How To Lose Fat Without Counting Calories
Key Takeaways
You can lose fat without counting calories - IF you follow these 6 principles:
Prioritize protein
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables (and fiber)
Stay hydrated
Eat mindfully
Limit ultra-processed foods
Try the 3 plates, 2 snacks method
If you have a history of restricted eating, don’t want to put in the effort, or just flat out don’t want to, tracking your food is not a requisite to staying lean or living a healthy life.
By following these 6 easy tips, you can accomplish your goals without counting a single calorie for as long as you live.
If you’d like to enlist an experienced coach to help you implement these strategies, you can learn more here.
Full Story
I’ve been going about this all wrong. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - weight loss always comes down to calories in vs. calories out. But that message doesn’t help you any more than your financial advisor advising you to “earn more than you spend” or your basketball coach screaming “score more points than the other team!”
In this arena, it would be like your personal trainer telling you to “lift more than last time.” If you do, you’ll make progress, no question about it. The question you need answered in regard to eating fewer calories than you burn is, “HOW IN THE WORLD DO I DO THAT?
On Monday you learned that you don’t need to run to be healthy. Now, I’m telling you that you can lose fat without counting a single calorie. Because my message goes against everything you’ve learned from your high school gym teacher, Weight Watchers, and “The Biggest Loser”, you may think that I’ve lost my marbles. Rest assured, I haven’t.
You can lose fat without counting calories - IF you follow these 6 principles:
Prioritize protein
Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables (and fiber)
Stay hydrated
Eat mindfully
Limit ultra-processed foods
Try the 3 plates, 2 snacks method
Let’s dive into each point.
Prioritize Protein
Hands down, protein is the most important macronutrient for optimizing your fitness. Whatever your goal, and especially if it’s fat loss, you’ll have a significantly easier time achieving it with a high protein diet. Compared to fats and carbs (and alcohol), protein is the most:
Filling - If you consistently eat about 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight, you will a feel fuller while consuming fewer calories than a low protein diet (1, 2).
Metabolism-boosting - I hate the term “metabolism boosting” because you it doesn’t make sense, I’ll explain. When people say it, they mean that protein has the highest thermic effect of food (TEF) at 30% (3). For instance, if you eat 100 calories of egg whites, it requires 30 calories for your body to digest it. It may not seem like much but over time it will add up and accelerate your fat loss progress.
Important for gaining/maintaining muscle - whether you want to gain muscle or retain lean body mass when losing fat, eating a high protein diet will help you succeed. Researchers consistently find that those that eat high protein diets gain higher amounts of muscle during calorie surpluses and retain more lean muscle mass while dieting (4-7).
If you don’t have the faintest idea about how to eat a high protein diet, check out this article that tells you how to do so and the foods highest in protein.
2. Eat Plenty Of Fruits And Vegetables (And Fiber)
If there’s any food substance that can compete with protein on the fullness factor, it’s fiber. Observational studies consistently show that those that consume a diet high in fruits and vegetables weigh less and carry less body fat than those who only sneak in an apple once or twice per week (8).
No, correlation doesn’t equal causation. And yes, it’s possible that those that eat more produce just live overall healthier lives than those that don’t. However, the reasoning behind why eating more fruits, vegetables, and fiber would lead to a lower body weight is sound.
Plus, dieting is a lot less miserable when you fill up on fibrous, whole foods. With a focus on fruits and vegetables, you get a lot more bang for your buck in the volume and chewing department, both of which increase feelings of fullness after meals (9, 10). Don’t believe me?
Here’s ~100 calories of broccoli:
Compared to ~100 calories of chocolate:
Trust me, it’s a lot easier to feel full eating 1,500-2,000 calories (or whatever you need to eat to lose weight) if you fill up on fruits, vegetables, whole wheat bread, potatoes, and legumes as opposed to Snickers, donuts, and spaghetti.
Feeling full + less suffering = more successful (and sustainable) fat loss.
3. Stay Hydrated
Drinking enough water is key to losing weight without tracking calories because:
It reduces hunger
It takes up space in your stomach, making you feel fuller
It decreases boredom and unnecessary snacking
If a hunger pang sucker punches you right in the gut, drink a glass of water and wait ten minutes. If you’re still hungry afterwards, eat!
4. Eat Mindfully
You can always benefit from eating slowfully and mindfully but it's especially important when you’re trying to lose weight. In a calorie deficit, you’ll have fewer calories, and less food, to go around. The last thing you want to do is scarf down your meal before you even know what’s happening (11).
Eating mindfully has been shown to:
Improve digestion
Increase meal satisfaction
Make you feel fuller
You know it’s true. Just think of the last time you came up empty handed reaching in your jumbo popcorn at the movies or suddenly hit the bottom of the cookie dough container. When you’re too enthralled with distractions - be it at the movies, binging Netflix, or scrolling social media - your brain doesn’t realize that you’ve just eaten. Your fullness cues don’t stand a chance, and you’re left going back for seconds and thirds.
By slowing down and focusing on your meal in a distraction-free environment, you’ll naturally feel fuller, faster. If you don’t want to track your calories, being mindful and chewing slowly during your meals is an effective strategy to prevent overeating.
5. Limit Ultra Processed Foods
The #1 diet tip you can possibly follow is to limit your intake of ultra processed foods. Even though it’s possible to overeat whole foods, I’d wager that the vast majority of people that struggle with obesity, type 2 diabetes, or heart disease increased their disease risk by eating too many calories from pizza, cookies, and Taco Bell and not from sweet potatoes, olive oil, and black beans (12).
When attempting to lose weight without tracking your food, it’s important to cut down ultra processed foods because:
They are delicious
They are very easy to overeat
Many of them are not highly nutritious
Note - I’m not recommending you eliminate processed foods. Elimination and restriction works amazingly well - for a few hours. After a short while, all you can think about is what you “aren’t allowed” to eat. Enjoy your favorite foods in moderation, just don’t eat ice cream for every meal and expect the pounds to melt off as fast as your Ben and Jerry’s on a summer day. Kapeesh?
For more on this, check out my article about why limiting ultra processed foods is the most important diet tip.
6. Try The 3 Meals, 2 Snacks Method
*The 3 plates, 2 snacks method is a “non-tracking, kinda tracking” strategy to become more mindful of your food. You don’t track any calories or macronutrients, just the number of meals and snacks you have each day.
The beauty is in the simplicity:
You eat three meals and 2 snacks every day
Every meal contains protein and fits on a plate
Every snack contains protein or fruits/vegetables
If you’d like to lose weight, start eating one fewer meal or snack
If you’d like to gain weight, start eating one more meal or snack
That’s it!
My calorie-counting phobic clients and I have had great success with this method. It’s straightforward and, unless you have very specific physique or performance goals, is effective enough to help you achieve success.
*Credit to coach Jordan Syatt for creating, not me.
Wrap Up
Everyone should track their food for a few weeks. It increases your understanding of how many….
calories
protein
fiber
vitamins + minerals
added sugar
hydrogenated vegetable oils
and every other important food substance
…you consume each day.
Just as budgeting your money helps you know how much you can spend without going broke, gaining awareness of your food makes it much easier to tweak your diet to achieve a health or physique goal. The better you know what and how much you’re putting in your body, the more likely you are to have success in the long term. That being said…
Counting calories is not for everyone.
If you have a history of restricted eating, don’t want to put in the effort, or just flat out don’t want to, tracking your food is not a requisite to staying lean or living a healthy life. Simple is always best. By following these 6 easy tips, you can accomplish your goals without counting a single calorie for as long as you live.
If you’d like to enlist an experienced coach to help you implement these strategies, you can learn more here.