To not count calories in my dinner?!

[BiscuitBandit32]

OK I've got an idea.

I am around 3 stone overweight and SO CONFUSED about how to get the weight off. I'd settle for 1 of those stones off tbh. I've battled with several methods over the years but never found anything I can stick to. I tried calorie counting (again) recently but found it really impractical with a family. Yes, I know loads of mums do it and succeed but I'm just being honest, I struggle. And I don't think it's a coincidence that the people you see on insta pushing calorie counting are mostly either teenage girls or childless men. It's all well and good calorie counting if you are cooking for 1 and have no stress in your life.

So I had an idea...is this totally stupid??

Basically I thought I could count calories BEFORE my dinner only...so breakfast lunch and any snacks. I'd try and keep those below 800. Then I'd just eat my dinner as normal. I'd try to be mindful of portion size, increase my veg, try and make sure its a healthy nutritious meal but I would not count the calories in it. As long as I don't go mad or load up on pasta and butter, any meal would be well below 1000 calories.

The reason I'm thinking of this is because I really struggle with calorie counting dinner. I find it super stressful. Dinner time is chaos in our house and when I'm trying to plan, weigh, measure, track and log my calories it just feels like a HUGE chore, I get fed up and quit.
But I know I need to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight. And I can probably cope with tracking my own bfast and lunch and snacks as its not a complicated family meal.

My idea was that if my pre dinner food comes to 800, my dinner won't be more than about 800 (probably an over estimate really) so I would probably end up with less than 1800 total calories per day (wich is what most calorie calculators give me as a target.

Thoughts? Anyone else tried this way of doing things? I'm thinking it might take the pressure off whilst still reducing my intake.

I don't think this would work for me. If you don't count them then how can you track how many you are eating? I get it must be hard with family meals but can't they just eat what you eat? Just make sure you're weighing your ingredients etc. Otherwise could you batch cook your calorie counted meals and then just heat this up and the rest of the family eat their own meal?

It's probably worth working out what dinners could bust that - coconut milk based curry for example, or a large homemade pizza and then avoiding those meals or making sure you get a tiny share

Also is 1600 reasonable for weight loss for you?
For many women it's a maintenance level

2000 - historical typical
1800 - average height woman today pre menopause
1600 - shorter or post menopause or very inactive

I lost 5 stone calorie counting. Have kept it off for 3 years. This would absolutely not have worked for me, sorry.

I find that I inherently know when I’m over my calories now though, so I don’t even actively have to count. It’s habit eventually.

Agreed with above poster too that 1600 is my maintenance

I don’t know anyone who counts calories. I don’t think it’s normal and I think it will make you obsessive about food.

I basically did this and it worked. But since I was callory counting anyway I could estimate quite accurately what my evening meal would be without having to measure it.

If you are going to eat the same as usual at dinner, then making some other changes should work. 😊

What helps me is to make my own dinner beforehand. Or keep a portion of something back so I can eat that instead of picking at shite or eat more than I should.

If you give it a go your way and it works though then that's good. Different things work for different people. It's all trial and error. Good luck!

My fitness pal has a “recipe” option too incase you didn’t know. You scan everything you put in the meal, if it’s a one pot for instance, and then divide it per portion so it works it out for you and remembers it next time. That’s how I did it for family meals and now I just know by sight

Also eating before 7pmakes a real difference to my weight loss and so by having my meal prepared and on hand really helps during a chaotic dinner time like you describe.

How old are you?
I'm mid 40s, 5ft 8, 9 st 9 and 1600 is maintenance for me.
Like a pp says, I use a recipe builder on MFP. It's a pain at first but I tend to eat the same group of meals over a month or so, so once I've logged it once, I just use that recipe again and can count it by pressing one button.

I've found cooking the "slimming world way" works really well for me and my family. The recipes are all "normal" meals but based around making low-fat swaps so for instance using fry light instead of glugs of oil, fat-free yoghurt instead of cream, 5% beef mince and lean meats etc. the meals are all really easy to follow and you can find them all online, you don't need to be a member and you don't need to cut out carbs!

In a normal week for us we would have: spaghetti bolognese, fish with potatoes and veg, curry &rice, chilli, a Sunday roast. Just all made the SW way and just as tasty, in fact we used to get a takeout curry every weekend and now I actually prefer the homemade chicken balti I make using JD seasonings herbs, chicken and tins of tomatoes!

I then just have a healthy lunch, salad or whatever and a few healthy snacks. But I find it works really well as we are still all sitting together to eat the same evening meal - I don't want the kids to see me as being "on a diet".

I have lost 2 stone and aiming to lose another 2 stone to get to target weight. I have a protein shake for breakfast and lunch (HUEL, 200 cals each) and then I cook a healthy dinner with lots of veg for dinner. I rotate the same 10 meals that I have calorie counted in the past, so know they are roughly 600 cals. I do three HIIT classes per week and around 12,000 steps per day. This results in me losing about 2lbs per week. If I eat 1600 calories a day then I maintain weight. If I eat 2000+ cals a day then my weight goes up. For context I am late 30s, 5ft5. As I have got older my body needs a lot less calories to maintain than I did when I was younger. I also have to work much harder to lose weight too. I think usual for women as we get older. Good luck with your weight loss journey.

Why is everyone telling OP that 1600 calories is maintenance? Without knowing height and weight it's impossible to say that. OP clearly said that the calculators have suggested around that amount. My maintenance calories are 2200 as I have a lot to lose, so would definitely be losing weight on 1600

It will depend on type of body and activities. I'm short, pre menopause and my maintenance if I'm mostly sedentary is 1200. As I'm very, very active and quite muscular it's most usually 2000.

Team rh and James Smith both put me at over 1800 calories to lose weight. Baring in mind I am quite active (15k steps a day) and quite overweight so I'll burn more than the average healthy weight person.

But yeh I totally get ypur point re higher calorie meals. I'd probably just oviod cooking meals I know are going to be loads. I don't eat takeaways anyway and I'd not use oil.

No, I wouldn't. You only have to look at calories on resturant menus to see just how even moderate portions add up. The chances of keeping below 800 for a moderate evening meal especially if it contains meat, are low unless you do some counting.
There's a balance between completely ignoring calories and weighing and measuring every meal though. I'd suggest familiarising yourself with the calorie content of your regular foods in their usual portions so you have a rough idea that if you eat pie for example that will probably only leave enough calories for plain veg, whereas lean chicken would allow you to add potato etc.

Try it.

It will cost you nothing but time. If you’ve lost no weight by early April, try a different method.

The thing with weight loss is finding the way that works for you, the way that fits into your lifestyle.

You do you.

I think there's a pre conceived idea that the average woman needs 2000 calories a day.
But that's why I gave my height and weight (and age) as if I ate 2000 a day, I'd put weight on.l, so fir me, maintenance is 1600.

I think OP has given an update where she's been given 1800 as a loss making amount, which is great-I agree it's specific to the individual, but I do think personally that the traditional 2000 for a woman is a lot.

So this is kind of what I was thinking with my evening meals. Like cooking healthy but still normal family meals. I don't want to go full slimming world because I end up over eating on eggs and potatoes etc and feel restricted as soon as I need to eat out. But if I calorie counting my bfast and lunch and have a sw style dinner surely that would work?!

I'm 5ft 4 and 13stone 3lbs. And I'm 35. For reference :)

Can you not use something like my fitness pal to record calories? If you know during the day what you're making for tea you can put the details in anytime that day not when you're actually cooking? It is very easy to go over on cals without realising and your evening meal could possibly be the biggest/have the most cals so would especially need tracking?

How about tracking your calories- without limiting for a week. Work out what you consume and then take 100 cals off the the next week, then another 100 the week after. If you have time to meal plan once a week- just dinners you can work out how many cals to set aside for dinner, then make sure your breakfast and lunch fall into what's left.

e.g. you eat 2100 calories a day this week, so next week you try to stick to 2000 and you know your dinners are 800-1000 cals per night so you have 1000-1200 calories for the rest of the day

I used the app Nutracheck for cal counting- it's free for a week I think and then a few pounds a month. It has a huge catalogue of UK foods so really quick to type in an item

It’s working for me! I use about 600 calories on lunch and snacks/milk in my coffee (I’ve never really eaten breakfast) and then I have my SW friendly evening meal which I calculate at around 600-700 calls depending what we have. I always have a bar of chocolate or some ice cream at the weekend as a treat too.
Im 5”8 and started mid January at around 12.2 and I weighed in Friday before last at 11.9, hoping to have lost more on weigh-day this Friday.

It’ll definitely work but you’ll need to determine the amount of calories you need per day to lose. My plan once I get to my goal weight (10.6) is to slowly increase my cals to see what I can consume to maintain. And to keep weighing myself and not bury my head in the sand which is what happened at the tail end of last year!