How to lose weight without counting calories?
st476
Posts: 357 Member
So I know that the most important thing when it comes to losing weight is CICO, and right now I count my calories and use a scale and everything. I won't be able to do that when I go back to college in the fall (I'm living on campus so I'm eating the food there. No access to a kitchen, and no food scale). How do I continue to lose weight if I can't count my calories?
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Replies
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Why can't you bring a scale with you? They're pretty cheap. I got mine for 20$ at Walmart.
As for the no kitchen, does your college have nutrition info posted for their meals? Does your campus allow fridges or microwaves in the dorms? There's a lot you can do to minimize the amount you have to eat at the cafeterias. One of my friends used to bring her own salad dressing (she made herself as she had sever allergies) every time she ate out.4 -
I could bring a scale with me to college, but I don't want to bring it around with me to the dining halls. I have a fridge and microwave in my room, and the dining hall near my dorm doesn't have nutrition information since it's sort of like a buffet but a farther one does. I can't always eat there though because it's not really convenient, but those are good ideas, especially about salad dressing. Thank you!Why can't you bring a scale with you? They're pretty cheap. I got mine for 20$ at Walmart.
As for the no kitchen, does your college have nutrition info posted for their meals? Does your campus allow fridges or microwaves in the dorms? There's a lot you can do to minimize the amount you have to eat at the cafeterias. One of my friends used to bring her own salad dressing (she made herself as she had sever allergies) every time she ate out.
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Try to find matches as close to the cafeterias foods as you can in the database. Practice weighing your portions and eyeballing during your summer so you can eyeball as close to possible your portions.
I suggested bringing the scale for food you keep in the dorm. Like snack food and prepackaged stuff.
Try and stick to the healthiest options. Stuff that will keep you full the longest. For some, like me, that's protein and fat. For some it's actually carbs.3 -
Just be sure to make the best choices when you can. You can keep lots of healthy snacks in the fridge for when you're in your room studying or to grab on the go (fruit, yogurt, string cheese, water, etc). My daughter kept an under the bed Rubbermaid container with her snacks (100 cal packs, goldfish crackers, pretzels, etc). Make the best choices for lunches and dinners that you can. You're sure to be getting some exercise also, going from class to class!3
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Thank you! And yeah, there's definitely going to be a lot of walking and there's 3 "free" gyms so I'll be taking advantage of that.NancyCaz61 wrote: »Just be sure to make the best choices when you can. You can keep lots of healthy snacks in the fridge for when you're in your room studying or to grab on the go (fruit, yogurt, string cheese, water, etc). My daughter kept an under the bed Rubbermaid container with her snacks (100 cal packs, goldfish crackers, pretzels, etc). Make the best choices for lunches and dinners that you can. You're sure to be getting some exercise also, going from class to class!
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For when you can't weigh and trying to guess calorie contents in cafeteria/restaurant food is impossible: Use the "plate model" - fill your plate (a normal sized one, lol) - half with vegetables, and the other half equally divided between protein (meat/fish/seafood/beans) and starch (grains or starchy vegetables). There are other ways to split it, and different views on what a healthy diet/meal/dinner is, and I don't agree 100% with any of the Google hits I got today; you have to decide what's appropriate for you.4
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So I know that the most important thing when it comes to losing weight is CICO, and right now I count my calories and use a scale and everything. I won't be able to do that when I go back to college in the fall (I'm living on campus so I'm eating the food there. No access to a kitchen, and no food scale). How do I continue to lose weight if I can't count my calories?
Pay attention to what portion sizes look like now when you are weighing foods. Guess and then weigh to see if you were right.
Get foods that are not mixed together to make for easier logging.
Choose lots of protein foods. Fill your plate with vegetables. Take smaller portions of foods that are higher calorie.
Choose foods that are baked or grilled. Limit foods covered in cheese, sauces or fried foods. Watch portion sizes on bread, pasta, rice, crackers, salad dressing.
Take a food scale for your room. Keep fruits, vegetables, yogurt, bread, peanut butter, cottage cheese in your room.
Request nutrition info. They may have it even if they don't post it.
Find similar items in the database.3 -
I just found a reference to Sodexo being the provider of a lot of food for college cafeterias. The person said: ". . . most of the nutritional info for college cafeterias is on the Sodexo website-look at your receipt next time and if it says Sodexo then you can look up the info before you go."
Here is the Sodexo nutrition calculator link: balancemindbodysoul.com/balance/campus.asp
Edited to add: I just did a search on Sodexo in the MFP database - tons of entries there.
Good luck and enjoy college!1 -
Practise learning what a portion of commonly served "base" foods look like - how much potatoes, pasta, rice, etc looks like.
Then, apart from what has already been suggested, use your body weight as a guide. Weigh as often as you can handle and track the changes to find your average weight (not your weight that day because you're bloated or retaining water). If your weight hovers around a number, cut back. If it is going up, cut back more. If it's dropping nicely, spot on! If it's dropping drastically, have a little more.0 -
Portion control.0
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Thanks everyone!0
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It's not hard. You already know what foods are calorie dense, so limit those, eg. fatty foods. And if after 2 weeks you've gained/maintained/lost, then adjust your intake or exercise from there.0
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I would just try and choose healthier options and watch portion sizes. Weigh yourself frequently so you know to adjust what you are eating if you see a consistent upward trend.0
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The company that did my colleges food has all their meals entered in mfp. Could be the same for yours.
Or like other side get good at eyeballing.0 -
You can also go back to the 'old way' of logging calories ... use a book that has the counts and look up the items manually.0
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It's still important to log your food. It doesn't have to be perfect- just an honest, best guess.
Tracking food creates a record and an awareness of what you eat. It's an important habit to maintain and it works with all the other strategies that have been mentioned too.0 -
Hi Nancy, former RA and summer RD here, who happens to be a professor now too (aka dining halls cannot be escaped), with some tips I've received and figured out over the years.
1. Visit your school's nutritionist/dietitian. Every college or university in the US has one, because they need them to receive federal and state funding for food services. They can help you navigate your particular institute's menu options.
2. Don't use a tray when in the dining halls. Several studies have shown that students eat more and waste more food when using trays. Many school's have done away with them for this reason. They do, however, make excellent sled and boot trays in the winter.
3. Most school's already use smaller-than-home dinner plates, but if yours doesn't, use the cereal bowl for the same mind trick.
4. Depending on your school's food service contract, they may already be logged. I work for a SUNY school that uses Sodexco, and whenever I purchase ala carte it's generally already available. Sometimes I have to adjust for additions, such as the olives I like on my subs. But the general thing is there. When it's not, I usually find a restaurant equivalent.
5. You don't eat dessert after every supper at home, so, even though it's available, remember, you don't need dessert with every meal. Dessert is a treat. Keep it for once or twice a week and then you're neither denying yourself, or overdoing it.
6. Beware the room snacks. Keep that fridge stocked with low-call, nutritious food. Apples are a good one because they keep for-eve-er, but yogurts, oatmeal/cream of wheat packets, and single serving cheese like mozz sticks are also good to keep around. Watch out for the things like Pop Tarts and cereal/granola bars and anything that comes in a can or microwaveable cup. One every once in a while is no biggie, but those bad boys pack a punch if you're eating them constantly. I also recommend those little 100 calorie packs of things, if you have the willpower to not eat 10 of them in one sitting. I keep them in my office desk for when I have paper conferences or a student says they forgot to eat.
7. Keep a water bottle on you. Always have one in your bag and one in the fridge. Reusable so you don't kill the planet too. If you have a drink in your bag, you'll be less tempted by the vending machines. I keep the water bottle and a thing of Mio drops for those days when the water just isn't enough to this day. The vending machine is evilly placed outside of the classroom I generally teach 3 back-to-backs in.
8. Beware the coffee drinks. When everyone is running to the cafe between classes to get mochas, choose a coffee coffee, or a skim-milk/sugar free vanilla latte type thing, and always get the small. It's almost unavoidable it's so much college culture now, but you're not drinking coffee drinks because you're thirsty or hungry, so go for small. Want more caffeine, ask for an extra shot.
9. Beware of the "Night Owl" cafe, or Late Night. Nothing good comes of it. The food is always bad for you. But if you must, look for the simpler options and share with friends. The less junk on them, the less likely you are to regret it later.
10. Be kind to yourself. When you slip, remember you can start again tomorrow. You're going to slip, and it's ok. 3500 calories to make a lb. Write that someplace you can see it, so on a day when you slip, you can remind yourself it was just an oz. or two no matter what the scale says in the morning (All of that salt and sugar leads to water retention). Food is such a big part of campus life. Free cupcakes, free pizza, free candy, but rarely free bananas. Don't always abstain, or you'll feel resentful, but one or two a week is enough!
11. When in doubt and absolutely tied, use the handful method. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-handful-diet.html
Good luck! You can do it!
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Actually, making a habit of walking farther two or three times a day to the less convenient cafeteria sounds like an excellent idea!... the dining hall near my dorm doesn't have nutrition information since it's sort of like a buffet but a farther one does. I can't always eat there though because it's not really convenient, but ...
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LaceyBirds wrote: »I just found a reference to Sodexo being the provider of a lot of food for college cafeterias. The person said: ". . . most of the nutritional info for college cafeterias is on the Sodexo website-look at your receipt next time and if it says Sodexo then you can look up the info before you go."
Here is the Sodexo nutrition calculator link: balancemindbodysoul.com/balance/campus.asp
Edited to add: I just did a search on Sodexo in the MFP database - tons of entries there.
Good luck and enjoy college!
My husband used to work for Sodexo at a private academy as a chef and so when I cant find what I'm looking for and a Sodexo choice shows up that is what I pick.0 -
Who runs your food service on campus? Both Sodexo and Aramark US/Canada are in the database. You can at least get the correct count for the standard serving size and have a good idea what you're eating.0
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Start really watching your foods now, paying attention to the portion size, what types of cooking methods are healthier than others, how much of something you can eat to stay under your calorie goal etc.1
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Are you allowed to take food back to your dorm? Cutting the portion in half and putting the rest in a "to go" container reduces 1/2 the calories plus you get an extra meal for another time. I often will conciously choose 1/2 of what I think I want because my "eyes are bigger than my stomach" when I'm super hungry, out and about, and not able to weigh. If you slow down to enjoy it rather than wolfing it down quickly you will feel less stressed and more satisfied with the smaller portion as well. There is often a lot of rushing around to get to classes so students can get in the habit of eating quickly.0
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count it, just be less accurate, dont way it, just guess at it. better than nothing.0
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You can still count calories even if you aren't using your food scale for the cafeteria meals. You will be estimating more but this is a good test to see how good you've become at estimating portion sizes and choosing reasonable entries in the database. I would still take the food scale and keep it in your dorm room/apartment for meals where you eat there, ramen noodles, frozen pizza, etc. As others have suggested, many colleges contract through a provider like Sodexo or Aramark and those entries are in the database so it's just a matter of choosing one and estimating your portion size. Even if your campus doesn't use one of those, it's a reasonable bet that whoever is preparing the food uses similar techniques and ingredients for mass prepared dorm food.
Also choosing the cafeterias further away is a great suggestion so you are walking more before your meals!0 -
There are charts that shows portion sizes. That can be a helpful resource when you are forced to "eyeball" portions. If you Google portion chart you will see quite a few. Ex:
http://www.shape.com/blogs/healthy-portion-sizes-guest-blogger-kendra-peterson
http://www.prevention.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-tips/your-guide-calories-and-portion-sizes0 -
Why can't you bring a scale with you? They're pretty cheap. I got mine for 20$ at Walmart.
As for the no kitchen, does your college have nutrition info posted for their meals? Does your campus allow fridges or microwaves in the dorms? There's a lot you can do to minimize the amount you have to eat at the cafeterias. One of my friends used to bring her own salad dressing (she made herself as she had sever allergies) every time she ate out.
Because your friends eating with you in the cafeteria would think you are very strange.
There are many calorie counters on this site who have had great success. But calorie counting (weighing, measuring, logging, etc.) is pretty uncommon. Especially in the presence of others.1 -
gonetothedogs19 wrote: »Why can't you bring a scale with you? They're pretty cheap. I got mine for 20$ at Walmart.
As for the no kitchen, does your college have nutrition info posted for their meals? Does your campus allow fridges or microwaves in the dorms? There's a lot you can do to minimize the amount you have to eat at the cafeterias. One of my friends used to bring her own salad dressing (she made herself as she had sever allergies) every time she ate out.
Because your friends eating with you in the cafeteria would think you are very strange.
There are many calorie counters on this site who have had great success. But calorie counting (weighing, measuring, logging, etc.) is pretty uncommon. Especially in the presence of others.
If you read my other comment, I meant bringing a scale to school (her dorm), not the cafeteria.0 -
Eat the same things. Then you don't have to 'count' calories. It's what I do, and I've lost 40 pounds in the past 4 months.
I eat 350 calories for breakfast. I buy frozen breakfast sandwiches. I have that with tea every morning.
For lunch, I eat a 450 calorie subway chicken sandwich. I make sure I get no mayo. I switch up the rolls and veggies a bit. I drink water.
I have a 200 calorie snack before working out.
At dinner, I eat something different, every day. A sandwich, soup, a frozen meal, salad, something around 400 calories. Then I have nuts to snack on for 200 more calories.
I drink water with everything. So I'm around 1600 calories a day, including working out 60 minutes a day.
So I don't weigh anything, but I keep to a simple diet of things I know the calorie count. I make sure I don't use any extra condiments.
I'll cheat once a week. By cheating, I have maybe 1 slice of pizza and a few shots of whiskey. Always watching the calories so I don't go much over 2,000 in a single day.
You need to find something you can eat. If you're only near fast food (like I am in the afternoons), you can eat ONE thing with water. A cheeseburger is fine to eat for lunch (without things like mayonnaise or bacon), as long as that's ALL you're eating and drinking water. No fries or chips or anything else. Sometimes the cheeseburger has less calories than the salad with the dressing.
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