Tips for losing weight without calorie counting?

swertyqwerty

I eat a lot of what other people cook and they don't track calories in their recipes (and never will).
Any tips for how to lose weight without calorie counting?

_Zardoz_

All you can do is try an estimate the calories in the meals. Without actually properly weighing and measuring the food it will only ever be guess work. Try cutting your portions sizes down and see how you go but without control or information of the actual ingredients its just going to be trial and error

sfbaumgarten

Maybe practice portion control or get in on the cooking yourself.

rsclause

What I don't know I guess but you had better get accustomed to spot checking with a measuring cup to keep you from straying of to far. it worked for me.

Sabine_Stroehm

If you don't want to/can't count calories, then you could possibly try things like portion control, and eating a lot of vegetables while limiting refined carbs and sodas and what not. But if you don't control your own eating, you probably can't control that either.

acpgee

If you hate calorie counting maybe try 5:2 intermittent fasting to build in a weekly deficit. This is a protocol where you eat 500 calories on two non consecutive days, and at maintenance levels otherwise. It means you only need to count two days a week.

It's a good program for people who deal with short term extreme deprivation (you only have to hold out in terms of hunger until the next day) better than long term mild deprivation.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

Estimate as best you can. Make sure you weigh/measure your food and pick a general or generic entry of the same food in the database.

You can ask for recipes and input them yourself so you have the best idea of what you are eating.

NerdyAdventurer

My mom just lost 12lbs without counting calories.
She cut back on portion sizes, cut back on alcohol and became more active.

I have terrible will power and can eat my weight in junk food in a sitting, so counting calories has been helpful so I can get into a routine with my food.

4legsRbetterthan2

take control of your own intake and start counting

Andiebeanluvsu

I eat a lot of what other people eat too, but I still track calories. I just ask what they used, make a recipe in MFP (I usually add a little extra than what they say as people tend to estimate low), then I just pay attention to how many servings and add it into my tracker. It takes a little extra work, but it keeps me on track. Most people understand by now that I will ALWAYS ask, and have started to actually measure ingredients when they know I will be there. If they can't/won't/get annoyed, I just go to the store and buy stuff to cook for myself or I bring something from home.

sprintto50

If you find yourself in a situation where calorie counting is impractical, eat a tiny portion of the protein, a tiny portion of the starch, and lots of veggies with no sauce, butter etc. When you can , weigh, measure etc, so that you get better at eyeballing when you have to.

cwolfman13

I lost quite a bit of weight before MFP and without calorie counting and I've maintained my weight for over a year now without calorie counting. I found counting beneficial in the short run in that it really helped me to just balance things out better...but really, I was doing pretty well without it and I've been just fine in maintenance.

1 ) Portion control. This was probably the single biggest thing for me to learn. I started paying very close attention to what packages and what not said for recommended portions. When cooking for myself and my wife, I pretty much stuck to those portions for the most part....using my food scale for most things and measuring other things. I also became accustomed to what that looked like on my plate for a variety of different foods so it became easier for me to judge visually when I was eating someone else s preparations or out at a restaurant, etc.

2) Better decision making. You're going to be hard pressed to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight without meticulously counting calories if you practice the SAD. Before I started counting calories, I changed my dietary habits to reflect more of a Mediterranean/South-beach type of diet (noun). This meant replacing many of the fattier cuts of beef that my wife and I consumed on a regular basis with leaner cuts (and again, proper portions) and introducing much more chicken and fish and lean cuts of pork into our diet. Does this mean we never eat a good fatty roast or go out for a pizza or whatever? Of course not...it's just much more rare these days.

Additionally, we put a huge premium on vegetable consumption...pretty much heaping helpings of vegetables at lunch and dinner (sometimes breakfast but usually a V8 and fruit there) and we snack on them a lot as well. On average we take in around 6-8 actual servings of vegetables per day. During the summer I also eat around 3 servings of fruit per day...but in the winter I'm pretty much relegated to an apple a day.

I also pretty much dumped soda...I was a 3-5 12oz Mt Dew guy per day back in the day...I have a soda once in a blue moon these days. I also rarely eat candy or cakes or things of this nature...not that they're inherently evil or anything, they're just very easy to over-consume when you're not meticulously counting calories. I eat these sorts of things on occasions like holidays, birthdays, etc.

Note that "cleaning" up your diet isn't going to automatically result in an energy deficit...but it is much more likely that you will, particularly if you're coupling that with portion control.

3) Invest a lot of time in learning actual nutrition and learn how to fuel your body and optimize your nutrition. People know that vegetables and fruit are important to proper nutrition, but beyond that people tend to be lost...dietary fat is very essential and so is protein and a lot of people miss the boat there.

4) Cook more. I never thought I ate out that much until I made it a point to change my diet around...I definitely ate out less than the average Joe/Jane, but I found that I ate out a lot more than what I was perceiving. Not that eating out is bad necessarily...but restaurants tend to serve 2-3 times the recommended servings of pretty much everything (except for the vegetables); additionally, they cook with a lot of oil and use a lot of salt to make the food taste good. Unless you're eating off a 500 calorie or less menu you can pretty much count on most restaurant entrees to clock in anywhere from 800 - 1200 calories and that adds up pretty quick. To boot, the meals don't tend to be very balanced nutritionally speaking.

I still eat out...about 2-3 times per month vs 5-6 times per week that i was eating out before.

5) Move more. You don't have to fly around balls to the wall, but you're going to have better luck losing and maintaining weight if you're moving more. When I first started out, I just made it a point to go walking for an hour every single day...deliberately getting off my butt and moving beyond my day to day stuff. Eventually that turned into more intense exercise (which is about when I started counting calories because I didn't know how much I needed to fuel actual workouts)

howardheilweil

Lots of good advice here. Ultimately, though, if you don't know what's going in (eating) and going out (exercise), it's going to be very difficult. As someone else stated, at least try to estimate what you are eating and log it. If this is important to you, you will find a way to do it. Good luck!

87monkey

As others said just lower your portions. But it would be wise to get the ingredients and about how much they are using because you will be surprised to see how much calories some things actually have! Some things have ridiculous amounts of calories, and knowing that will help you with proper portion control.

TeaBea

If you don't want to/can't count calories, then you could possibly try things like portion control, and eating a lot of vegetables while limiting refined carbs and sodas and what not. But if you don't control your own eating, you probably can't control that either.

This^

Counting calories at the beginning is tedious. But measuring & logging food serves a purpose. You find out what portions are, you find out where your problems lie, you are able to steer calories towards macro goals.

You could do something extreme like Slim Fast or the Special K diet, but this teaches you nothing because you're not eating real food. Maintenance requires that you "learned" something.

I could eat less than 1,000 calories (easily) without measuring anything. But that's too low, and I would not be managing macros at all.

Whole foods, lots of veggies, lots of high volume foods, can get you there. But calories are about nutrition too.

martinel2099

Lowering your portions and eating more satisfying foods (high in protein and fiber) can help you watch calories without counting calories, but it will be guess work at best.

I became over weight in the first place because there is a lot of temptation and calorie counting helps keep me in check. I don't have to be afraid of food or have an unhealthy relationship with food if I calorie count and keep myself accountable. With calorie counting I can have my cake and eat it too.

yopeeps025

portion sizes.

pandabear_

Maybe work out what exactly they have cooked and then list ingredients in your diary individually.

Unknown

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RosanaRosanaDana

Portion Control. You know that gravies, sauces and dressings are loaded with calories so keep them to a bare minimum if you have them at all. Fried chicken? Peel off the skin. Sure, that's the good tasting stuff but it's also where the fat is. Cheese? Keep it off your burger or have one thin slice. If there serving lasagna, have a small piece and a big salad with lemon or balsamic and olive oil. You know what the bad stuff is, push it aside. You can do it, we all have too.

mommadearest3

Try entering what you eat on MFP because chances are, the meal will be listed.

lavendy17

I think you should count calories for a little bit to see what a good day looks like to you and then after you have a good grip on it keep eating similarly to your typical good day. I maintained like that for years (until a 3 week visit home where every relative showered me with cakes ha ha).

Also, I recommend visualizing the USDA plate. It has half a plate with veggies/fruit, and the other half is split between grains and lean protein. I try to eat like that for every main meal.

Cooking at home is a great idea because it's typically healthier than fast food and restaurants.

Lastly, minimizing pre-packaged processed foods helps subdue cravings, plus they tend to have little nutrition. You want to aim at nutritional, satisifying foods that keep you fuller longer.

sparklefrogz

I eat a lot of what other people cook and they don't track calories in their recipes (and never will).

What everyone else said, but also: offer to help them cook. Ask for their recipe (works best when exclaiming how delicious the food is). Offer to bring a dish.

More specific tips would be possible if more detail of your situation were given -- are you living with family members who do all the cooking? In an institutional work/living environment where meals are controlled by others or some sort of regulations? Attend lots of dinner parties?

akaMrsmojo

Don't eat out, ever.

swertyqwerty

Thanks everyone. I am taking notes on your responses and really appreciate your tips. I am so inspired by everybody's weight loss.

swertyqwerty

I should add that the tips on eating out really opened my eyes and surprised me. I eat out often and didn't know it comes to 1000 calories a meal.. It's hard to cook and calorie count because I live with other people who insist on cooking and refuse to count calories (not out of malice or rudeness or anything, but they just won't). My roommates keep telling me to just exercise more instead of changing my diet. Anyway as some said if I want it bad enough maybe I should stop making excuses and calorie count. It's tough with my lifestyle but getting fat was easy.

I'll try to minimize grains/sugar first just to see if that's enough and if that doesn't work I'll have to cook for myself and calorie count.

amandzor

Eat half of what you used to. Do so on a small salad plate. Never go back for seconds.

For meals you do chose, eat small. Like a yogurt and banana for breakfast.

Look up calorie counts for common ingredients. You should know how many cals are in a 1/2 cup of rice, a large egg, or 4 oz of chicken. These are staples of my diet, and it takes out the guess work.

fit_gal

I lost 33 lbs without counting calories per say. I say per say as in' if I wanted a bag of crisps I would get the lower calorie one, or have a lower cal chocolate than what I would normally have. I got a low fat margerine etc. I also cut down on my snacking during the day and did cardio most days. I did 30 mins a day exercise, whether it was cardio or something on the Wii. It can be done. But you have to be strict with yourself and make sure you eat in moderation.

andreaheileman

My mom (who is in her 40s) has lost over 70lbs. She lost it pretty quick - about 7 months. She did so without counting any calories. She just started eating healthy and in much smaller portions as well as becoming much more active. She rides her bike 20-30 miles every day! She doesn't work so it was easier for this to become a lifestyle for her. She has kept off the weight for over a year now. This hasn't ever worked for me though... I don't estimate calories well and I find myself too busy to be able to eat whatever and still lose weight. I need to track to succeed! Congrats to others who don't need to :flowerforyou:

ddkphotos

Oops

ddkphotos

Sorry. Forgot to quote cwolfman
This is great advice!

I lost quite a bit of weight before MFP and without calorie counting and I've maintained my weight for over a year now without calorie counting. I found counting beneficial in the short run in that it really helped me to just balance things out better...but really, I was doing pretty well without it and I've been just fine in maintenance.

1 ) Portion control. This was probably the single biggest thing for me to learn. I started paying very close attention to what packages and what not said for recommended portions. When cooking for myself and my wife, I pretty much stuck to those portions for the most part....using my food scale for most things and measuring other things. I also became accustomed to what that looked like on my plate for a variety of different foods so it became easier for me to judge visually when I was eating someone else s preparations or out at a restaurant, etc.

2) Better decision making. You're going to be hard pressed to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight without meticulously counting calories if you practice the SAD. Before I started counting calories, I changed my dietary habits to reflect more of a Mediterranean/South-beach type of diet (noun). This meant replacing many of the fattier cuts of beef that my wife and I consumed on a regular basis with leaner cuts (and again, proper portions) and introducing much more chicken and fish and lean cuts of pork into our diet. Does this mean we never eat a good fatty roast or go out for a pizza or whatever? Of course not...it's just much more rare these days.

Additionally, we put a huge premium on vegetable consumption...pretty much heaping helpings of vegetables at lunch and dinner (sometimes breakfast but usually a V8 and fruit there) and we snack on them a lot as well. On average we take in around 6-8 actual servings of vegetables per day. During the summer I also eat around 3 servings of fruit per day...but in the winter I'm pretty much relegated to an apple a day.

I also pretty much dumped soda...I was a 3-5 12oz Mt Dew guy per day back in the day...I have a soda once in a blue moon these days. I also rarely eat candy or cakes or things of this nature...not that they're inherently evil or anything, they're just very easy to over-consume when you're not meticulously counting calories. I eat these sorts of things on occasions like holidays, birthdays, etc.

Note that "cleaning" up your diet isn't going to automatically result in an energy deficit...but it is much more likely that you will, particularly if you're coupling that with portion control.

3) Invest a lot of time in learning actual nutrition and learn how to fuel your body and optimize your nutrition. People know that vegetables and fruit are important to proper nutrition, but beyond that people tend to be lost...dietary fat is very essential and so is protein and a lot of people miss the boat there.

4) Cook more. I never thought I ate out that much until I made it a point to change my diet around...I definitely ate out less than the average Joe/Jane, but I found that I ate out a lot more than what I was perceiving. Not that eating out is bad necessarily...but restaurants tend to serve 2-3 times the recommended servings of pretty much everything (except for the vegetables); additionally, they cook with a lot of oil and use a lot of salt to make the food taste good. Unless you're eating off a 500 calorie or less menu you can pretty much count on most restaurant entrees to clock in anywhere from 800 - 1200 calories and that adds up pretty quick. To boot, the meals don't tend to be very balanced nutritionally speaking.

I still eat out...about 2-3 times per month vs 5-6 times per week that i was eating out before.

5) Move more. You don't have to fly around balls to the wall, but you're going to have better luck losing and maintaining weight if you're moving more. When I first started out, I just made it a point to go walking for an hour every single day...deliberately getting off my butt and moving beyond my day to day stuff. Eventually that turned into more intense exercise (which is about when I started counting calories because I didn't know how much I needed to fuel actual workouts)