I'm in the process of coming off of antidepressants and sorting out a few problems at the same time, one of them being my weight. I'm getting married in about a year, and on top of that I really don't want to stay this weight. It's uncomfortable, it's starting to limit what I can do, and I think it's starting to affect my health. But my therapist, who generally has had good ideas, is opposed to calorie counting right now.

I've been calorie counting for so long that to some extent I know how many calories are in food by eyeballing it, but I'm doing my best. Right now, the kind of awkward solution I've come to is to just not eat until dinner most days, or eat something like a cheese stick in the middle of the day. This way, I don't have to count my dinner calories to know that my total for the day is under maintenance. So far it's working ok- for the past year I've been gaining weight, and now my weight seems to be slowly going down. But I don't think this is long-term going to be good for my metabolism, and I'd like to learn to eat reasonably without doing weird stuff.

Has anyone else been working on learning to eat normally without calorie counting? Do you have any suggestions, or suggestions of resources?

Thanks!

Sorry, I don't have any advice, but I'm basically in the same boat, so I'd love to hear the suggestions.

I have done the intermittent fasting thing (daily version) which is sort of the same thing you are doing, except I'd be eating a good sized breakfast, a reasonable lunch, then not eating again until the next morning. So basicaly I wouldn't eat from like 1pm until 6am the next morning.

Hello there, and congrats on your engagement

I can understanding the med situation and weight gain, definitely. As for losing weight without calorie counting, I definitely have different experiences with that.

I have lost weight while calorie counting and while not calorie counting. To be honest, lower carb works better for me when it comes to weight loss. While I am mindful of my caloric intake, I no longer calorie count. BUT, I also know carbs like the back of my hand bc I am diabetic. So I kind of have to be cautious.

There is a good book that was written several years back called "Intuitive Eating" by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD. When I used to see a dietician, she suggested it to me. Another very good author on the subject is Geneen Roth. I've liked several of her books

I personally think it's about transforming our relationship with ourselves and with food.

Skipping breakfast is the biggest mistake you will make. Eat breakfast in the morning and you will not feel the need to eat a huge meal later on during the day. Have a bowl of cereal in the morning, a meal at lunch and a meal at dinner. Drink lots of water all day.

Take a 30 minute walk every day straight after dinner. That's my advice, hope it helps.

Look into intermittent fasting. There are several Intermittent fasting methods that you can use. I have an eating window where I eat only between noon and 8 pm. I haven't found that I can stop counting calories thought. Some people can use their sensation of being full to regulate eating but for me I have a harder time finding that balance, counting calories is easier for me.

Thanks for the tip, Sassyblonde! I looked into it, and I'm relieved to see that it doesn't seem like it will trash my metabolism. I have recently increased my exercise, so I'm going to look to see if that produces weight loss- if it doesn't, I might do something more extreme like keto with the intermittent fasting. But to be honest, I'm very happy that I have stopped gaining weight, and I think maybe it is ok to sit at this weight and just get more in shape with exercise until I feel like I have enough of the rest of my mental health put together to start calorie counting again. I already feel a lot better physically and mentally than I had been feeling!

When it all comes down to it you will only lose weight if you eat under maintenance. All these fancy diets and fasting might work, but only if you are still eating under maintenance. what i would suggest is establish a diet plan to consistently eat below 500 calories a day. Eat whatever you desire, as long as its 500 below maintenance. I say 500 because a pound of fat is ~3500 calories, so in 1 week you would lose 1lb of fat.

I do 16/8 because it is working for me and I'm not counting calories. So far I'm down 9.1 kilos (nearly 19lbs) I fast from 8pm til 12pm. I have an under active thyroid and fibro, 16/8 has been the only thing so far that works for me.

Oh, gosh, I could never reccomend fasting (even if intermittent, because it can be useless if you're not eating well regularly anyway) nor undereating that way. It's not only going to be bad for your health and metabolism, but your body will eventually demand the nutrients it needs, and you'll probably just gain it all back. When your body doesn't have the nutrients it needs, it will try to hold onto everything you eat to prepare for when you need energy. It's not a system you can hold onto forever.

As you may have already heard, food is more important than exercise when it comes to weight loss (unless you're a mega athlete and go for hours and hours a day), so it's important to keep that in check. What's worked for me is to plan certain meal options that have an approximate calorie amount in total that I can choose from. For example, I have 6 breakfast options right now that I know I can prepare and that I like, and I can choose between any of them because the recipe I made for each one is about the calorie amount I need. Say you're going for 1600 calories, and you're having breakfast, lunch a snack and dinner - so each meal would need to be about 400 calories. You can either ask a nutricionist to help you or plan it out yourself (since you already know calorie estimations), and have a few options ready. Depending on your schedule and how you work best, you could do a weekly meal prep. This helps me tons because, when I choose something to eat, I'm not focused on the calories at all but on what I like eating, and that really encourages me. Nowadays, there are also many eating establishments that have this healthier vibe and will list the amount of calories, so if I know any places like that, I'll make sure to keep them in mind as a primary option if I'm going out. If I'm bored of my options, I'll usually just go through the work of adding one or two more recipes and counting the calories for that recipe and add it to my list.

Maybe this system will work out for you, too?

I don't count calories, I just eat clean.

I stay away from any processed foods, dairy, fruits, etc. If that's not realistic for you, then just split your meals into 6 small meals a day. Make sure for 3 meals you have protein/veggies (a lot)/carb (small amount).... Count fruit or non-green vegetables as a carb. Dairy, fruits, breads should be eaten very sparingly. Then as a snack in between have protein or whatever you want within reason. You should be absolutely fine.

My friend lost a lot of weight by just cutting her meals in half. What she would do is put the amount of food that she would normally eat on the plate, then she would take half off. She didn't avoid foods she wanted, but just did the "eat half" rule. She would still go get fast food if she wanted, but got the kids meal and/or split the hamburger with someone.

Just eat less exercise more = weight loss. You can be extreme or relaxed as you want.

I don't count calories or diet in any way... I just eat a lot of whole fruits and veggies, with lots of protein. Whole foods, very few processed foods.... avoid chemicals, GMOs, fake sugar, etc. I never buy reduced fat or fat free products... they are mostly loaded with sugar and chemicals.

I should add that my doctor just did an extremely comprehensive nutrition analysis on me... eight vials of blood worth, yikes... and their words to me were "Absolutely amazing... we are so proud of you."

It works! Our bodies process whole, natural foods much more efficiently than all that junk and garbage that is in the processed foods... and many of the "diet" foods actually contain substances which make you crave and eat more.

Just for what it's worth. I suggest you check out Michael Pollan's books -- an easy one is "Food Rules." He also has a lot of free videos on YouTube. I have learned a LOT about nutrition from him.

Thanks, guys!

Fat2fitgirl: I actually don't eat a lot of carbs anyway because my body responds badly and I feel kinda sick. So that's fortunate, I guess! I like the "take half of what you eat off your plate" idea. With restaurants, I definitely need to try it. I had Mexican food at a restaurant yesterday and I feel like I ate waaaaay too much because once I started I had a hard time stopping.

Misti, I agree that it's a good idea to try to eat healthier foods. Over the past week I've been trying your advice and eating my vegetables first (and a lot of them) so that if I get full it's the higher calorie stuff I don't finish.

I think what has really made the most difference to me in the past week is a combination of reducing the amount of alcohol I drank and exercising a lot more. I'm finally starting to see the scale move!