How to lose weight without counting calories

I easily lost over 25kg once I learned how to lose weight without counting calories

The face my friend made was pretty funny.

We were having lunch and he had just asked how I had lost so much weight since we last caught up only a few months before.

So I explained exactly how to lose weight without counting calories.

At first he made the face of pure disbelief. 

But then he started asking more questions.

And he saw the results that I had achieved so decided to give it a go himself too.

Since then, he has also lost weight easily without counting calories and you can too.

Here’s how.

How to Lose Weight without counting calories 

Are you wondering how to lose weight without counting calories? Perhaps you're not sure that it's even possible to lose weight without restricting calories?

Thankfully, you absolutely can lose weight without counting calories.

Just like my friend at the restaurant, it’s totally possible to stop dieting and start losing weight without counting calories.

And the short answer for how to lose weight without counting calories is to stop dieting and start listening to your internal hunger and full cues.

I know it sounds overly simplistic, but let me explain how to do it.

Knowing how to lose weight without counting calories

You know those annoying people who always seem to be able to eat whatever they want and stay lean? 

Maybe you think that they just have a faster metabolism than you, which truthfully could well be true, but not for the reasons you think. Because actually when you diet, studies show that your metabolism slows down to try and conserve energy. It’s an in-built survival mechanism that has evolved over millions of years when we had to survive times of food scarcity.

Now going back to those annoying people who can eat whatever they want, a big part of it is that they haven’t affected their metabolism through dieting.

The other important factor that they do is instead of listening to a calorie calculator or the latest diet influencer, they simply listen to their own internal hunger and full cues.

By having an optimal metabolism and only eating when they are hungry, those annoying people stay lean. And it’s exactly how you can be lean too.

Because we were all born with these internal hunger and full signals. Unfortunately years of dieting have disconnected us from what already exists inside us.

For example, have you seen a baby eating lately? They eat completely on instinct, only allowing food to be put in their mouth when they want it and refusing it outright when they are no longer hungry. I'm sure you've seen it where they literally throw their heads out of the way to avoid food once they are full.

How you can apply this method to lose weight without counting calories

I easily lost over 25kg once I learned how to lose weight without counting calories. What we are really talking about here is eating intuitively, as opposed to any rigid calculators or restrictions.

Dieting removes the hunger and full instinct that we all have, replacing it with guidelines and rules of how much we "should" eat, and ignoring how hungry we actually are or aren't. This is crazy as we might be really hungry after a very active day, but then not want anywhere near as much another day that we have been less active. But diets will tell us we need to eat the same predetermined amount, no matter how hungry we are.

Unfortunately dieting can also often lead to binge eating as we try to fight our natural hunger urges. Maybe you have experienced feeling completely out of control with urges to eat, particularly at night? 

An unfortunate side effect of binge or overeating is that we eat much more food than we want or need, often whilst our metabolism is slowed from dieting. The result of course is weight gain, being the exact opposite of what I’m sure you want.

So instead of restricting and dieting, the trick to knowing how to lose weight without counting calories is to learn how to reconnect with your natural hunger and full cues.

3 simple steps to reconnect with your natural hunger signals and lose weight without counting calories

Here’ are 3 simple steps that you can use now to learn how to lose weight without counting calories;

1. Remove restrictions

Have you ever noticed that when you tell yourself you can’t have something, you suddenly want it even more?  It’s like you become obsessed with food that you aren’t “allowed”!

That’s exactly why banning foods just makes them extra tempting. Instead, let all foods be part of your life—no guilt, no drama.

For example, I have chocolate every single night after dinner. Knowing I can have it again tomorrow means I don’t feel the need to eat my weight in it today. 

And studies support this approach, showing that restricting foods is actually more likely to make you gain weight! So stop restricting and start enjoying the treats, particularly using the steps below as well.

2. Slow Down & Savour the Flavour 

Have you ever been to a wine tasting? It’s a bit different to having drinks at the pub isn’t it.

You don’t just inhale the wine. Instead, you look at its colour, smell the aromas, then really appreciate its flavours.

Now, I’m not saying you need to turn your lunch into a whole event, but giving your food that same respect can make a huge difference.

Not only does slowing down help you enjoy your meal more, but research shows that people who eat slowly consume less calories. So, put your fork down between bites, chew slowly, and really taste your food. 

3. Eat without distractions

Last but certainly not least, studies show that by removing distractions, you are likely to eat less calories. 

As an added bonus, you will likely be less hungry later in the day by eating without distractions now. So it’s doubly important to turn off the TV, put away your phone and focus on the flavour of your food!

Next steps

I know it can sound crazy to lose weight just by slowing down and removing distractions. But would it hurt to give it a go? Imagine if you could scrap the restrictive diets and lose weight eating whatever you wanted. How freeing would that feel?

If you are ready to really give it a go yourself, the best thing to do is get a personalised plan tailored to your needs. Because as much as the above tips are the backbone of this approach, we all have individual needs and challenges. To find out more about how I can help you to lose weight without counting calories, book your free discovery call now. Plus I’ll fill you in about my weight loss without dieting guarantee!

—-------- About the author: James Hay

Hi, I’m James, an intuitive eating weight loss coach. I teach people how to lose weight without any dieting or restrictions.

My clients lose weight whilst eating all of their favourite foods.

I’m qualified in Public Health and also a certified nutritionist and health coach. I have personally applied what I teach to lose over 25kg and can help you achieve similar results without dieting. Let’s talk