Being a very lazy person by nature, I naturally gravitate toward the “low hanging fruit” as they say when it comes to getting just about anything done.  Getting in shape and losing weight are no different.  So here are a few tips I have run across that really involve little to no effort on your part but can be very beneficial:

1. Drink lots of water. Most people are chronically mildly dehydrated so this gives you a couple benefits.  I guess if you think drinking water is too much effort for you then maybe you should stop reading right now.  64 oz daily is the generic recommendation, but basically you should keep drinking until your urine is almost clear.  Filling your stomach up with water will make you feel fuller helping you eat a bit less, and any exercise you do happen to do will be more effective.
2. Eat 5-6 small meals per day. Don’t eat more or less, or anything different, just break up what you do eat into smaller more frequent meals.  This will increase your metabolism and cut off hunger pangs before they happen.   Always eat breakfast.  And a trick I like since I pack my lunch is to just eat half my sandwich around halfway to lunch time instead of eating it all at once.
3. Sleep 8 hours. If you are doing any kind of exercise it is crucial to recover properly, and this means sleep.  If not much of your effort is wasted.
4. Eat out less. And if you do order water not soda and definitely not alcohol.  This also appeals to my cheap side.
5. Eat slowly. The bodies hunger signal is extremely slow, so eating fast causes people to keep eating well past when they have had enough.  Some people use little rules like chewing every bite 20 times.  Whatever works for you.  If you’re always the first one heading for seconds, it may be time to slow down fatty.
6. Fidget. If you’re just sitting around doing nothing tap that toe or shake that foot or whatever you do.  Nervous twitching like this consumes a surprising amount of energy – and yes people have actually studied this.
7. Turn down the heat. By keeping it as cold as you can stand in your house you will force the body to burn energy just to keep you warm, even if you’re just sitting on your butt watching TV!  And you save money on energy.  We call that a win-win.