Health & Family Losing weight without counting calories - my experience

I have upped my water too. I am pretty sure I was dehydrated a lot before.

 

Glycemic Load is a lot more important than GI. I'm not tracking any of them though. I can't be bothered.

I don't eat buckets of pasta though. I have switched to a smaller plate and eating half a plate of pasta and half a plate of veg.

 

Day 9: wrap up.

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: Salad sandwich on rye bread. Custard puff.
Afternoon snack: none. Not hungry.
Late afternoon snack: half a handful of almonds, half a teacup of greek yoghurt with a small banana and a teaspoon of honey.

Dinner: sweet potato, corn and fetta fritter in a salad sandwich with a fried egg.
Evening snack: none. too full

Exercise: 1.6 km of walking in 30 minutes

alertness: moderate to high
energy: moderate to high
anxiety: none
hunger: low to moderate

 

New recipe: haystacks.



Haystacks

I do mine pretty much like this but full fat cheese, greek yoghurt and heaps more salad.

 

Day 10: wrap up.

Breakfast: banana smoothie
Lunch: tomato, sweet potato patty and cheese toasted sandwich
Afternoon snack: none. Not hungry.
Dinner: haystacks
Evening snack: none. too full

Exercise: none

alertness: moderate
energy: moderate
anxiety: none
hunger: low to moderate

 

Day 11: wrap up.

Breakfast: banana and marmite on toast
Lunch: sweet potato patty and cheese toasted sandwich
Afternoon snack: small homemade hot chocote, a large fresh orange
Dinner: haystacks
Evening snack: half a tea cup of greek yoghurt

Exercise: none

alertness: moderate
energy: moderate
anxiety: none
hunger: low to moderate

 

I did not have a good day yesterday. I woke up feeling lousy, developed a shocking headache and had low mood and low energy all day. I slept during the day but woke up with a headache. Not nice. I wonder if I had a virus or something because today I woke up feeling really clear headed and normal energy and I have felt pretty good all day.

Day 12: wrap up.

Breakfast: none. Not hungry.
Lunch: low carb Cauliflower, Broccoli and green Pea Gratin on corn chips
Afternoon snack: half a handful of raw almonds, a large fresh orange
Dinner: haystacks
Evening snack: toast with honey

Exercise: none

alertness: low
energy: low
anxiety: none
hunger: low to moderate

 

Calories



Say you weigh 150 pounds. The calorie theory states that if you reduce calories by 500 per day, that is 3,500 per week, or one pound. So does that mean if you keep this up for two years, you’ll weigh under 50 lbs?

It seems you do need a calorie deficit but not all calories are equal and it appears calorie counting is not sustainable long term

Why Calories Don’t Matter

 

Agreed. If people want to eat healthy food, count calories and be disciplined, they will lose weight and that is up to them. Will they be able to keep it in the long term? I'm not sure.

My approach is a lifestyle change. I am eating better food, exercising more and sleeping better. I like it and I am happy with my choice. I have done this before and lost weight, about 12 kg, and kept it up for 3 years.

I got off track this time while renovating. I just got too tired to organise my healthy food. So I started eating junk food and got in the habit of that. Renos are over and I am back to what I was eating before. Lucky for me I enjoy it more than junk food, so it should work over the long term.

 

I woke up feeling great today. The best I have felt for months, so I am really not sure what happened yesterday.

Day 13: wrap up.

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: Teriyaki Tofu (minus rice), Miso and some kind of tea
Afternoon snack: half a punnet of strawberries, an apple and a fun size cherry ripe bar
Dinner: Cauliflower, Broccoli and green Pea Gratin on corn chips with steamed veggies (carrot, corn, broccoli and baby beans)
Evening snack: none. not hungry

Exercise: 1.6 km of walking in 30 minutes

alertness: moderate to high
energy: moderate
anxiety: none
hunger: low to moderate

 

I was slightly hungrier than usual so ate slightly more to compensate. Two weeks up already. It has flown past!

Day 14: wrap up.

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: Avocado sushi
Afternoon snack: half a punnet of strawberries, 2 small bananas, a fun size cherry ripe bar and half a handful of dried pineapple.
Dinner: Cauliflower, Broccoli and green Pea Gratin on corn chips with steamed veggies (carrot, corn, broccoli and baby beans)
Evening snack: none. not hungry

Exercise: 1.6 km of walking in 28 minutes and 1 hour of pilates

alertness: moderate to high
energy: moderate
anxiety: none
hunger: low to moderately high

 

Into my third week.

Day 15: wrap up.

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: Vegetable pie
Afternoon snack: 2 small bananas, one apple, half a handful of raw almonds and a handful of dried pineapple.
Dinner: Cauliflower, Broccoli and green Pea Gratin on corn chips with steamed veggies (carrot, corn, broccoli and baby beans)
Evening snack: greek yogurt and banana with a teaspoon of honey

Exercise: none. It was too cold and rainy in Perth. It hailed!

alertness: moderate to high
energy: moderate to high
anxiety: none
hunger: low to moderate

 

Thoughts after 2 weeks.

2 weeks ago I was not feeling well or happy. I felt like I was walking through mud most of the time and my head felt like it was full of fog. I didn't have much energy or motivation and dragged myself through the day. Most of the time I felt like I just wanted to sleep but after sleeping I didn't feel much better.

I feel much better now. Most mornings I wake up with a clear head. I don't get tired before bed time and I have a lot more energy. My energy and motivation levels are back to normal and I feel like I could start running again.

I started renovating a house over a year ago and have been eating energy dense foods to have the energy to renovate. I also eat energy dense foods, when I feel tired, to keep me awake. However, I think these foods were what was making me feel tired, low energy and foggy headed! What I was eating was making me feel bad and when I felt bad I ate more of those foods. It's a destructive cycle and I am glad I am out of it. For reference: energy dense foods include; muffins, cakes, chocolate chip cookies, hot chocolate, chocolate bars etc.

I don't know if I have lost a lot of "weight" per se, but I certainly feel a lot lighter and a lot better.

If I had to put a label on eating this way, I would call it 'conscious eating'. I don't sit down and just mindlessly eat anything anymore. If I eat, I eat because I am specifically hungry and eat something I have made a conscious decision to eat. A challenge with this approach is balancing hunger and food intake. It is a program of restricting energy intake but it is doing this without calorie counting.

For example, my lunch on Day 17 (photos to follow) was a lot more energy than I would usually eat for lunch. However, I didn't have breakfast and then I wasn't hungry for afternoon snacks. So breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack eaten in one meal is going to be more than I would usually eat. It all balances out I guess? We will have to wait to see if I can eye ball the amount of energy I need to lose weight but not be excessively hungry.

 

Day 16

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: lettuce and curried egg sandwich on rye bread
Afternoon snack: an apple, an orange, half a handful of raw almonds and a handful of dried pineapple.
Dinner: tomato and green pea pasta on toast. Small apple juice.
Evening snack: small hot chocolate

Exercise: 1.6 km of walking in 28 minutes.

 

Day 17

New lunch today to add to the mix. This is a vegetarian Indian place in Perth, right on the Swan River.



Breakfast: none. I was sleeping.
Lunch: Indian Vegetarian
Afternoon snack: none. Not hungry.
Dinner: Tomato and green pea pasta on toast.
Evening snack: greek yogurt and banana with a teaspoon of brown sugar

Exercise: walking 5 km in 1 hour and 15 mins.

 

Day 18

Breakfast: toast with marmite and banana
Lunch: Tomato and green pea pasta on toast.
Afternoon snack: an orange, a slice of toast with apricot jam, small apple juice

Dinner: pizza and greek salad.

Evening snack: greek yogurt

Exercise: none.

 

Day 19

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: vegetable pie.
Afternoon snack: apple, orange, almonds, dried pineapple
Dinner: pizza and greek salad.
Evening snack: greek yogurt, banana, brown sugar

Exercise: walked 4 km in 45 minutes

 

I am now ordering Teriyaki Tofu without rice whenever I buy it. It's still a filling and tasty meal. I actually prefer the flavour without rice. It is more intense.



Day 20

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: Teriyaki Tofu without rice, miso, tea
Afternoon snack: two bananas, almonds, dried pineapple
Dinner: tomato, green pea and mushroom pasta sauce on green veg
Evening snack: none

Exercise: walked 4.25 km in 52 minutes

 

Yummy lunch today: Rice vermicelli noodle salad with spring rolls and loads of chilli.



Day 21

Breakfast: overnight oats and green tea
Lunch: Rice vermicelli noodle salad with spring rolls, lemon tea
Afternoon snack: two bananas, almonds, dried pineapple
Dinner: tomato, green pea and mushroom pasta with green veg and toast
Evening snack: none

Exercise: walked 2.43 km in 29 minutes