Weight Loss Without Counting Calories

Calorie counting is the practice of adding up the amount of calories one consumes and it usually involves documenting the sources of those calories. When it comes to weight loss, counting calories is a tried-and-tested strategy. As an illustration, one study found that weight loss programs with a calorie counting component resulted in 7 more pounds of weight loss than similar programs where the feature wasn’t included.

So why is calorie counting so successful?

My, what a brilliant question by me, if I do say so myself!

Well, to answer my own brilliant question, counting calories is successful because it helps build awareness of what and how much you’re eating. Moreover, the act of logging everything you eat provides a written record that can not only be used to identify eating patterns but also monitor behavior to hold you accountable for your choices today, yesterday, or a month ago.

So yeah, counting calories is something you should definitely do if you want to lose weight!

Now, as good of a tool as calorie counting is, there are some folks who’d rather not do it. Among the most popular reasons are being confused by the process or finding it too time-consuming, as well as it detracting from the pleasure of eating.

While calorie counting is fairly easy once the time, energy, and effort is taken to learn and develop the skills around it, it’s certainly not the only method out there for portion control and weight management. So if someone is dead set against counting calories because they have a thing against learning and implementing invaluable life skills, then they don’t have to do it and can instead try one of the following alternatives to reduce calorie intake.

Assess Hunger Before Eating

The odds of eating more than you should are reduced when you limit yourself to eating only when you’re hungry. Because that can be easier said than done, employment of the hunger-fullness scale can help.

Before eating, assess your hunger on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being that you’re hungry enough to die, 10 that you’re so full that you might explode, and 5 that you’re neither hungry nor full. If you feel like eating but rate the sensation at a 5 or above, then what you have is a craving that’ll subside with time. Given that, you shouldn’t eat. Only eat when you’re at a 3 or 4, which is when your body will start signaling that food is soon to be of importance by way of the stomach growling a little. Stop eating when you’re nearing a 7, at which point you should begin feeling uncomfortable. Eat beyond that and you’re likely to take in more calories than your body needs to fuel itself.¹

Consume Fewer Carbs

One of the most well-known methods to lose weight without counting calories is to cut carbs, as popularized by diets like Atkins and keto. All you have to do is reduce or eliminate products like pasta, bread, potatoes, candy, sugar, and rice, which then lowers insulin levels and forces the body to burn stored fat for energy, resulting in weight loss. Additionally, with the drop in insulin, the kidneys shed excess sodium and water from the body, which leads to a significant reduction in water weight.

Reduce Processed Foods

Eat foods that provide satiety with a small amount of calories as opposed to those that are energy dense but aren’t that filling due to their lack of nutritional value. That generally means eating less packaged and processed foods like pizza, cookies, and chips, with you then increasing the quantity and frequency of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, as well as lean protein sources like beef, pork, poultry, seafood, and tofu.

Fruits and vegetables are high in water, which increases the weight of food and helps stretch the stomach. Fiber also has a similar effect, as certain forms of the nutrient absorb water and expand to create a gel that takes up space in the gut. The particular type of fiber is the soluble kind and it’s found in produce, plus other plant-based products like beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Another feature of fiber is its ability to slow down the rate in which food empties out of the stomach. As for protein, it controls hunger by way taking a long time to digest. In addition, protein releases hormones that regulate the appetite. Together, these nutrients promote fullness and because foods that are rich in them are less energy dense than foods that are heavily processed, including them in your diet can fill you up on fewer calories and keep you satisfied for longer, thus driving down your total intake without having to monitor it nor feel deprived of food.

TIP: Structure your plate so half is filled with vegetables, a fourth has lean protein, and the remaining quarter consists of whole grains.

Eat Breakfast

Eating something upon waking up can prevent blood sugar levels from getting low, which can affect the appetite hormones and lead to overeating when you finally do decide to eat. Also, by eating breakfast, you’re more likely to make good food choices because your body will have the energy it needs to start the day so that later on it doesn’t have to demand energy from high-calorie foods whose extra calories you might not burn and will then get stored as fat.

More specifically, this breakfast should consist less of pancakes, waffles, and bagels with refined carbs that digest quickly and cause a rapid spike in blood glucose levels that eventually plummet and result in you eating more with the onset of hunger. Instead, start your day with eggs, cottage cheese, turkey bacon, and other sources of protein for the nutrient’s satiating effects that can help curb your appetite and prevent you from overeating later in the day.

Begin With A Starter

According to research, starting a meal with food that has a low energy density like soup or salad can reduce the amount of calories eaten during that meal. Why or how that’s possible is pretty easy to figure out.

As we all know, most of the main ingredients in salad are vegetables. Well, as was mentioned earlier, vegetables contain fiber, a nutrient that promotes the feeling of fullness. With that in mind, eating salad first makes you eat less by increasing satiety and driving down the need or desire to consume more calories later in the feeding opportunity. Concerning soup, the volume of water and its blended ingredients stretch the stomach, which helps to release satiety hormones that signal fullness. So yeah, begin lunch or dinner with soup or salad and you’ll eat less of the main entree.

Eat In Order

Eat your protein, fat, and fibrous vegetables before you touch the starchy carbs. Studies have found that eating in that order significantly lowers insulin and blood glucose levels so you’re more likely to burn the food as energy than store it as fat. So chow down on chicken, fish, and greens ahead of your rice, pasta, and potatoes!

Cook At Home

Restaurant food is often loaded with calories and even though you might be able to make swaps that lower the count, you can save even more calories by doing your own cooking because you have greater control of what’s in your food. For that reason, you should prepare the majority of your food at home and limit buying it from eateries.

TIP: Delete food delivery apps from your phone so if you’re compelled to order from a restaurant, you’ll have to make more of an effort to do so instead of having the convenient option of just pressing a button and having food automagically appear at your doorstep at any time of day.

Prepare In Advance

Deciding what to eat and making it ahead of time can help you manage your diet by making it easier to stay consistent with eating nutrient-dense food even on busy days.

TIP: Prep at least one meal for the entire week to take with you to work or to have ready to eat when you come home. That way, there’s something already made for you to eat that just needs a quick warming up, which will eliminate the excuse of having to consume less than desirable food from a package or restaurant because there’s nothing to eat while away from home. Or that there’s no time to cook when you get back. Or that you’re too tired to. Or whatever other excuse you can come up with. If not a meal, then prep at least one small snack for the entire week to take with you to work or elsewhere so you have something to eat between meals or when you have a craving. That way, you don’t have the excuse of having to make a poor food choice at a vending machine, work event, or your kid’s baseball game because there was nothing to eat.

Control Portions

When there’s a large amount of food in front of you, you’re likely to eat more than you would have had so much food not been present. That’s why you can reduce your food intake by doing something as simple as pouring out a single serving of snacks into a bowl instead of eating directly from packaging that has multiple servings. With meals, eat them from salad size plates instead of traditional dinner plates.² The reason for this is that the larger the plate is, the more food you’ll serve to fill the empty space and if that space isn’t filled, the less food your brain will think you’ve eaten and result in you possibly going back for more food than your body actually needs. By eating from a smaller plate, you not only reduce the portion size but also trick your brain into thinking it’s eaten more food so it’s satisfied with fewer calories.

Take Longer To Eat

When you eat, hunger hormones send signals to the brain to tell it when you’re full. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes after you’ve started eating for the brain to pick up on those signals. When you eat too fast, your brain doesn’t have enough time to catch up with the cues from the stomach that it’s had enough food, resulting in the consumption of excess calories. Conversely, eating slowly gives the brain time to receive the signals in question so you only take in as many calories as necessary. For this reason, don’t shovel food into your mouth before you’ve had a chance to fully chew and swallow what’s already in there. Instead, put your fork, spoon, sandwich, whatever down between bites and chew the food thoroughly to prolong the amount of time it takes you to get through a feeding.

Limit Distractions

When you eat while preoccupied, it’s easy not to notice how much food you’ve eaten. So eat only while sitting down at a table and doing nothing else. That means you shouldn’t eat while watching TV, reading, talking or playing on the phone, working on the computer, etc. All your attention should be on your food and allowing the brain to pick up on cues that you’ve eaten enough, such as how much is gone from the plate or how full your stomach feels.

Don’t Skip Meals

Skipping meals is often done with the intention of eating fewer calories but it often has the opposite effect. That’s because when you skip a feeding opportunity, you’re more likely to feel hungrier later and be susceptible to cravings. When you finally do eat, that may result in you making poor food choices and/or eating more than you would’ve had you eaten earlier. Skipping meals is also counterproductive for weight loss because going without food for a long enough period can leave you less energized. Why that’s bad is because a lack of energy decreases the likelihood that you’ll be active and burn calories through regular movement or intentional exercise, both of which can help supplement weight loss. It’s for these reasons why you should eat small meals and snacks frequently throughout the day instead of thinking that you’re better off by not eating.

Make Healthy Swaps

Cut calories by substituting higher-calorie foods you already eat with lower calorie options that are less fatty or supply more protein and fiber. For example, replacing whole milk with skim milk can save you a handful of calories. So can switching from sour cream to plain Greek yogurt as a garnish. Or dumping white bread for multigrain bread or other alternatives like rice cakes, nori, and corn tortillas. There are endless possibilities of things to swap!

Skip High-Calorie Items

While you shouldn’t skip meals, you can certainly skip high-calorie items that are part of your daily diet. For example, if you regularly drink a latte before work every morning, you can save yourself a handful of calories by simply not having it. At lunch, eat your sandwich open-faced if not going breadless altogether. And if you drink multiple cans of soda per day, then wet your whistle with three instead of having your usual four. These simple acts of omission can cut your calorie intake and the potential is there for even more savings when high-calorie items are removed and aren’t swapped with a low-calorie option.

Eat Calories Instead Of Drinking Them

Liquid calories don’t provide any nutritional value nor do they suppress hunger. On top of that, the calories that you get from fruit juice, regular soda, gourmet coffee, and sports and energy drinks add up quickly to a shitload of extra calories, which contribute to weight gain or difficulty with weight loss. So limit, if not eliminate, your liquid calories. As such, your beverage of choice should be calorie-free drinks like water and diet soda or low-calorie options like tea and black coffee.

TIP: If drinking water, feel free to add sliced fruit or vegetables, mint leaves, parsley, cinnamon sticks, or nutmeg for added flavor. Low or zero calorie sugar-free liquid or powder water enhancers are another viable option so your juvenile taste buds don’t feel like they’re being tortured.

Try Time-Restricted Eating

Instead of scattering your meals and snacks throughout the day, you may want to cycle between periods where you’re permitted to eat and a set number of hours that you have to fast with the exception of calorie-free beverages. Taking this approach of time-restricted eating, or intermittent fasting as it’s commonly known, can help you consume fewer calories in a day by reducing the potential number of feeding opportunities for you to take in more food. Additionally, you’re kinda forced to choose nutrient-dense foods that are filling so that when the eating window closes, you don’t experience serious hunger and your body is supplied with sustained energy it can tap into to power itself.

Counting calories is proven effective for slimming down but it’s not right for everyone, as some find it complicated, stressful, and too much of a time commitment. But as detailed, counting calories isn’t the only way to shed pounds. By following as many of the provided suggestions as possible, you’ll be well on your way to achieving weight loss without ever having to count a single calorie.

Glossary: calories, diet, dietary fat, exercise, fat, glucose, hormones

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Monster Longe

Monster Longe is a personal trainer in San Diego. He has been lifting weights for +25 years and training clients in the gym and online for about half of that time. When not working with clients or making content that's easy to read, understand, and apply to everyday life, he enjoys long walks and leaving buildings crushed and entire city blocks decimated in his wake.