10 surprising ways to lose weight without dieting

Ditch the diets and forget the quick fixes. The key to weight loss lies in finding simple, everyday habits that you can sustain over the long run. Try these surprising little tips to help you in your journey towards better health.

Tabasco and Cajun hot sauces provide lots of flavour with no fat and few calories. They also fire up your digestive system, causing you to burn more calories temporarily.

Spend 10 minutes a day going up and down stairs. That's all it takes to help you to shed as much as 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds), assuming you don't eat any more.

Wash a floor, windows, the shower, or your car. A 68-kilogram (150-pound) person who scrubs will burn about four calories for every minute they clean.

You'll do more than burn calories, you'll cut your appetite. Twenty minutes is enough.

People who ate a moderate-fat diet containing almonds lost more weight than those who didn't eat any. Any nut will do.

A study found that we eat more when we eat with other people, probably because we spend more time at the table. If you eat at home, talk with family between chews to cut calories.

The more you eat in the morning, the less you'll eat in the evening. You'll also have more opportunities to burn those early-day calories than the dinner calories.

You might feel silly, but it works. The theory is that sniffing food tricks the brain into thinking you're actually eating it.

Brushing your teeth after every meal, especially after dinner, serves as a cue to your brain that mealtime is over.

A passionate kiss burns 6.4 calories per minute. Ten minutes a day of kissing equates to about 23,000 calories — or 3.5 kilograms (eight pounds) a year. Honey, I'm home!