How to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories

If you’ve been following me for a while, you would know that I’m a huge advocate of counting calories in order to lose weight. However, many people can be so obsessed with calorie counting that it causes eating disorders. Others also find counting calories too time-consuming and inaccurate.

But the truth still holds - the biggest factor in diet is calories. We must be in a calorie deficit to lose weight. But how do you do so without counting calories? The answer is to eat healthier foods. This is because the second biggest factor in diet is the kinds of foods you eat. When you try to eat healthier foods, you typically tend to lower your calorie intake without noticing or barely even trying. So, if you switch up whatever you’re eating to healthier foods, you are actually killing two birds with one stone - better for your health, reducing illnesses and diseases, and eating less food in general which lowers your calorie count. Therefore, we should prioritize eating healthier food instead of just eating less.

However, when trying to eat healthily, many people focus on what not to eat. Usually diets which eliminate certain foods are diets that are just fads and are not sustainable. Instead, what they should be focusing on is knowing what to eat. And here we will be going through the things to add into your meals to lose weight without counting calories. Let’s dive in.

Focus on adding these into your meals instead of thinking what to eliminate.

Add A LOT of These into your Meals

If you’re eating most of these foods in your diet, your health will likely improve and your calorie count will drop without even trying.

Lean Proteins

Lean proteins are very important. These include chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, beef, pork, seafood, etc. Any kind of minimally processed animal product including all kinds of dairy products is great for your health. They don’t have to be super lean. For example, salmon is also good even though it has some fat. They just have to be not entirely made up of fat. What’s not included here are highly processed meat products in large amounts, like bacon, sausage, salami etc. You’ll probably want to eat less of that and more of the good stuff like those mentioned above.

Healthy Carbs

3 main categories of healthy carbs are veggies, fruits and whole grains. Any kind of veggies are great. Any kind of fruit is great. Any kind of whole grain is great. What’s not included here are sugary beverages, like sodas or juices. Instead of juices, eat actual fruit. They fill you up much more, and they have much less sugar per unit volume. Sugar is not bad but you’ll get a lot of calories through it. Replace all sodas with water, sparkling water or diet soda. Diet soda is 100% safe and healthy. You can drink as much as you want. If you can replace all your sweet drinks with diet soda, that’ll be a great help for your weight loss journey. Other carbs which are not so good are high carbs and fat processed treats like cakes, cookies, ice creams etc. This is because they have a poor effect on appetite - you can eat a lot of those and still be hungry. More importantly, they add a ton of calories. Also, they have a ton of preservatives, they lack minerals, vitamins, fibres etc.

Healthy Fats

Generally, fats that are mono-unsaturated are healthy fats. Examples are olive or canola oils, natural nut butters, all nuts, avocados and more. Fats that are not healthy are those with a lot of animal fats like lard, coconut oil or butter, trans-fat like those in fast foods or snack foods.

Lean meat is one of the first foods you should add into your plate.

Add some of these into your Meals

The goal is not to only eat healthy foods. The goal is to eat more healthy foods and less of the “not as healthy foods”. You don’t have to only eat healthy foods. It is ok to have some ‘junk’ foods here and there at times. Perhaps once a day or 2-3 times a week, but that shouldn’t be the core of your diet. Think about what you would reply if someone asked you what your typical foods for the day are. If you find that you’re replying mostly foods like chips, fried foods, processed foods, fatty foods, then you’re definitely not on the right track. But if you’re telling the person foods like lean protein, healthy carbs, healthy fats, and some ‘junk’ food once in a while, then you’re on the right track for sure!

Don’t worry about things like how many meals you’re eating, how much protein, carbs and fats amount, how big each meal is. For now, just focus on choosing the right foods more often. A good idea to try is to convert one of your meals into a healthy-only food meal. For example, eating only healthy food for breakfast. Once you get the hang of that, try replacing your lunch too. Eventually when you’re ready, convert your dinner too, and leave the ‘junk’ for after dinner or just an occasional treat. On amount of food, just eat as much as you need not to feel hungry, but not so much that you’re stuffed.

But note that this change can take some time, from 1 week to 1 month or even longer. But there is no rush! Because sustainability is key. Once you’re eating healthy food most of the time, then you’re ready to go onto the next step.

An occasional treat or two after each meal can be added if most of the foods you are eating are healthy.

Building Your Meal

Once you know what foods you should eat more of, the next step is to build your meals. This will allow more structure to it. But what does building a meal mean?

Your meals should start with a core of lean protein. Include a portion about the size of your palm, for example, salmon or lean beef the size of your palm. You can add a glass of dairy product or protein shake to make sure it is even more complete. Why is protein so important? It will help you retain muscle mass, build more muscle, increase energy, burn more calories through digestion, and keep you full.

The second key ingredient is a serving of veggies. It can be anywhere between the size of your fist or 4 times the size of your fist, depending on the types of veggies you eat. I would recommend that you eat as much as you want here if you like veggies because they fill you up well and crush hunger. If you don’t really like veggies, at least make an effort to eat a small amount in your meal. But note that the cooking style of veggies is important. Grilled, steamed, boiled or raw veggies are recommended. Stir-fried, deep-fried veggies can add a ton of calories and isn’t helpful for your weight loss journey.

Next, you can consider adding whole grains and/or fruits into your meals. Whole grains of any kind work well. Whole grain breads, whole grain rice, whole grain noodles, whole grain, whole grain pasta are all great options. Fruits are best eaten fresh, not blended (because they don’t fill you up) or not in syrup (because of the calories).

Healthy fats are optional. But if you’re looking to add some, make sure you control the portion as well because they can bump up your calories by a lot. Make sure you include the oil you use for cooking too.

You still can have some flexibility in building your meals. If you feel that carbs fill you up better, feel free to eat more of them. If you have a strong preference for healthy fats and veggies instead of carbs, by all means! There is no right and wrong answer to this. Eat what suits your hunger and preference better.

A standard bowl of palm-sized protein and as much veggies as you want can’t go wrong!

Veggies and Snacking

Must you eat veggies every meal? Of course not! there is no “MUST” in anything about dieting. If you add fruit and Greek yogurt after your meals, you don’t have to add a side of veggie in there. But for most main meals, try to get veggies in! They have a lot of vitamins and minerals, and they help curb hunger very well. You can have them in massive volumes but only clock low calories.

What about snacks? Can you eat them? Are they bad? You can totally have them but it would be good if the snacks meet three criteria:

1) Try to make them protein-based. Protein bars and shakes are great. They make you full longer. If you snack on chips or cookies, they don’t make you full at all, because they contain a lot of fat and sugar. They also add a lot of calories so it’s easy to go above your limit.

2) Try to keep them made of healthy stuff. Potato chips, sweet drinks, candies - not a good snack! The term snack doesn’t mean you divert from your philosophy of eating most healthy food. There are tons of options out there!

3) Only have them when you really need them. If you can’t fit in a meal, that’s when you need a snack instead. If you have time for a meal, it is better to have a good one with the principles above. This will help with long-term sustainability as it is more filling.

Protein bars or fruits are great snacks to curb hunger! But remember, only snack if a meal is not possible.

Conclusion

Although counting calories has many benefits, it can be a hassle for some. The solution? Eat mostly healthy food. But expect that the transition can take quite a bit of time. Remember there is no rush! More importantly, do what you think is sustainable so you can keep weight loss off in the long term!

P.S. - need a more structured way to lose weight? Try out my online coaching!