Does anyone here NOT count calories and still losing weight?

Rannoch3908
Rannoch3908 Posts: 177 Member
in Getting Started
I try, and try, and try to count calories using the app -- it never sticks.
The extra time it takes to log each thing I eat, weigh stuff, try to add all the different 20 ingredients of my dinner - it's taking over my life. My wife is always asking - why are you on your phone so much instead of paying attention to our son and her.

Well I'm trying to log every frickin thing I eat - five times a day.

I have been reading THE OBESITY CODE.
They stress not counting calories but instead doing intermittent fasting (eating window of 8 hours) and eating low carb (100 carbs a day) and lots of protein and health fats.

I need something easy - where I can just eat during the day, make healthy choices, try to eat more whole foods and not processed crap - and lose weight.

Replies

  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 853 Member
    I log all my meals for the following day the night before. I just log snacks throughout the day. Makes it much easier.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,353 Member
    When I'm not able to count calories, my workaround is to just eat/take half of whatever it is I want and that's what I eat. For example, when I visit my dad, he makes pancakes for breakfast. He makes them with mesquite flour and god knows what else, so estimating is difficult. My solution is to take 2 pancakes instead of 3 and that's my breakfast. There are always more if I'm truly, truly hungry, but honestly, that hardly ever happens. Or grabbing a sandwich on the way to a meeting, I just eat half and either save the rest for later or just toss it, depending on what I'm able to do. It keeps calories down and saves the headache of dissecting and logging unfamiliar foods. I don't know why it wouldn't work for weight loss in general.
  • I_AM_ISRAEL
    I_AM_ISRAEL Posts: 160 Member
    Takes me 5 mins everyday to log what I’ve eaten. This is also because I eat basically the same foods every single day for about a week then switch a couple foods up for the following week.
    Boring? Yes
    Does it work? Absolutely
    When you eat the same foods everyday, go to search foods and what you’ve previously had in your diary, will show up, simply add to whatever meal you want to add it to.
    Also, my meals are very simplistic in nature, so I don’t have to worry about every single ingredient I’m eating.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,741 Member
    In that case, I'd say the easiest thing for you to do is simply eat smaller portions of everything you currently eat. Consistently.

    You know how much of whatever food you serve yourself. Start by giving yourself 2/3 of that portion. Maybe cut to half of some higher calorie foods. Really, all you need to do is eat less than you currently are. No eating windows, low carb, etc. are even necessary.
  • DSpence1973
    DSpence1973 Posts: 17 Member
    A bit of context, I am a 165lb, 5'10", 49 yo male. I workout 3-5 times a week (mix of strength conditioning and cardio). I also do 1-2 hour BJJ/MMA training 2-3 times a week. That being said, the only time I lose weight without counting calories is when I stick to a whole foods plant based diet. Truthfully it is when I feel the best, have the most energy, least inflammation and soreness. The problem is, I like burgers and steaks, eggs, etc. When I start adding those into my diet I need to be a slave to calorie counting or I can put on 10 pounds in a few weeks.
  • kaydensmom2009
    kaydensmom2009 Posts: 57 Member
    I lost 85lbs (200lbs to 115lbs) eating from noon-7pm each day and not counting calories. I ate 2 meals a day made up of a protein, fruit, vegetable, and healthy carb. Two snacks a day as well which was usually a protein shake (I love the taste of them) and then almonds. And one dairy a day. I don’t do low carb, I just try to make them high fiber carbs. I like to think in terms of servings of food groups per day and Whole Foods. I started counting calories during maintenance because I was still losing weight when I was trying to stop.
  • magicpieeater
    magicpieeater Posts: 1 Member
    Sometimes I just estimate calories for the more complicated meals. Is it ideal? No. But most of my meals are easy to calculate, and I figure that estimating the rest is better than not counting at all. And I estimate on the higher side.

    That's just what works for me though. Definitely try intermittent fasting and see how it goes if calorie counting isn't sustainable for you. I went through several different plans before finding something that worked for my lifestyle and didn't leave me feeling starving. I'm glad I spent those few weeks trialling things instead of sticking to something that wasn't working and then crashing and giving up because it was too hard.
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Yes, Ive lost weight without counting calories. I eat small portions at lunch, mostly vegetables and protein. My breakfast is usually an egg, maybe some cheese, and coffee. I eat the most at dinner. Whatever my husband cooks. It's usually meat or fish, veg, carb(rice, pasta, potato, tortilla). Sometimes cheese or sauce. I also workout everyday before work.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    I've been listening to a podcast out of Australia. The two trainers/hosts lost over 100 kilos focusing only on weight lifting. They choose healthier foods, but never weigh them or count the calories (they may measure them with cups). They allow "unhealthy" foods as well. But it all comes down to weight lifting. Very interesting.

    www.theweightlosspocast.com
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Late 2012 through early 2013 I lost around 40 Lbs. I lost about half of that without counting anything and had never even heard of MFP. Mostly I stopped eating out fast food everyday for lunch and getting take-out 3-4 nights per week for dinner and my wife and I started to cook at home most of the time. I also cut out full sugar sodas completely and cut way back on alcohol, particularly beer, and when I did drink I just had some kind of vodka cocktail with a diet mixer. For myself, focusing on higher quality nutrition and mostly whole foods and home cooking was a pretty easy and painless way to lose weight.

    I only started counting when I started exercising regularly and started losing weight faster than what I felt was healthy. As it turns out, I wasn't eating enough to support the addition of regular, daily exercise. I went into maintenance in the spring of 2013 and haven't counted since, including dropping winter seasonal weight gain every year. I'm currently in the process of losing 20 Lbs that I put on in 2020 and 2021 and maintained for most of 2022 and I'm not counting and losing about 1 Lb per week.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,649 Member
    If you can make the time commitment to log up front, then it will go easier and faster down the road. MFP keeps track of your frequent foods, favorites, recipes (those you have to manually input, but it's very helpful, and I will often use the Recipe feature to come up with dinner ideas to cook.) You build your own database and then it works faster.

    But yes, my husband also finds my attention to the food logging a bit tiresome. Oh well, my choice.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,220 Member
    You're probably eating less overall calories eating just whole plant foods when you're not counting calories. Personally, I do the opposite and eat mostly animal sources with little starchy carbs and I don't count calories because I'm totally satiated and don't have that need. I actually have to remind myself periodically to eat. I maintain my weight without a problem and my focus, breathing, sleep and blood work is much better than when I start eating plant materials that contain sugars, but again, everyone is different and why nutrition shouldn't be looked at as a reductionist approach but looked at individually to find solutions. Cheers.
  • XxAngry_Pixi
    XxAngry_Pixi Posts: 236 Member
    I lost my first 25kgs without counting calories by eating whole food plant based which was high carb low fat. Just ate what ever I wanted whenever I wanted within the whole food plant based parameters.

  • jyoti_0
    jyoti_0 Posts: 87 Member
    @kaydensmom2009
    I too found that a long gap between two meals, either dinner and breakfast or breakfast and lunch are good for weight loss. For me, breakfast is the most important meal so I have a higher calorie breakfast but early, low calorie dinner. So, my calorie intake peaks at breakfast, then flattens at lunch and finally, lowers at dinner time. I try to eat protein in dinner, which will keep me satiated till the next breakfast.

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