Getting started on your fat loss journey? Here are nine things you should do before you start to count calories to lose weight for good.

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Weight loss is simple. It’s not easy. But it is simple.

Establish that calorie deficit and do it consistently. The consistency piece, coupled with having the patience to see it through, is oftentimes the hardest part of the entire process.

Where many people falter is this approach to weight loss rooted in our culture of getting everything on demand.

You can order dinner through an app and get it delivered within 30 minutes.

In my article about simplifying your life, I broke down several things (like laundry or house cleaning) that you can outsource.

But … when it comes to fat loss, there are no magic pills.

You have to do the work. Consistently. For a long time.

This just underscores the importance of taking a sustainable approach to how you create that calorie deficit and maintain it over time.

In other words: You’re taking a simple process and overcomplicating it with all of these rules and restrictions that make adhering to your diet impossible.

We’re going to put a stop to that right now.

In this breakdown, I’m going to show you nine things you must do right now before you count calories. Instead of rushing to that online calorie calculator, you’ll want to master this set of rules.

Chances are, you won’t even have to count calories to lose weight and keep it off for good.

Let’s get into it.

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A calorie deficit is what you need in order to lose weight. But so many people conflate a calorie deficit with this idea that they absolutely need to count calories to lose weight.

These are two separate things.

Remember, a calorie deficit is achieved when you manage to consume fewer calories than your body burns.

Also remember that your body naturally burns calories through general life functions. We went over this in my article about metabolism and why yours is probably not broken.

We also know that calorie deficits can be achieved in a few ways:

Through exercise alone.

This is not efficient. And it is really hard to do.

Largely because the amount of calories we burn through exercise is not nearly as much as what you’ve been led to believe.

Through diet alone.

Easier to achieve than through exercise alone. However, going this route will lead to weight loss. It will also lead to some muscle loss and you probably won’t look or feel as awesome as you’d hoped when you reach that weight goal.

Through diet and exercise.

The winning combination. Preserves muscle. Makes you healthy. Allows you to eat a little more and still lose since you are prioritizing movement, too.

And the good news is that manipulating total food consumption and daily movement can happen successfully for the vast majority of the general public without breaking out the handy smartphone app and food scales.

Most people are looking to lose 10 to 20 pounds. And this article will help you establish the rules and guidelines to do just that.

Now, when you are chasing some deeper physique goals, you’ll probably want a more comprehensive look at how to track your macros. Just so happens that I have you covered on that one, too.

But this is for the folks that are overwhelmed about counting calories and treat that as a non-starter to kicking off the weight loss journey.

Before you count calories to lose weight, you’ll want to do these simple things:

1. Reduce liquid calories

Probably the easiest fix you can make to save some extra calories.

Skip the lattes, caffeinated milkshakes and sodas and you’ll get back several hundred calories per day.

Hydrate with tons of water. Enjoy your coffee black. Or at least learn to take far less cream and sugar in your morning fix.

2. Eat more vegetables

You likely spend far too much time trying to coerce your little humanoid children to try and eat more veggies.

Well, you need to practice what you preach.

Vegetables are loaded with the types of nutrients the body needs to run optimally. But, they’re also packed with fiber and are incredibly low calorie.

In fact, I don’t have my online coaching clients track the calories in vegetables as a result. It’s just free, voluminous food that you can consume at will.

Of course, the calories still count for the dressings, oils or butters you cook those veggies with, so be mindful of that.

3. Learn what real hunger looks like for you

Being hungry is okay. It’s part of the dieting process. You are eating less food than your body wants.

Being totally ravenous is not okay. Starving yourself every single day is a surefire sign of a rebound binge waiting to happen.

Your job is to understand your hunger cues and hunger levels throughout the day and the many factors that will affect those cues and levels.

Eating more protein and more fibrous fruits and vegetables are a few ways to help with hunger during a weight loss plan.

4. Stop random snacking

You don’t need snacks. If your larger meals were big enough and loaded with enough fiber and protein, you’d be too full and satiated between meals to want to snack.

Eat more protein … eat more vegetables.

5. Control your food environment

If there’s a jar of candy on your countertop in plain sight, you are 1,000-percent going to stop and grab some candy.

However, if that jar of candy was moved out of sight and onto the top shelf of a hard-to-reach cabinet, you’ve created a difficult barrier to entry. You might think twice about reaching for the candy.

You don’t always need to totally remove foods from your household in order to stay accountable to yourself, especially if you’ve got kids, but sometimes you need to be a bit more strategic about it to avoid slip ups.

6. Eat slowly

This is not a NASCAR race.

It can take the body up to 20 minutes to signal to the brain that you are actually full. Which means if you’re scarfing down your food like you’re competing in the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Content, you could be overeating.

Simply aiming to slow your eating can help you identify the real hunger and satiety cues that your body gives you.

Set a timer for 20 minutes at your next meal. Try to fill up that time while eating. Do this every meal and you’ll start to notice massive changes in your ability to stop yourself from stuffing your face hole so much.

7. Watch the restaurant meals

They are loaded with calories. More than advertised. The job of the chef is to make sure you enjoy the food, not to help you control your waistline.

So they add tons of butter and oils and salts to make sure the food tastes amazing. Calorie deficits be damned.

As a general rule of thumb, I estimate that all restaurant meals end up in the ballpark of about 1,000 calories. This is before you add an appetizer of a dessert. And many desserts can wind up around 1,200 calories if you are not careful.

The solution is to …

8. Eat more meals at home

This one is pretty simple.

Cook your meals at home and you get to control the amount of calories, carbs and fats that goes into this stuff.

Remember, even the “healthy” restaurants still fall into tons of human error and over-complications in terms of portion sizes. And most restaurant meals fall drastically short in providing enough protein.

When you prepare your meals at home, you are the one in charge. You get to dictate how much protein you’ll get, along with the portioning and total caloric intake.

If you’re eating out multiple times per week, make a commitment to start by eliminating just one restaurant meal per week on the average with a home cooked meal.

Eventually, you’ll want the majority of your meals prepared at home.

9. Stop with the “go big or go home” mentality

You need more patience.

Too often, I get messages and emails from people reaching out with unrealistic expectations for their weight loss journey.

They want to lose 20 or 30 pounds in a month. This is simply not possible. And those unrealistic expectations lead to tons of restrictive eating patterns. This can eventually develop into eating disorders or at least just yo-yo dieting cycles.

You did not gain the unwanted weight overnight and you will not lose it overnight, either.

If you can embrace the slow and steady approach and realize that it might take a good six months to a year (or even longer) to actually hit that goal … you’ll be far more likely to stick to your plan. You might even enjoy it along the way, too.

Once you’ve developed a system in which you can follow the above rules consistently, then and only then will you have graduated to being able to count those calories or macros. If you actually even need it at that point.

Chances are, if you embrace these practices, you’ll lose tons of weight, look good, feel great and never have to count a single calorie.

Let me help you learn how to set up your diet before you decide to count calories to lose weight … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Count Calories to Lose Weight” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

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