12 No Treadmill Ways To Help You Lose Weight
You know that line on Pitch Perfect, “Don’t put me down for cardio?” Well, that is basically how I have lived the last decade of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I love my fitness classes like hip hop and turbo kick but when it came to that dreaded treadmill there was no way I was getting on board. Still, even without a treadmill, I have managed to change, maintain and love my body using so many different methods. For those of you who are newer to fitness or are just sick of getting nowhere, you have got to check out these 12 ways to get the body of your dreams without stepping foot on a treadmill. There may even be one added bonus tip in there too!
*This post contains affiliate links. Although I may make a commission, all recommendations are my own.
Drink more water
Chances are you have heard this one a bajillion times, but it’s because it makes that big of a difference with very little effort. Not only do our bodies need water to function well but often times we are eating more when really our body is just super thirsty! Here are some super simple ways to have to treadmill workout by sneak extra water into your day:
- Drink a full glass first thing in the morning
- Have a glass before you drink coffee
- Before each meal, drink a full glass of water
- Drink a final glass of water after dinner
You might not be a huge fan of water, but just find some sneaky times during the day to chug as much as you can. Chugging is not the best method…but in the name of being your healthiest…chug that water.
If you are a person who likes keeping track of your goals and holding yourself accountable, you’ll love the Deluxe Home Binder Printables by Abby Lawson. The binder has everything to keep your life organized and has a great set of fitness and health related worksheets so you can track your progress!
Cut one bad thing from your diet
When people often make health and fitness goals they add 18 things to their plate (or should I say they remove 18 things from their plate) all at once! If you have these habits deeply ingrained in your brain, then chances are trying to change all of these habits at once is only going to set you up for failure.
Instead of trying to completely flip your habits upside down, try just focusing on one habit that you can change right now.
Maybe that means you cut processed sugars or soda from your diet. What is one thing you have a bad habit of doing that you know is no good for you? Whatever it may be, take that one bad habit and put all of your efforts toward cutting it out of your life for at least 30 days. This is a great no treadmill way to lose weight!
Tasty recipes to help you cut sugars
- Date Sweetened Snicker’s Bites
- Grain Free Fudge Brownies
- Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies
- Grain Free Cookie Dough
Eat more leafy greens
It is amazing how adding some leafy greens to your diet can slowly transform how you look and feel. Honestly, it doesn’t have to be that painful either. I usually sneak my leafy greens in with my eggs in the morning. Chop a few leaves of spinach in with your scrambled eggs and you’re set.
If you aren’t a huge fan of greens like spinach, kale or arugula try mixing them in with an ice burg lettuce salad. This is a not only a good no treadmill way to lose weight but also a good way to slowly adapt to eating more vitamin dense leafy greens.
A few other sneaky green tricks:
- Chop up greens and put them in your spaghetti sauce
- Add spinach to your favorite soups and stir frys
- Toss a few greens into a morning smoothie or protein shake
Meal prep
Meal prepping, especially if you have a habit of going out for lunch or snacking on vending machine goodies, is crucial to helping you get the body of your dreams!
Making sure you have healthy meals and snacks planned ahead of time can save you from making poor food choices. If you are not great at planning meals or even getting a healthy grocery list together, you have got to check out the $5 Meal Plan.
If you The $5 Meal Plan was created by a busy mother of 4 to help other families stick to their budgets and eat healthy by creating healthy and affordable meal plans and grocery lists!
Create a shopping list
Going to the grocery story with no plan is a disasterous way to not only overspend but also fill your cart with a ton of unhealthy food options. A great no treadmill way to lose weight is to start making a list!
If you need help planning out your grocery list, the Deluxe Home Binder Printables have a great grocery list and meal planning section and even a Pantry Inventory printout so you can keep track of the foods you already have.
Even better? Plan your list and skip the store all together by taking advantage of grocery pick up options that might be available. Big name places like Walmart are quickly hopping on board with grocery pick up to help make your life more convenient and you don’t even have to go in the store!
Another great option is Instacart. You can get someone to do all of your shopping for you so that you don’t get any temptation from the grocery store! Plus, this could be a great way to free up your time so you can make it to the gym after work instead of pacing the isle of the grocery store.
Get professional training for free
There is an awesome app that will help train you in so many different areas of fitness. You can take meditation classes, yoga, weights, running, biking and more and you can do it all for FREE for 30 days!
The Aaptiv app has a totally free 30 day trial and is super helpful for getting you to get up and moving in a way that works for you. Let’s face it, not everyone likes to workout the same way. That’s why Aaptiv has such an awesome, ever changing variety of workouts to choose from.
Do 20 minutes (or less) of non-treadmill cardio
In attempts to get a little more cardio in without stepping foot on the treadmill, I have been turning to Jen Heward’s Instagram workouts. Jen puts together super simple, easy to follow workouts for every area of your body and short cardio workouts without the treadmill is probably my favorite way to get in some serious cardio.
Checkout my latest favorite from Jen’s Instagram.
These workouts are perfect because they get you moving and sweating and you only do each workout for 30-60 seconds! After each workout you can rest for a minute (or more if you need it.)
I took a moment to add it up and realized my cardio workout was a total of less than 17 minutes of me actually doing cardio!
Eat happy foods
Did you know there are foods that are healthy for you and they naturally lift your moods? It’s true, I swear.
Making sure you consume more of these foods can naturally elevate your levels of happiness, give you more energy and help you maintain a healthy body.
See the full post on happy foods.
Lift weights
Weight lifting is not just a men’s game ladies. If you are a woman who hasn’t started making your way toward the weight room then it is high time you start especially if you are trying to create the body of your dreams.
Some fun weight training facts:
- Lowers cholesterol
- Increases metablolism
- Improves sleep habits
- 2 trainings a day can decrease body fat by 7%
- Boosts dopamine and improves depression
If you are not consistently practicing weight training, then this is a good time to consider it especially if you don’t want to step foot on that treadmill.
Again, for this I recommend checking out Jen Heward’s Instagram since she has different weight training ideas shared throughout her feed. This is so helpful when you have no idea how to start or what to do.
Don’t eat before bed
When you go to sleep at night, your body doesn’t use as much energy as it does during your waking hours. Because it doesn’t require much energy, it doesn’t require as much food.
Eating before bed can naturally slow down your metabolism and leave your unused calories sitting in your body with nowhere to go. Therefore, your body will store those calories as fat.
To avoid gaining un-needed pounds do you best to avoid eating before bed.
30 minutes of active movement per day
When you hate the treadmill but still want to find a way to get fit, the best way to do it is to get moving. All it takes is 30 minutes of intentional active movements per day.
The best thing you can do is to think of what you love to do that requires you to be physically active. Find a way to do that 30 minutes a day. Maybe that means taking your dog for a walk, dancing around your living room, doing yoga, or making a daily trip to the gym.
Stick to a food budget
Another great way to avoid filling up your cart with a bunch of unnecessary junk food is to work on sticking to a budget. If you are shopping with a limited budget you are more likely to stick to the essentials rather than fill the cart with bad-for-you treats.
In my Fun Sized Budget Bundle there is a basic budget to help you start a simple budget and also a few grocery printouts to help you stick to your grocery budget, plan your savings, and make the most of your money!
BONUS walk on treadmill at an angle
I had to include this little bonus tid-bit because it has proven to be very successful for me. When it comes to the treadmill I don’t necessarily hate it, I just don’t want to run and I don’t want to spend much time there.
When I was Googling Brooke Burke’s workouts (as we all are at some point during the day) I read that she starts her workouts with by walking at an incline for 20 minutes. That means setting the treadmill to be “uphill” and walking. Since I know I like walking a whole lot better than running, I gave it a go….for 10 minutes.
I loved it!
I burned nearly as many calories as I did whenever I would attempt running/jogging on the treadmill, I still felt like I got a mini-workout, and it wasn’t running…so there’s always that.
Find what works
No matter what, it’s important that you find what works for you. I hope you’ve gotten some new ideas from this post and can take on your new fitness goals without stepping foot on a treadmill!
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