If you’ve been trying to lose weight for a while, you’re probably sick of dieting and counting calories. While a low-calorie meal plan is critical for weight reduction and maintenance, here are a few other ways to help shed those pounds.

Taking Supplements

Sometimes, your body’s chemicals or vitamins are too off-balanced for you to lose weight. For example, if you’re stressed, your body produces extra cortisol, a hormone that causes you to retain weight. To rebalance your body, many diet programs involve taking supplements that restore your body’s natural hormone levels. For example, the diet program WAYTless has Acarbose as the first of its three supplements because Acarbose reduces your body’s fat-storing tendencies. The supplement lowers your blood sugar by limiting how much of the glucose that you consume is fully digested and converted to fat. When taken in tandem with supplements such as Orlistat and Naltrexone, Acarbose is effective at reducing fat gain.

Stepping Up Your Sleep Routine

It’s hard to find time in your busy life for a full eight hours of rest, no matter how many times your doctor tells you to sleep more. However, if you’re serious about losing weight, you also need to be serious about sleeping enough. As with stress, your exhausted body produces extra cortisol, leading you to pack on the pounds much more quickly. Also, being sleep-deprived leads you to make unhealthy decisions such as skipping your workout and ordering a high-fat coffee for an afternoon pick-me-up. To increase your alertness and restart your metabolism, prioritize plenty of sleep every night.

When you’re used to staying up late, it’s hard to get to bed on time. Eliminate screen time, alcohol, and food for at least an hour before bed, and use room-darkening shades and dim lights in the evening. A warm bath or shower never hurts, either.

Exercising More

You’ve heard many times that exercise is one of the keys to losing weight, although it’s not enough on its own. You don’t need to hit the gym for two hours every day to make a difference, though. Even just 30 minutes of jogging or walking a day help you burn more calories, build muscle, and shed your extra pounds. Also, exercising more helps you to sleep better at night, further promoting your weight loss campaign.

Avoiding Processed Foods

As much as you hate to hear it when you want to lose weight, it’s impossible to ignore what you’re putting into your body. Weight loss doesn’t mean only eating food that’s unappetizing and boring, though. If you prioritize the calories you consume and focus on fresh, unprocessed foods, there’s still room in your diet for that post-dinner cookie. Focus on eliminating processed foods such as chips, sodas, frozen dinners, and takeout from your routine. These items tend to be high in fat, sodium, and chemicals, and they don’t deliver the nutrients you need to fuel your active lifestyle.

There’s no silver bullet to losing weight, but if you combine these tips, your pounds drop much more quickly.