Do you have to track calories to lose weight?
Let's face it, not everyone is excited to log daily what they eat and drink. Not everyone enjoys spending their time working out their meals, making sure the 3 macronutrients are hit perfectly. I can hear some of you, A-type personalities, yelling back at me "That's not a biggie!" And I will agree. I am in that camp. But for a lot of people... that seems to be a huge stumbling block. In fact some of you are successful in working out your dieting calories and macros, BUT you REALLY struggle with actually logging food regularly. Somehow life always gets in the way. I have good news for you! While creating a caloric deficit is a MUST for achieving weight loss, tracking your food and counting calories is just ONE method of many.
There is definitely value in tracking food for a period of time. It can be an eye-opening experience. But because ADHERENCE is the main driver behind successful weight loss, we need to find something you can be consistent with. Something that doesn't add to your other life stressors. Let’s talk about Hunger Mastery.
We all have experienced true hunger in our lives (although one time I did have a client who genuinely didn't have the ability to sense hunger due to a medical issue. That was wild. We had to establish her maintenance calories by trial and error first, and then create a deficit from there). But back to hunger. Even though we all experienced true hunger, many of us don't follow its cues all of the time. We eat for many different reasons: because we are bored, because everyone else around is eating, because it's officially 'meal time', maybe because you just saw a pizza commercial and now it's only a click away thanks to the DoorDash app on your phone. Following our body's natural hunger cues seems to be a long-lost art, doesn't it? No wonder that nearly 3/4 of American men and more than 60% of women are obese or overweight. And what about our kids? Nearly 30% of young people under the age 20 are either obese or overweight. And I am sure this is partly because we allow our eating to be governed by everything else but the built-in mechanism.
Just to preface what I am about to share...Most probably this method is not going to get you shredded. But it will surely get you a good, healthy weight and body composition that you can be happy with. Then it's up to you to decide where to go from there.
Here's a list of 5 things you need to do In order to start losing weight without counting calories and macros. I will elaborate on each one of them in a second.
1. Eat whole, minimally process variety of foods in a meal with the focus on protein
2. Pay attention to true hunger signals
3. Before the next meal 'sit' with your hunger for some time
4. Eat your meal slowly and mindfully
5. Stop eating when you start sensing that you are 'almost full'
Point#1 - Eat whole, minimally process variety of foods in a meal with the focus on protein - because giving your body balanced nutrition with sufficient fiber and protein will enable it to send accurate hunger and satiety signals to your brain. When you are in caloric deficit it's especially important to supply your body with all the necessary building blocks, nutrients, minerals and vitamins. I am a huge believer that we should be getting all that from foods rather than supplements. The only supplements I find helpful for most people, who eat a well-balanced diet, is a multi-vitamin, fish oil (which is not needed if you are eating some type of fatty fish a couple of times a week) and a good quality protein powder. We want to keep our protein intake a little higher during dieting down. Somewhere between 2 and 3g per kg of realistic desired bodyweight.
So make sure your meal consists of at least a palm-sized source of lean protein (for women) and double of that for men. LEAN, because it will automatically lower your calories, since we know fats are really calorically dense. Then pile up your veggies or salad mixes. With carbohydrates, like pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, etc. be smart. You do need to supply your body with energy, but not with overabundance of it. Everyone will be different. Women: get a cupped handful of that, men: double that amount. And as for fats, be really sparing with it. Think a thumb-sized portion.
Point#2 - pay attention to true hunger signals. That could take a little practice for some. Especially if you’ve been eating highly palatable highly processed foods that are high in sugar, fat or both. Foods like,
Pizza
Chocolate
Chips
Cookies
Ice cream
French fries
Cheeseburgers
Cake
Cheese
Doughnuts
Buttered Popcorn
Breakfast cereal
Muffins
Did I get your favorite in that list? 😂 Let me get really transparent with you. At one point in my life each one of them of those foods (except pop corn) OWNED me. Sure, they delivered pleasure and satisfaction at the moment, but left my body looking for more food in order to find the nutrients that cookies and doughnuts could not provide.
So, if it’s been 4 hours since your last meal, chances are THAT hollow, empty feeling in your stomach signifies true hunger. I want you to get to know that sensation. That’s point#3 - 'sit' with your hunger for some time. You are not going to die, but you WILL give your body an opportunity to tap into your fat reserves. If we keep shoveling food into our mouths every couple of hours, our bodies have no reason to go after stored fat. It’ll just use food you are eating at the moment for energy. For the geeks out there look up 'Metabolic Positioning' and Dr. Joe Klemczewski.
Once you are around 6-7 on a zero to ten hunger scale, start eating your meal slowly and mindfully. That’s point #4. It's all about getting just enough calories. When we rush through the meal we wind up taking in more than our body needs and the extra calories are stored for later use in the form of...You guessed it - fat. You need to give your body time to recognize it's satisfied. A fun fact for you: It takes about twenty minutes from the start of a meal for the brain to send out signals of satiety. Do you take this long to eat? If you want to shed unwanted pounds, you should.
Mindful eating is all about being present in the moment. Using your senses and being aware of what's happening. It's hard to do when we are eating in front of the TV, reading a blog post or a book, catching up with our YouTube subscriptions. Even listening to the podcast. In fact, if you are reading my post while eating, please pause and return to it later. Seriously, return to it in a few minutes. 20 to be exact:)
If you just had your meal and paid attention to its contents, aromas, textures of foods ... you were probably able to sense the feeling of fullness after a while. You feel satisfied, but not overly full. You can definitely eat another bite or two, but if you don't... you will still be ok with going on about your day. That's your cue. You are finished with your meal and THAT was our point#5 - Stop eating when you start sensing that you are 'almost full'.
So there you have it - a 5 point plan for losing weight WITHOUT logging your food in a food-tracking app. Now give it a try!
