How to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories
"Eat less, move more."
You may have heard this statement when someone gives you the formula to lose weight. But weight loss is not always that easy.
Hearing someone tell you to reduce calories and exercise more to lose weight can be frustrating because this formula may not work for you.
If you have ever tried to lose weight by counting calories and it didn't work, or you lost weight only to gain it back shortly, you're not alone.
It’s estimated that 45 million Americans go on a diet each year and spend $33 billion on weight loss products. Still, about 70% of adults in the United States are overweight or obese.
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The Problem with Counting Calories
Here are a few reasons why calorie counting for weight loss does not work for some people.
Calorie counting:
isn’t easy to keep up with in the long term
can cause stress
can be time-consuming
can lead to obsessing over food and disordered eating
can cause you to be overly focused on the calories and not consider if your food is providing you with the proper nutrition
does not address the underlying reason for weight gain or difficulty losing weight
But there is good news! You can do many things to help you lose weight without counting calories.
Today, we will look at 5 of the most effective solutions.
5 Ways to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories
1. Change Your Thinking
Having a positive mindset is the foundation for whatever changes you want to make in your life. As an example, you can change your exercise habits. But if you work on your mindset as well, it will make those changes easier to keep up long-term.
Losing weight is not only about how much you exercise and eat.
Research shows that your mindset is an important component in long-term weight loss. This is due to the fact that your mindset affects your thought process.
Your thought process is so crucial because it can:
Help with motivation
Increase your confidence
Form your actions
Help you form healthy habits
Help you reduce the stress that is causing you to make unhealthy choices
Working on your thought process will help you lose weight more easily and keep it off.
"Weight loss doesn't begin in the gym with a dumbbell; it starts in your head with a decision."
This quote by Toni Sorenson illustrates how important your mindset is for weight loss.
Weight loss starts in your mind.
Since your thought process is essential for weight loss, let’s look at four ways that you can start working on improving your mindset today:
1. Remind yourself of why you want to lose weight. This will help keep you motivated.
2. Plan for challenges and come up with strategies to overcome them.
3. Identify negative self-talk and combat it with practices such as affirmations.
4. Adopt a growth mindset, which means you believe your success depends on your time and effort. This will help build resilience and increase motivation, both of which are critical for weight loss.
Related:
16 Surprising Health Benefits of Losing Weight
2. Move More
When someone tells you to move more, you may think of spending an hour in the gym or running 5 miles. But movement is so much more than that.
In fact, non-exercise activity can be more important for weight loss goals than a structured exercise routine. This is because your structured exercise routine makes up a small part of your day.
This leads us to a concept called NEAT or non-exercise activity thermogenesis.
This sounds complicated, but it is just the calories you burn doing daily activities that aren't sleeping or formal exercise.
NEAT makes up a significant part of the calories you burn each day. Your goal should be to increase your NEAT each day.
Now we know that NEAT is anything except for formal exercise or sleeping. But what exactly does NEAT include?
Related: This is Why You Feel Unmotivated to Work Out (Plus 10 Tips to Get Motivated)
NEAT can include things such as:
washing your car
walking your dog
grocery shopping
gardening
using a standing desk
fidgeting
Set a reminder on your phone to get up every 30 minutes so that you are not sitting too long.
You can also download apps to help you remember to get up throughout the day.
We now know that there are many things you can do outside of your formal exercise routine that can help you burn more calories.
The key is to stay active throughout the day. Not only during your structured exercise routine.
Remember, the goal is to increase NEAT.
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3. Get Enough Sleep
Sleep isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think about ways to help you lose weight. But research shows that getting enough sleep can be a game-changer for losing weight.
One study showed that getting enough sleep reduced people’s eating by 270 calories daily. That would lead to about 26 pounds over three years lost just by getting enough sleep. That is amazing!
Sleep is essential for weight loss because sleep deprivation can increase your appetite.
It can also increase your cravings for sugary and highly processed foods. Part of the reason this happens is that sleep deprivation affects our hormones.
A lack of sleep or not getting quality sleep also affects our metabolism.
Related:
Your Guide to a Stress-Reducing Bedtime Routine
The general recommendation is to get at least 7 hours of quality sleep each night.
If you are having problems getting enough sleep or getting restful sleep, a few things you can try are:
Limiting the use of electronic devices to about an hour before bed
Reading a book or other relaxing activity before bed to wind down
Preparing for the following day the night before so that you can have more time to sleep in the morning
Using a fitness watch is a great tool to have because it can help you track the number of hours you sleep.
4. Manage Stress
Stress is a significant barrier to weight loss for many people, but it is one of the most overlooked factors.
If you feel that your weight may fluctuate more during periods of stress, it is not in your head. Stress and weight gain are linked.
And not just because you may not maintain your regular health routine during stress. Stress can affect your hormones. It can increase a hormone called cortisol, leading to weight gain.
Cortisol can increase your cravings for sugar. But, even if you aren't eating sugar, cortisol slows down your metabolism, causing weight gain.
Stress can also lead to unhealthy habits such as:
emotional eating
exercising less, skipping meals
sleeping less
These can all hinder your weight loss efforts.
Related: What to Reduce Stress? Try Holistic Health
Let's look at a few ways that you can break the stress weight gain cycle:
Make daily exercise and movement a priority, even though you may not feel like it when stressed
Google recipes for healthier versions of your favorite comfort foods that you can grab during stressful times
Drink more water. This can help because sometimes you feel hungry but can be dehydrated.
Drinking half an ounce to an ounce of water for each pound you weigh is the recommendation. So, if you weigh 200 pounds, you would drink 100 to 200 ounces of water daily.
Try carrying around a water bottle with you, so you can ensure you always have water when you need it!
Incorporate stress relief activities into your day, such as reading, journaling, or meditation.
I love Circle & Bloom guided meditation. They have a meditation for everything from reaching your goals to fertility!
A fitness watch can help you track stress patterns, so you can better manage them.
You may not think stress could be a factor in your difficulty losing weight. But it may be worthwhile to try some of these stress management activities to see if they help.
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5. Eat Whole-Food, Plant-Based
Even though you don't have to count calories to lose weight, what you eat is essential.
Eating whole foods, plant-based (WFPB), means eating plant-based, minimally processed foods rather than highly processed and animal-based foods.
A common hesitation I hear about eating WFPB is that people feel they need to give up all their favorite foods and jump right into eating WFPB. But you can go at your own pace.
You can make small goals that work for you to transition to eating more WFPB. For example, you can swap out one weekly meal for a WFPB one.
You could also remove the highly processed food in your home. For some of us, it works better to eat WFPB all at once with the slow transition. That is great if that works for you!
Know that you will see weight loss with any steps towards eating more WFPB. For example, that could be replacing cows' milk with almond milk to start with.
Related: Easy Vegan Portobello Mushroom Taco Recipe
Research shows that those who adopt a WFPB way of eating lose more weight and keep it off in the long term.
One reason that weight loss is easier while eating WFPB is the increased fiber. This fiber comes from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. This fiber keeps you fuller longer.
Another reason is that WFPB foods are naturally lower in calories. So, you will find you can eat WFPB foods and still lose weight without counting calories.
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Let's look at an example.
Let's say that you usually eat 7,000 calories weekly in desserts and other processed foods.
If you cut that in half and only eat 3,500 calories in desserts and processed foods a week, you would still lose about a pound a week.
This is because one pound equals 3,500 calories.
That is 4 pounds a month lost just by reducing highly processed foods!
You could lose even more weight if you add daily movement and take bigger steps towards WFPB eating.
A good recipe website is Forks Over Knives. All of the recipes on this website are WFPB!
Chocolate Covered Katie is a good recipe website for desserts.
Some of the recipes have sugar as an ingredient. You can replace the sugar with maple syrup, date syrup, or date sugar.
Related:
Vegan Chocolate Smoothie Recipe
Conclusion
So, we have learned that several ways to lose weight don't involve counting a single calorie.
You can:
1. Work on improving your mindset
2. Move more by remembering the concept of NEAT
3. Make sure you are getting enough quality sleep
4. Work on managing your stress
5. Eat whole-foods, plant-based
We now know there is so much more to weight loss than eating less and exercising. It's just not that easy for everyone.
Weight loss is difficult for many people. That is why I love helping women develop integrative, personalized plans to lose weight.
Weight loss does not have to be complicated. And you do not have to stress over every calorie you eat to lose weight. You also do not have to spend hours in the gym to lose weight.
Do you feel frustrated and lost about how to lose weight? Would you like support and accountability on your weight loss journey?
My wellness coaching program will help you get motivated, stay accountable, and reach your goals!
Even if you feel you have tried everything out there, don't give up yet!
