Losing weight without calorie counting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have lost weight using Myfitnesspal before. The problem is, I always always always gain it all back because it is not sustainable. I have this mindset of "I need to weigh/measure out and log every last exact gram of food that enters my mouth"- which is not realistic because, you know, I'm not always at home when I eat and I can't pull out my food scale at a restaurant and weigh my salmon. LOL. It's just a mental block that means calorie counting is not going to work for me. I have a significant amount of weight to lose (i'm 5'7" and 240 pounds. No judgment please.) But then I also have this mental block of like...if you're not precisely counting calories you can't lose weight! I like the control that comes with knowing exactly how many cals I'm eating for cals in cals out. But it's not feasible for me. But...I need to lose weight. If you've lost weight without cal counting (like...a lot)...tell me about your experience. I will not do intermittent fasting, keto, etc.

You don't need to obsessively count calories every day but you do need to have a general idea of what your calorie intake is. Otherwise how do you really know how much you're eating?

Look OP, you don't have to diet, count calories, exercise or anything. But then you need to adjust your expectations and accept your weight.

Sounds like you don't want to be uncomfortable at all but get great results. That is unfortunately not realistic. You will have to get outside of your comfort zone slightly to get results. The key is finding the minimum amount of calories you can cut where you don't feel miserable but helps you lose weight.

I'm like OP. Counting calories doesn't work for me. I can't do it unless I can weigh all my food and know exactly how many calories something is. So it ends up with me eating a lot of process food because they have calories listed on it. I don't expect losing weight to be easy. And I take offense that you thing people like me or OP don't want to be outside our comfort zone. I want to find something that I can put effort into, that I can sustain over time.

You need readjust your mindset then. It sounds like you allow perfection (need to count every calorie perfectly) get in the way. You can count calories and estimate when needed (out to dinner).

I have a strategies to reduce calories without counting calories (3 plate method) which can also work. But when you have less to lose you often need to be more meticulous and that can can be when having to track comes into play. I also mentioned above that you aren’t meant to count calories forever. But you do need to learn his to eyeball portions and such.

[Anonymous]

I know you said you won’t try keto, but it’s the best way to lose weight without calorie counting IME. Maybe give it a try? You might find it’s not as bad as you imagined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know you said you won’t try keto, but it’s the best way to lose weight without calorie counting IME. Maybe give it a try? You might find it’s not as bad as you imagined.

Sure, but how sustainable is it? It can’t be about losing the weight; it has to be about keeping it off forever. I can white-knuckle through anything for 6 months. Then the holidays hit, and it’s a slippery slope back to regaining the weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know you said you won’t try keto, but it’s the best way to lose weight without calorie counting IME. Maybe give it a try? You might find it’s not as bad as you imagined.

Sure, but how sustainable is it? It can’t be about losing the weight; it has to be about keeping it off forever. I can white-knuckle through anything for 6 months. Then the holidays hit, and it’s a slippery slope back to regaining the weight.

I hear you. For me, low carb is more sustainable long term than calorie counting (which you have to do even in maintenance if you don’t want to gain the weight back). I’m ok going the rest of my life with bread, rice, pasta and such not being diet staples. What I realized doing keto is that I don’t love those foods as much as I used to think. I loved the flavor they conveyed (e.g., the sauce on the pasta). You can still have all that flavor without the carby medium.

[Anonymous]

Try IF. I eat between 12 and 7 - cut out breakfast and eat dinner on the earlier side. No snacking after dinner. Also cut your portions. You'll might be hungry for a few days, but I promise your body will adjust. Also be more thoughtful about alcohol, if you drink. Drink slower when you do drink and if you mindlessly pour yourself some wine when you're bored in the evening (I used to do this), stop unless you really want it.

In terms of meals, you don't have to calorie count but you do have to realize that weight loss is calories in, calories out, and plan accordingly. I love carbs and didn't want to give them up, so I usually eat my carbs at lunch. You also have to make smart cuts. I do an open-face sandwich at lunch, for example.

Also, increase your veggie intake at dinner and cut portions of everything else. Like you can have one piece of chicken, not two. I've found that a big batch of veggies in the air fryer is pretty satisfying - you get the roasted taste with just a few spritzes of oil spray. Trader Joe's has lots of dry seasoning blends that add some interest/punch as well. I like the Green Goddess seasoning and also the lemon pepper grinder.

A typical day of weekday eating for me is:

- 1 cup black coffee (breakfast)
- 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, spread on a slice of white toast, topped with lox and capers (lunch) OR half a can of tuna and a small piece of cheese OR a cup of soup
- 1 serving of meat or fish (air fried or cooked with minimal sauce), roasted/air fried/steamed vegetables (unlimited)

I am not hungry on this and it gives me room to add a piece of chocolate or a few bites of ice cream if I want.

[Anonymous]

Cut out sugar and junk carbs.

[Anonymous]

Take with a grain of salt as I am someone who has not struggled with weight much (lucky genes) but when I did want to lose about 15 pounds one thing that helped was to think about what I should be eating (lots of fruits and non-starchy veggies, at least half of my plate for meals and more for snacks) and not on what I shouldn't be eating.

Also I know you said you won't do IF, and I have never managed to fit all my meals into 8 hours myself. But when I just cut out after dinner snacks and also put off breakfast until after 8am that helped me cut back on a lot of calories. It meant I wasn't having any food between 7pm and 8am which I guess is not really IF but it felt very manageable and it helped a lot.

[Anonymous]

Best advice- make sure every meal has protein and veggies. Eat those first. Then decide what you really WANT to eat and enjoy it. I found that before, I would swing back and forth between total deprivation and total indulgence. Particularly at restaurants, on vacation and at parties.

Even when my family orders pizza, I eat a small spinach salad with quinoa and a hard boiled egg first, along with a big glass of water. I have pizza and a glass of wine after but I am so satisfied that just enjoy the one slice of pizza and then am totally full.

Similarly, I was recently at a breakfast reception with amazing baked goods and rich breakfast foods. I filled my plate with fruit and eggs and ate that first. Drank a big glass of water and waited 20 min. Then I went back and grabbed 2-3 delicious treats. Tried a bite or two of each one and was completely satisfied.

I’ve lost 30 pounds in two years by eating this way. (About 1-2 pounds per month) Slow, steady and susatainable!

[Anonymous]

Make heathy choices. Cut out the junk. Then eat half of the portion you would normally eat, every time you eat.

When you do have a treat- whatever it is, have half of what you would normally take

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have lost weight using Myfitnesspal before. The problem is, I always always always gain it all back because it is not sustainable. I have this mindset of "I need to weigh/measure out and log every last exact gram of food that enters my mouth"- which is not realistic because, you know, I'm not always at home when I eat and I can't pull out my food scale at a restaurant and weigh my salmon. LOL. It's just a mental block that means calorie counting is not going to work for me. I have a significant amount of weight to lose (i'm 5'7" and 240 pounds. No judgment please.) But then I also have this mental block of like...if you're not precisely counting calories you can't lose weight! I like the control that comes with knowing exactly how many cals I'm eating for cals in cals out. But it's not feasible for me. But...I need to lose weight. If you've lost weight without cal counting (like...a lot)...tell me about your experience. I will not do intermittent fasting, keto, etc.

What you need to lose is your excuses. You are very obese because you over eat. You are probably someone that in order to maintain a healthy weight will have to calorie count. I’ve calorie counted for years. We ALL gravitate towards the same things. I’ve been counting for so long I know what a good portion size is and know when I’m lying to myself. I can only eat 1700cal a day to maintain. I know exactly what I can eat for a 400cal breakfast, a 500cal lunch and a 500cal dinner. I then get 300csl in snacking. I also know I can get a potbelly salad for 485 cal and know if I want to indulge in chick fil a for lunch I need to keep my breakfast at 250 cal.

You need the structure of calorie counting because you sure as hell won’t be able to stick to a no carb diet

If you are eating at restaurants so often this is holding you back no diet in the world is going help you. Chronic restaurant food is not something a healthy person can indulge in constantly.

Ina nutshell drop the excuses or accept your size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try IF. I eat between 12 and 7 - cut out breakfast and eat dinner on the earlier side. No snacking after dinner. Also cut your portions. You'll might be hungry for a few days, but I promise your body will adjust. Also be more thoughtful about alcohol, if you drink. Drink slower when you do drink and if you mindlessly pour yourself some wine when you're bored in the evening (I used to do this), stop unless you really want it.

In terms of meals, you don't have to calorie count but you do have to realize that weight loss is calories in, calories out, and plan accordingly. I love carbs and didn't want to give them up, so I usually eat my carbs at lunch. You also have to make smart cuts. I do an open-face sandwich at lunch, for example.

Also, increase your veggie intake at dinner and cut portions of everything else. Like you can have one piece of chicken, not two. I've found that a big batch of veggies in the air fryer is pretty satisfying - you get the roasted taste with just a few spritzes of oil spray. Trader Joe's has lots of dry seasoning blends that add some interest/punch as well. I like the Green Goddess seasoning and also the lemon pepper grinder.

A typical day of weekday eating for me is:

- 1 cup black coffee (breakfast)
- 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, spread on a slice of white toast, topped with lox and capers (lunch) OR half a can of tuna and a small piece of cheese OR a cup of soup
- 1 serving of meat or fish (air fried or cooked with minimal sauce), roasted/air fried/steamed vegetables (unlimited)

I am not hungry on this and it gives me room to add a piece of chocolate or a few bites of ice cream if I want.

What in the actual anorexia.

[Anonymous]

As a grown adult you should be able to mentally ball park it.

And as someone trying to lose wait I know that I shouldn’t be having that choc frosted done right before I pick DS up from school. Sometimes days I get one, most days I don’t. It is a choice.

[Anonymous]

The sheer volume of judgment and lack of information here is overwhelming. The DCUM consensus is that if you’re fat, it’s because you don’t have any willpower. There’s some sort of moral failing on your part because you can’t lose weight. It’s sad to see how many posters come to these threads spewing such garbage. One PP is seriously telling someone to just stop with the excuses. Clearly there is something more going on.

There is more and more research pointing to obesity being a metabolic issue. Rather than treating it with behavioral changes, treatment needs to focus on the physiology. This is why semaglutides have the potential to be a real game changer. I’ve one account of a woman who finally saw success with weight loss after starting on a semaglutide. The cravings and constant thinking about food were gone. For so many years she was beating herself up because she struggled with the cravings and mindless eating. This drug helped tamp those down, and she could just eat, feel full right away and move on.

It makes me think about alcoholism—I’m not an alcoholic and can take or leave it. I rarely drink and more importantly spend so little time thinking about it. But there are people who think about alcohol all.the.time. I’m not a better person than that alcoholic with stronger will power. There’s got to be something physiological going on. It makes me wonder if these drugs (semaglutides) could have a similar impact on alcohol addiction.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/new-medications-treat-obesity

[Anonymous]

Calories in out model is a fallacy that was heavily promoted by food industry. All calories are created equal is a fallacy. It's all about hormones and timing. Three square meals a day no snacks whatsoever. Snack only on fixed occasion like Fri nights. Or Sunday afternoon treat yourself to an afternoon treat with your tea. You don't need to do 16 8 unless you really want to. A 12 hour fast works. You will be hungry for dinner that's ok. Leave every meal satiated. It's better to take that extra scoop of food a dinner or lunch Vs snacking. Let insulin drop in between meals and you will be in burning mode. Meals and snacks all day long, hyperinsulin and storage mode. Cook everything and avoid hidden sugars. Avoid limit food with labels of multiple ingredients.

From:
A 50 year old metabolically healthy woman with a BMI of 19.5, and Dr. Robert Lustig fan (check him out on YouTube)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Best advice- make sure every meal has protein and veggies. Eat those first. Then decide what you really WANT to eat and enjoy it. I found that before, I would swing back and forth between total deprivation and total indulgence. Particularly at restaurants, on vacation and at parties.

Even when my family orders pizza, I eat a small spinach salad with quinoa and a hard boiled egg first, along with a big glass of water. I have pizza and a glass of wine after but I am so satisfied that just enjoy the one slice of pizza and then am totally full.

Similarly, I was recently at a breakfast reception with amazing baked goods and rich breakfast foods. I filled my plate with fruit and eggs and ate that first. Drank a big glass of water and waited 20 min. Then I went back and grabbed 2-3 delicious treats. Tried a bite or two of each one and was completely satisfied.

I’ve lost 30 pounds in two years by eating this way. (About 1-2 pounds per month) Slow, steady and susatainable!

This is a really great way to approach things, IMO. I do the same anytime I find my weight creeping up. It really helps to learn to love vegetables and experiment with interesting salads and vegetables dishes so you never get bored.