7 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Without Killing Yourself

Getting your perfect body is almost like winning the lotto, except you're starving and sweating like hell on your way to the bodega to buy the ticket. We all want to get into our ideal shape, but the "one size fits all" fitness package clearly doesn't show results for everyone—and that's OK.

It's human nature to want to do the least amount of work needed to get the results we want. Whether at the office or in our free time, we don't want to work harder than we have to. So when it comes to weight loss, where simply increasing the time spent working out or the severity of your diet regimen aren't always keys to success, the key is to work smarter not harder. We're not fitness experts (and we don't claim to be either), but we've researched some simple changes that even the laziest person can introduce into his or her lifestyle. These are 7 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Without Killing Yourself.

Even if you're avoiding the gym like the plague, burning more than you take in is the key to weight loss. If you eat 2,500 calories, and you're burning 2,800, you're going to lose weight (or, at the very least not see a weight gain). This isn't to say that you should starve yourself, but if you're keeping the calorie count to a minimum, and being active, you're actually making the biggest step in your weight loss experience.

This is exactly why it's recommended you eat fruits and vegetables as opposed to carbs and fats. You don't need a nutritionist to tell you that a bowl of lettuce, carrots, cucumbers (see: a salad) is going to be lower in fat and calories than a bowl of chips or pretzels. If you're unconvinced, just remember, when you're putting vegetables like broccoli, celery, and cabbage into your growling stomach, you'll ultimately feel fuller with less food. How? Vegetables like these are filled with water and fiber, giving your body the mental satisfaction of literally chewing something, while giving your stomach the full feeling that you're trying to satisfy.

If you're trying to really monitor how you eat, download apps like Calorie Counter or Lose It! Sure these apps might not be 100% precise on how much you're eating, but use them as indicators of what you're eating, how much it's benefiting you, and if there's something you can feasibly cut out of your daily intake.

You need to watch when you're eating just as much as what you eat. Stuffing your face with any food at any time of the day isn't going to be good for you, but when you're doing it right before bed, you're really not doing yourself any favors.

Start by eating within one hour of when you wake up. This is like turning on your metabolic engine—it'll start running and begin breaking down your food. Furthermore, if you're starting your day with protein, you'll likely be fuller further into the day. At the end of the day, try to avoid eating or drinking anything heavy three hours out from the time you're planning on hitting the sack. Scientifically, eating close to bed increases blood sugar, reduces melatonin, and raises your body temperature, making it harder to fall asleep.

So what does this mean for your eating schedule? Eat small, frequently, and consistently. Eat about four smaller meals throughout the day, about three, to four hours apart, at roughly the same time each day. In theory, this will keep your metabolism running through the day, while allowing you to eat small portions, and still remain full.

Also, when you're eating, do your best to focus on eating. It sounds silly, but if you're trying to multitask while you're getting your snack on, you're more likely to overeat, or eat too quickly, leaving you hungry after the fact. Relax and enjoy your food.

While sleep and recuperation are key in weight loss, you're going to need some heavy duty workouts too. Killing yourself at the gym isn't the best way to get results, however. Like anything in life, moderation is key.

Instead of putting the treadmill on six and bumping the incline slightly, focus on high-intensity sprints. A university study in Québec, Canada (the home of poutine, mind you) showed that high-intensity workouts are more effective at not just burning fat, but increasing metabolism. Basically, it's less about working out casually and more often, but more about really wringing the most out of your workout. Quality, not quantity.

Evidence shows that crunches don't have the “fat blasting, ab shredding” effects they once were thought to have. If you're trying to pulverize your abs into Brad Pitt in Fight Club levels, there's a few things you should know beforehand. Six packs don't appear just because you're doing ab workouts. Even if you're doing nothing but crazy ab training, if you're not around 15% body fat or less, you'll be building the muscle—it just won't be visible. This means you'll have to do some cardio on a regular basis in order to burn that fat.

Crunches also turn into a bigger workout for your neck, and back. Even if you're doing them correctly, your back holds the most stress when doing crunches, and it's easy to get injured. Instead of doing crunches, you're better off attempting planks or bridges. These engage your core muscles along with your upper body, without the strain on your back. The best part: you don't need any extra equipment to pull these off.

No matter what your frat brothers tried to tell you, alcohol has no nutritional value. Your body can't store it, so it has to metabolize it right away. This means that if you're drinking alcohol and you're eating a meal, or already have a meal in your stomach, then your body will begin to break down the liquor before it tackles the food. Furthermore, the body sees alcohol as a toxin, and even moderate drinking will cause your blood sugar to drop as your body sets blood sugar maintenance aside to deal with the alcohol in the system.

But setting the science aside for a minute, while drinking an occasional glass of wine is known to help your heart, most people aren't having a glass of pinot noir after dinner and calling it a night. When you drink cocktails and your craft brew IPA, you're also consuming unneeded carbs. If you do need to have a drink, have it after your meal. This will, in theory allow your meal to begin digesting before you add alcohol to the mix.

If nothing else, try cutting alcohol out of your diet for the next month. While this may vary person to person, you'll likely see that a cut in alcohol consumption may be the secret to dropping that last five pounds you can't seem to shake.

Your body loses weight and gains muscle in a generally even way. Yes, there are plenty of images of guys who “skip leg day” but when you're trying to do ab workouts or upper body toning, realize that instead of building muscle is a specific place, you're really (and more likely) burning a little bit over multiple areas of your body. Take the bench press, for example. Normally, you'd think that this is only working your biceps, but it's working your arms, your chest, and your core as you balance the weights. Exercises like squats and dead lifts have the same effect. These activities are targeting a lot of muscle groups on the body, all at once, making your workout smarter, without going harder—isn't that the goal after all?

Your body is adaptable. Not only is this a survival mechanism, it's also something that will get in the way of your weight loss goals. While you're trying to shed pounds, your body reacts by trying to keep the weight on. It's like an overprotective parent that thinks it knows best. While the intentions are good, this natural give-and-take is why you need to diversify, and (even more so) embrace the fact that you'll inevitably hit plateaus in your weight loss. It's exactly why yo-yo dieting is a thing; people start working on a particular regimen, see results, and the results taper off. Don't fall prey to this train of thought—continue working out and pushing yourself.

You don't need to kill yourself at the gym, or starve yourself; it's about consistency. Just like it may be part of the body's nature to prevent rapid weight loss, use that adaptive nature to your advantage. Constantly look for new and different ways to attack your muscle groups, and strive to analyze the things you could feasibly cut out of your diet. You can do this, and you don't need a diet book or gym membership to make it happen.