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3 Tips to Lose Weight Without Tracking Your Calories

Writer's picture: Daniela RadomanDaniela Radoman

Not a fan of constantly having to log your meals? From pulling out that little weight scale from the drawer every time you make yourself a plate to tracking every single almond you grab from that bowl on the kitchen table. 


Tracking your food intake isn’t at all a bad thing. If anything, I think it’s an extremely useful tool to see how much you’re actually eating and to see what you’re eating. Logging food intake definitely has its place, but for some people, it simply isn’t ideal to have to do that every single day for every single meal.

Healthy Foods

We all know that eating a tub of ice cream and three servings of french fries every day isn’t good for us. Sure, we can cut out these sorts of junk foods, but what are some tips that can apply across the board when we’re trying to be a bit more mindful of what we put into our bodies?


A massive 2023 study that looked at over 2700 meals across four different dietary patterns:low fat, low carb, ultra-processed, minimally processed.1 In the end, it identified 3 factors that influence our feelings of hunger! 



1. Try to Limit Higher Density Foods

Foods with a higher energy density, so more calories per gram, lead to eating more calories by the end of the day. Why is this? They fill you up less per calorie compared to more calorie sparse foods. For example, think of eating 100g of chocolate versus 100g of broccoli. The broccoli is going to have a lot less calories but will also keep you fuller for longer.


What to do? 

Try to base your diet more on foods that have no more than 200 calories per 100 grams. This might have you looking at the nutritional label a bit more often, which can actually help you in the long run since you’ll learn and get a better understanding of what the food you’re putting in your mouth is composed of. 


 

2. Slow it Down

Ever find yourself eating with friends or family and you finish your meal first and you just sit there with an empty plate and stare as everyone else is still chomping away? No? Just me? It seems as though people who eat faster end up eating more calories in the long run. People who eat slower, on the other hand, give their bodies some time to let the food they ate register. It takes time for the body to signal to you that you’re full!


What to do?

Now, what I think we need to consider is how you eat. Being mindful, savouring every bite will help you slow down. Try avoiding any distractions while eating as well. This would include not watching TV while at the table, or using your cell phone or laptop. Focus on the food in front of you - you’ll probably enjoy it more anyway!


 

3. Limit Hyperpalatable or Processed Foods

What even are hyperpalatable foods? Think of it as foods or food combinations that don’t really occur naturally. Have you ever tried to make your favourite treat at home and it just never compared to the store bought stuff? Ya, it’s probably because they have some people in lab coats who fiddle around with the fats, carbs, and salt to make it the most appealing to consumers so they keep buying it over and over and over… 


These processed foods are usually high in carbs, high in fats, and low in protein, and are high in calories, typically resulting in a lot of overeating. These foods also tend to be very calorie dense (see tip #1). Not to mention, per serving they tend to be high in calories, but because they don’t keep you full for long, and because they’re designed to be so tasty, people usually end up having not just one serving, but multiple. 


What to do? 

Try to limit your processed food intake. This could look like:


  • Make more homemade meals. 

  • You’ll probably be using fresher ingredients and you’ll actually know what you’re putting in your meal!

  • Look at the nutrition label and ingredients list while grocery shopping

  • You’ll become more aware of what you’re actually consuming and can make better, more informed decisions

  • Limiting fast food intake

  • These foods are usually not nutritional, high in calories, and they don’t really keep you full for long. Also, your wallet will thank you too for not buying it so much. 

  • Swap out some of your regular snacks for snacks that are more fresh

  • This could look like swapping out chips for non-buttered popcorn, or crackers for an apple

  • Don’t grocery shop when you’re hungry

  • If you’re hungry while walking through the aisles, that junk food section is going to look a lot more appetising and you’ll be more tempted to buy it. So try to have a snack or a meal before hitting up the grocery store



 


If you’ve read this far, thank you! Here’s a little bonus tip for you.


BONUS: Eat off a Smaller Plate

This is a neat little psychological trick called the Delboeuf illusion that you can use on yourself to trick your mind into thinking you’re actually eating more.2 If you use a bigger plate, your brain will perceive that you're eating less than what you actually are because you see all the extra space on the plate around it. Since your brain perceives it as though you're eating less, it’ll produce less satiety when you eat from a large plate. The opposite is true when you eat the same amount of food from a smaller plate. Since the plate will look as though it’s more full, your brain will perceive it as more food, and will make you feel fuller as a result. 

Delboeuf Illusion
Delboeuf Illusion: the 2 dark circles are the same size

Final Remarks

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References

  1. Fazzino, T. L., Courville, A. B., Guo, J., & Hall, K. D. (2023). Ad libitum meal energy intake is positively influenced by energy density, eating rate and hyper-palatable food across four dietary patterns. Nature Food, 4. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00688-4

  2. McCarthy, J. D., Kupitz, C., & Caplovitz, G. P. (2013). The Binding Ring Illusion: assimilation affects the perceived size of a circular array. F1000Research, 2, 58. https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.2-58.v2



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