk to a doctor or physiotherapist to advise you what you can do and tell you what you cannot do if you are injured and do not want to gain weight.
You may also be interested in our article on Tricks to lose weight without exercising in the event that your mobility is greatly reduced.
