Can you lose weight without counting calories?

[jimjamjoo]

I desperately need to lose some weight. In the past, I have tried counting calories and it just becomes my entire personality. I get obsessed with food and therefore feel hungry all the time. I don’t like this approach.

My question is, has anyone found a way of losing weight without counting calories?

i lost stone - about 10% of my body weight - in a month by switching to three meals a day and no snacking.

I did have to learn that it’s okay to be hungry. So from about 4 or 5pm for a couple of hours until dinner, I was starving for the first week. Beyond that, I didn’t feel like I was skimping or doing without at all.

I don’t count calories for my main meals. But then I have Greek yoghurt and blueberries every single morning, porridge in the winter.
Seeded bread with tuna or egg for lunch and protein, carbs and veg for dinner.

I look at calories on things like crisps and chocolates and ice cream which I still eat, but a walkers baked packet can have a third of the calories of some others. Same for magnums being swapped with twisters.

Today I put down the packet of chocolate digestives when I saw each one biscuit had 83 calories, so eating a kitkat which has 104 calories!

Oh yes absolutely. I would hate to count calories, I can't stand thinking about food, except to look forward to it and plan a meal at the relevant time of day.

The following work for me, either individually or in combination.

1. Cut portion size. Eat about 10% less than normal. Exactly the same food. (You can even progressively cut back over time if you find the first 10% is successful.)
2. Eat fewer carbs, especially in the evening (but don't cut them out altogether)
3. Cut out sugary snacks unless you have a major craving in which case just have it and enjoy
4. Don't eat between meals

Time-restricted eating also works well for me (skip breakfast) but you have already said it doesn't work for you.

I lost 3.5 stone with Slimming World and have kept it off now for two years.

I never eat/ate UPF and didn't find SW recommended them - to me it seems very focused on fruit, veg, low fat.

Also, unlimited pasta isn't what they say - they always say 'eat until you feel comfortably full/satisfied, not stuffed to the gunnels. A third of every plate is meant to be salad/fruit/veg.

Avocados aren't the worst thing in the world but you do have to limit them.

What I liked about it was that you are never hungry, there's always something you can eat. You can even have a glass of wine if you count the syns.

Try cutting out ultra processed foods

Oh actually I have another tip. Bit of a random one.

Eat really good food. Fresh, seasonal, simple, home cooked, tasty with the best quality ingredients you can get.

I find that I eat more moderately and savour it if it's really fresh and tasty.

You could eat as normal but cut your usual food portions by a third.
You could do 20k steps every day.
You could cut out meat, dairy and alcohol.

I'd say low carb is the way for you

Yes.
No carbs after lunch. Eat evening meal as early as possible to allow maximum fasting time before breakfast. Drink lots of water. Eat plenty of veg and protein and avoid sugar and junk food.

Mine is close - I have overnight oats for breakfast loaded with fruits, nuts & seeds, main meal at lunchtime, usually something involving veg & pulses, then ryvita or wholemeal sourdough with cheese & nut butter around 3pm & that’s it for the day, apart from snacking on fruit. It works really well.

Disclaimer - I mainly WFH & I’m only feeding myself so I don’t have to fit in with anyone else’s schedule.

Yes. I've gone from 10st2 to 8st2 since April by just making better choices. More veg less pasta at dinner time. More salad. A nest of rice noodles rather than a big pile of rice. One slice of toast rather than two. 0% fat Greek yogurt and fruit as an evening snack. No sugar in coffee, etc. But nothing is out of bounds really. And I'm naturally eating smaller portions now. I too didn't want to get obsessed with calorie counting so didn't even start with it.

I lost 2.5 stones. I started out by calorie counting using the Nutracheck app, because otherwise I wouldn't have had any idea what calories were in different foods or portions. I did that for a few months then didn't need to any more.
There are Low Carb boot camps on here which I think are brilliant. I stopped eating processed foods and that naturally meant most high carb foods were out.
I haven't ever gone hungry- that just won't work. Eat three meals a day and eat lots of protein and veg.
Alcohol is the killer though..... cut down if you can't stop. See if you can limit to weekends only.

These are all so helpful. I really appreciate all of the ideas and there’s a lot of inspiration there. I am going to start by writing down everything I eat this week as I think I probably eat stuff mindlessly.

@Mandarinaduck
This is a really good idea.

@intrepidpanda
we have been mostly UPF for a year or so now but the occasional things to sneak in!

@ElfAndSafetyBored my DH have a bottle of Prosecco on a Friday as our ‘ us’ time so he might divorce me if I crack out the voddie. Good idea though.

In terms of dieting without calorie counting it will depend what your diet was like before
You could- change your dinner plates to smaller plates as it helps sometimes
Make sure your plate is half vegetables minimum, and then half carbs and protein for What's left is normally an easy thing to do
You could change white rice to brown/wild, ensure you are getting more fibre
Have easy snacks in fridge- carrots, cucumber, peppers, hummus, celery (pre-prepared) so you don't grab unhealthy easy snacks....
Drink much more water than you were used to
Or calorie count/slimming world with eat less move more mentality....

I've never counted calories in my life and only ever lose weight by eyeballing my meals and snacks.

I know what a balanced meal looks like - with a balance of carbs, protein, fibre, good fats - and which is free from additives or preservatives, and I eat them in sensible portion sizes.

I weigh myself every week or so and check that things are on track (whether that's wanting to lose or maintain) and adjust if I need to. I also have my very fitted wedding dress from 11 years ago, which has no stretch in it and does up with a zip, and I try that on every year or two and make some minor adjustments if it's pulling slightly across my hips.

It probably helps that I eat a lot of the same meals over and over, so I can add in half an avocado, or remove the olives, or add an extra portion of bulgur wheat etc.

I can lose weight without counting calories but I have a very good understanding of how many calories are in different food in general. I’ve also never been overweight and I only really eat real food ( very little upf). I can feel when I’m in calorie deficit.

Cutting out high GI carbs and sugar is the way to go. Fasting 16/8 also helps. I also cut out nearly all UPFs. Takeaways need to go too as they are can be high in sugar. No need to count calories per se, just be realistic about consumption. If hungry drink water between meals.

I can do it two ways. Either run 5k every other day, or go somewhere hot and humid where my appetite dies.

The worst time for me to snack is in the evenings watching TV. Trying to keep busy is key to take my mind off it. My friend has lost loads of weight by literally stopping eating at 6pm at the latest

If you eat pretty much all unprocessed, whole foods, in sensible amounts then yes.

You don't have to log all your calories but you do need a running mental tally of what you've eaten, in my experience. I've lost weight this year without calorie counting but I have:

Started running 5k 3 times a week, with 1 or 2 gym visits on other days
Stopped drinking Sun-Thurs with a meal
Cut out crisps completely

The exercise means I can eat more.

I've never counted calories in my life. I just eat a bit less and move a bit more, works every time.

Yep, it’s pretty easy but needs to be disciplined.
If I want to loose some weight I do low carb to varying degrees.
Its not fun but it works :

Breakfast; Boiled eggs/omelette or berries or nuts

Lunch: Cheese or Tuna Salad

Snack- Nut butter , small piece of cheese or 2 squares dark chocolate

Tea- Veggie sausages with veg or cauliflower mash.

I'm pescatarian ; it’s easier if you eat meat but you get the idea.

If it’s too brutal I might just do 1 or 2 of the meals rather than 3. You don’t need to go insane with it, often under 50g or even 100g of carbs per day will lead to weight loss.
Also up the exercise.

I'm a single parent to an eight-year-old and a one-year-old and I'm teaching in secondary. I would think the running around helps. 😂 Usually, I leave out breakfast because I'm busy getting everyone ready in the mornings. I have a coffee on the drive to school (takes about 40 minutes), then I wander around with several flasks of tea during lessons and our kids' lunch slot isn't until 1.30pm, which is when I have lunch, too.

Not personally, no. I've never been able to lose weight without being very careful and using an app to log my food.