Eating habit change without calorie counting?

ravvie88

Has anyone done this?
I recently had to stop counting calories again, because it triggered a relapse into disordered eating habits I had in high school and early college. It got to the point where I was "saving" about 800-1000 calories a day to use later, but later never came.

Is there another way to monitor my food intake without counting calories?

55in13

Of course, but it isn't easy to just do overnight. There are lots of people wandering around that never diet and have always been fit and trim. I am currently eating without counting, but I l know that I am getting too few calories most days right now. I am losing at about the max recommended rate. When I reach my goal I hope to level off without counting.

In your case, maybe you need a minimum to reach and maximum to stay below at intervals during the day.

I_Will_End_You

I gave up on counting calories. Not because I was obsessive, but because I'm lazy and it's tedious. I've actually lost more weight since I stopped than I did when I was sticking with it. It probably wouldn't work for everyone, but people who have already established good eating habits can probably pull it off.

ElizabethKalmbach

While eating 5 times a day or 1 time a day doesn't really make any difference to most people, I've had a lot of luck with eating one cup of food every 3 hours. I eat pretty much whatever I want, but keep it to ONE helping every 3 hours. My "portions" end up working out to about 200-300 calories each for most of the things I tend to eat. Eggs, beans, stew, pasta, rice, whatever. For something like salad, you will need more than a single cup to get full and get 200 calories, obviously, but you get the idea. I just eat all the normal food that I've made my family for lunches and dinners, and it works out great... (Or used to, before my health tanked, but that shouldn't apply to you.)

endoftheside

Could you do something like plot out the different types of food and your goal for each of them each day? Like protein 3 servings of 3 oz., dairy 2 servings, vegetables minimum 5 servings, fruit 2 servings, etc.? You could base your categories and amounts on a good day that meets your macro/micro goals.