Calories are units of energy your food and drink provide. Being in a calorie deficit is the way you lose weight. That means that you have to burn more than you eat, and you’ll lose weight. Similarly, if you eat more than you burn, you’ll gain weight.

In order to figure out how much they can eat and what food they can eat in order to lose weight, lots of people decide to count calories aka calculate their calorie intake for every meal and drink. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, however, calorie counting can cause a lot of stress to many people. It’s truly not for everyone.

If counting calories is causing you to starve, obsess over food, and it’s causing you discomfort, it’s not the right approach for you, nor will you be able to stick to it long-term. However, the good this is, you don’t need to do it. Weight loss without counting calories is definitely possible.

That’s why in this post, I’m sharing practical and effective weight loss strategies that will help you lose weight without counting calories and without obsessing over every single gram of food you intake.

How To Lose Weight Without Counting Calories

Pay Attention To Your Portion Sizes

One of the biggest things you can do for your weight loss goals, without counting calories, is to think about portion sizes. While it’s perfectly fine to eat foods you like, simply adjust the portions depending on what you’re eating. If a part of your meal isn’t the healthiest, take a smaller portion of it, and eat a big side salad with it, so you’re full. Simply make sure you’re eating bigger portions of foods that aren’t very high in calories, and smaller portions of calorie-dense foods.

Focus on Protein & Fiber

Eating lots of protein and fiber is very important for weight loss, so make sure all of your meals are full of both of those.

Thankfully, there are tons of delicious ingredients full of protein and fiber. For protein, you can eat chicken, turkey, salmon, tofu, chickpeas, eggs, and so on. For fiber, you can, of course, eat veggies - spinach, avocados, artichokes, etc., and beans and legumes (which are also full of protein as well).

Eat Whole Foods

Instead of eating ultra-processed foods, focus on whole foods! That’s an easy way to get as many nutrients and vitamins you need (which helps you stay full and healthy), plus, highly processed foods are usually full of calories, and aren’t nutritious, whereas whole foods offer lots more vitamins and minerals, keep you full, and are often lower in calories than processed foods.

Get Enough Sleep

An underestimated way to lose weight (well, to help yourself start losing weight easier than before), is getting enough sleep. Quality sleep is very important, not only for your health, but for your weight loss journey as well. Poor sleep affects your metabolism, and slows down your weight loss and fat loss journey.

Practice Volume Eating

Volume eating is an amazing way to navigate the hunger and fullness ratio. In case you don’t know what volume eating is, it basically means you’ll be eating large quantities of food, but low-calorie food. That way, you’ll be eating huge portions, which will also help you feel like you’re eating a lot, but you’ll be able to lose weight, because those huge portions aren’t calorie-dense. The most popular volume food are all sorts of salads, as veggies are not only nutritious, but also low in calories. So, you can put a variety of veggies in your salad, add a source of lean protein, and eat a big portion. That will keep you full throughout the day, it won’t feel like dieting as you’re eating a lot, but you’ll still stay on track with your weight loss journey.

Basically, volume eating helps you stay in a calorie deficit without being hungry.

To help you further, here’s a big meal that’s not too high in calories - perfect for volume eating!

Pizza Stuffed Peppers

499 calories

Ingredients:

• 2 Bell pepper, orange - 48 calories

• ½ cup Tomatoes, canned, crushed - 25 calories

• ¼ oz Pepperoni - 35 calories

• 4 oz Cheese, sliced, mozzarella, full fat/ regular - 280 calories

• ⅓ cup Cheese, Parmesan, shredded (cups) - 111 calories

• ¼ tsp Basil, dried - 0 calories

• ¼ tsp Oregano - 0 calories

• ⅛ tsp Garlic salt - 0 calories

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

2. Slice peppers in halves

3. Add pepper halves to a casserole dish

4. Layer in crushed tomatoes, cheeses, and pepperoni evenly to the 4 pepper halves

5. Top with seasonings

6. Optional: Add a few olive slices – track them if you do!

7. Bake for 25 minutes, and enjoy!

8. No dairy? Swap out this recipe for another. No pepperoni? Use turkey or soy pepperoni.

Practice Mindful Eating

Mindful eating means you’re listening to your body, and you’re mindful of your hunger cues, of the food you eat, and you’re able to tell when you’re actually hungry, and when you’re emotional-eating, or eating out of boredom. It’s a great way to stop yourself from binge eating. Simply be mindful of your body and what it’s telling you. Also, pay attention to the food you’re eating, so you can know when you’re actually getting full - oftentimes we tend to eat everything we put on the plate simply because it’s in the plate, even though we might have gotten full before finishing it up.

Drink Enough Water

Again, another thing people don’t connect to weight loss, but it definitely is connected, is drinking enough water. First of all, it’s crucial for your health. So, no matter if you’re trying to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain it, you need to drink enough water throughout the day. But in fact, drinking enough water can help you reach your weight loss goals faster. It helps you burn more calories, and ultimately, lose weight.

If you struggle with drinking enough water throughout the day, try buying a large water bottle, filling it up in the morning, and carrying it with you wherever you go. You can determine how many bottles you have to drink throughout the day (depending on the bottle size), and check the bottle every now and then to see how you’re doing.

Get Physical Activity

As I mentioned, the way you lose weight is by being in a calorie deficit, aka burning more calories than you intake. So, naturally, being physically active and working out helps you lose weight, as it helps you burn calories.

However, the key here is to make it enjoyable. If you’re not the type of person that likes working out or likes going to the gym, you might find it difficult. So, find something you enjoy. It doesn’t have to be going to the gym. It can be dancing, hiking, going yoga or pilates, playing a sport, riding a bike - whatever you find the most enjoyable.

Eat Foods That Keep You Full

There are high calorie foods for weight loss - did you know that? Essentially, those are foods that are full of nutrients and vitamins, higher in calories, but they will help keep you full for longer, which means you won’t end up binge eating late at night, or grabbing an unhealthy snack between lunch and dinner.