Calories will always count, but you don’t have to count them in order to lose fat. Here are four strategies to lose weight without counting calories.

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Treating your weight loss journey like a science project is one of my favorite tips for removing the emotional highs and lows from the process. Like any good science project, in order to be successful, you’ll want tons of data.

That data includes the usual markers: weight, measurements, and yes, how much food you are eating (i.e., managing calories).

Tracking calories to the first-time dieter gets a ton of eye rolls. And I get it, it’s tedious and annoying. It takes a few minutes out of your day to do and it’s not always 100-percent accurate.

But, you know what? It works. It works wonders as long as you are truthful to yourself and your numbers and actually track every bite of food that you eat throughout the day.

However, so many folks come to me looking for a better way––or at least an alternative way––to lose weight without counting calories.

And here’s the thing about calorie counting: You don’t need to do it in order to lose weight. But with that in mind, you must understand that the calories you eat still count. Whether or not you choose to log everything you are eating.

This is why tracking your macros is a skill that everyone should have in their toolbox. And it is a major process of my online coaching programming. I work with my clients to understand what real portion sizes look like and how that will affect their calorie intake for the day.

That said, there are plenty of times when counting every single bite of food is either unnecessary or just a simple hindrance to your lifestyle. 

In those cases, this guide is for you. 

Before we get started, it’s important to note that losing weight sustainably still comes boil to the same facts, no matter how you set up your diet and nutritional plan.

So here’s what we know about losing weight. If you nail the big three pillars, you’ll see successful and sustainable fat loss:

1. Eat in a Calorie Deficit
2. Eat Plenty of Protein
3. Eat Mostly (~80%) Whole Foods

All three of these points can be managed without tracking macros and counting calories. You just need to understand how to hit all three points without doing so. And that’s where this guide and my strategies come into play.

I’ll break down the exact steps necessary to either transition from counting calories to “mindful” or intuitive eating.

Or if you’re just really intimidated by the calorie counting thing and want to ease into it another time, I’ll show you how to set up a system to successfully lose weight without tracking calories.

Let’s get into it.

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Now, again it’s important to note that I am a firm believer that everyone should spend some time tracking their calories and macros. We live in a period of time when food is super abundant and hyper accessible. 

And when we grab that bite to eat, the big money marketing of the food industry has over extended serving sizes with huge packaging. It’s warped our own abilities to understand correct portion sizing and daily calorie input.

To confront this ongoing epidemic, you should absolutely spend a few weeks dialing in your nutrition by tracking you calories and macros.

If you’ve never counted calories before I really think you should try doing so for at least 30 days. It’ll give you a better idea of:

• How much you’re actually eating
• What proper portion sizes look like
• How much food you really need in order to lose, maintain and/or gain weight (because everyone is highly individualistic)

If you’re new here and just getting started with the whole process of setting up your fat loss diet, you’ll want to hit the pause button and check out my comprehensive guide to setting up your calories for weight loss here. 

And then when you are ready to really get into macronutrient (proteins, carbs and fats) tracking, you can read my guide to doing that here.

Now that we’ve got that covered, we can get into some of the core strategies to lose weight without counting calories.

It starts with mindful eating

Let’s set the scene for what might a normal eating routine: It’s lunchtime at the office and you’re flooded with approximately 6,783 emails, your boss just slapped a new project on your desk with an unrealistic deadline and your kid has at least 44 extracurricular activities that need your attention this afternoon.

But you’re also hungry. And it’s time to eat. So it’s working lunch time. 

To your credit, you’ve adopted a healthy lifestyle, so you’re going all in on this salad with grilled chicken. Nicely done.

However over the next 45 minutes, you inhale that salad while pounding out emails and triaging the other 27 work assignments. You barely taste your food. In fact, you didn’t even realize that last bite was actually the last bite. Your salad is gone.

And you missed it. 

This sort of speed eating without consciously thinking about what you’re doing is major obstacle you’ll need to overcome in order to properly lose weight without counting calories. 

When you take your concentration away from the plate of food and allow the mind to wander to another task, it is difficult for the body to make the connection that you are full and should stop eating. 

Break this habit by taking time at each meal and do the following:

• Slow down and really chew each bite
• Savor each bite of food and think about the many taste profiles of your meal
• Pay attention to your body’s cues that naturally signal hunger and satiety

That last point is crucial. Our body has the built-in ability to help trigger fullness. But, we have to clear out the surrounding noise and listen for the heads up so we can put the fork down.

When weight loss is the goal, your task is to learn how to stop eating just short of fullness. You’ll want to end your meal when you are at about 80-percent satisfied to ensure a proper calorie deficit (remember, the calorie deficit is the key to weight loss, whether we are counting calories or not).

This might sound silly, but it is the most important part of this entire process. Look, it’s not easy. Nor is it something you’ll master in a few days. But, if you can sharpen this skill of slowing down to eat mindfully, that will unlock 80-percent of your goal. 

The remaining 20-percent of knowing how to lose weight without counting calories comes down to some of the following strategies and tactics.

I. The transition method

When you’re ready to transition away from tracking after a period of dieting, the key is to take this slowly. You’ve sharpened your skill in the tracking game. And that’s fantastic. However, learning to eat without the measuring cups and food scale is yet another skill that you must learn to master.

And in order to do that, it’ll take some time and a few transitioning methods. 

Start by adding one day per week where you do not track. For example, Monday through Saturday, you’ll continue with your regularly-scheduled calorie or macro tracking and food logging, making sure that every bite of food is accounted for. 

Then on Sunday, you’ll close the MyFitnessPal app and venture into the world of eating without tracking. The goal is to get as close to your normal calorie goal as possible. 

Remember, this is not a cheat day. It is not a “refeed day.” It is a normal day of eating. 

To take this a step further, this day of eating intuitively should be as close to your normal routine as possible, too. No restaurant meals, because those are notoriously difficult to accurately track. 

So, if it makes more sense to do this during the workweek when schedules are easier to follow, so be it.

Go with this one-day off per week approach for 2-3 weeks. 

If your average weekly scale weight and measurements are progressing according to your liking, you can then add one more off-day (preferably not on consecutive days yet). 

Keep going in this fashion until you feel comfortable enough to go on your own.

II. The Portion Control Method 

Controlling portions is a fantastic way to keep your calories in check. It’s a sneaky way to count calories without breaking out the pen and paper or using fancy food tracking apps to make calculations.

Most processed foods have this figured out for you. Check the nutritional information on the packaging of store-bought foods and the labeling will reveal the proper serving size of a given food.

In those cases, your work is already done for you.

However, if you’ve been following along with my articles and awesomeness, you’ll know that I encourage you to trend away from processed foods and shift to a diet focused on more whole, natural unprocessed foods like lean proteins, fruits, vegetables and more nutrient dense carb sources.

When you set up the 80-20 Rule of 80-percent whole foods, you’ll need another method of portion tracking to make this work for you. 

Enter your hand. It’s a portable tool that we bring anywhere and everywhere and it can be easily used when measuring and weighing your food is not possible or simply not desirable.

Check the graphic below for a breakdown of how this looks.

Here’s how this works in practice

• Lean protein: check the size of the protein portion against the palm of your hand. That carries roughly 20-30 grams of protein. You’ll aim for 1-2 palms of protein per meal. 
• Leafy vegetables: a fistful of leafy, green vegetables is the perfect serving size that usually translates to about a cup.
• Carbs: One cupped handful of starchy carbs (breads, pasta, potatoes, fruits) is the equivalent of about 25-35 grams of carbohydrates.
• Fats: The size of your thumb will dictate the portion size of fats (olive oils, nuts, nut butters, avocados, etc.) and equals about 15 grams of fats. Note: foods may have already been cooked in fatty oils and sauces. In other words, the thumb-sized portion of fats may already be cooked into the meal.

III. The 3-Plate Rule

I really like this method for clients that are traveling for work or even on vacation and want some freedom from tracking, but don’t want to eat like an asshole the whole time.

You’ll break down each meal into a template that fits into your plate:

• Protein will make up 25-percent of the plate
• Starchy Carbs take up another 25-percent
• The remaining 50-percent of the plate will come from leafy vegetables

In this setup, I wouldn’t worry too much about excess fats as your protein sources will have that covered. But, if that protein source is super lean (like 99-percent lean ground turkey breast) and was not cooked in any oils, you’d want to add a dollop of oil or butter or any healthy fat, like avocado, to your plate, too.

Check out this graphic for how you’ll set up your plates for each and every meal.

Outside of the major meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), if aim to have a snack, I would limit that to 1-2 snacks per day at most. 

And each snack should be small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Fruit is a great option here. Couple that with a stick of string cheese or some greek yogurt and you’ve got a fantastic option to keep you full in between major meals.

Likewise, I’d also commit to adding a protein source to any and every meal (including snacks) to help with satiety and to get you one step closer to nailing your daily protein goals.

Related: If you need help determining just how much protein is right for you, check out this handy article here.

IV. The brightlines method

This is the most advanced skill and I would not suggest this one until you’ve master tracking, portion control and mindful eating. You’ll need to be Yoda level of Jedi mastery in order to make this method work for your fat loss goals. 

Setting up mini rules for yourself if a great way to hold yourself accountable. 

The most successful dieters lose weight and keep it off manage to incorporate rules like these to hold themselves accountable. Here are some of the ultimate rules for fat loss success without counting calories.

1) Never miss twice. 

It’s totally cool to go off plan for special occasions. Weddings, birthdays, vacations are meant to be enjoyed. So take some time away from the diet and enjoy them guilt-free. 

And even sometimes you’ll swerve off the calorie tracking road and indulge in a random fave food. No worries. Just commit to getting right back on track with your next bite of food. Don’t let one meal turn into a month of indulgence.

2) Prioritize Protein and Veggies. 

Make it a habit to ask yourself: What’s my protein? every single time you sit down to eat. 

It can be a small helping of greek yogurt or a large portion of steak, but no matter what, whenever you enjoy a meal, make sure protein is a part of it. Doing this with vegetables and fruit will take you to the advanced Jedi Master territory of awesome.

3) One Plate Rule. 

Have your cake and eat it, too. As long as that piece of cake fits on one plate. 

So when you catch yourself at the wedding or birthday party or whatever special event, don’t punish yourself and completely restrict, instead, have a little fun. Just limit that fun to one plate. 

You can eat whatever you want as long as it fits on one plate. Don’t go into advanced Tetris mode trying to pile as much food on that plate as possible, but do try to have a little fun. 

Remember, one meal won’t derail your diet.

4) Limit snacking. 

Mindless munching on food throughout the day is a surefire way to up the calorie creep. Those calories add up and can take your well-earned calorie deficit and turn it into a surplus. 

Try to set guidelines to keep yourself away from snacking. And upping your protein will help prevent this. But when you do snack, remember to ask yourself: What’s my protein?

Little rules make a big difference in helping you go from yo-yo-dieting to successful long-term body transformation.

Everyone should track from time-to-time

I’m a nutrition coach and I still track my calories and macros from time-to-time. Why? Because just like any skill, it’s important to make sure it is sharpened.

Every few months, I whip out the food log and MyFitnessPal and start tracking my macros, measuring portions and even weighing my food. I do this for a few weeks to make sure I’m still on target, then I transition off again.

That’s how you develop a long-term sustainable approach to healthy eating. That’s how you keep your weight off for good.

Cover photo by Gardie Design & Social Media Marketing on Unsplash

Let me help you learn how to lose weight without counting calories. … 

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 “Calorie counting sucks” 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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