Can you lose weight without tracking calories?

[wohlvo]

I have had my FitBit Charge 2 for 2 weeks and have lost 2 pounds.  I am happy.  I have been walk/ jogging an average of 15,000 steps per day and have not tracked any calories.  Can anyone tell me their experience with weight loss with just moving and not logging?  I am 47, female, 5 feet 6, and 157 pounds. I want to get to 145.

[WendyB]

Its more about the food you eat than exercise.

If its working for you keep going. If you are sure your eating a portion size and not more than good for you as well.

You dont have a lot to lose so if you gain in the process then you might want to track calories to see what you could of done wrong.

[Dominique]

It depends what you mean by "tracking". For some people, it means counting calories with an app like MyFitnessPal (or why not Fitbit). The method used by Weight Watchers (whereby you assign points to the various foods you eat) is also a way of tracking calories. Precision Nutrition advocates using your hand (fist, palm, thumb) to gauge the portions of various macronutrients you should eat in every meal: yet another way of (indirectly) tracking calories.

I personally wish I were able to count calories, but I haven’t managed so far. This doesn’t mean I’m not calorie-aware, quite the opposite. I weigh a lot of what I eat and I know pretty well the caloric content and macronutrient breakdown of most of the foods I eat. When I started using Fitbit (4.5 years ago), I was totally clueless about calories and macronutrients.

To answer your question about losing just moving and not logging: it’s exactly what happened to me. I lost 10 kg (22 lbs) in 5 months simply from switching from sedentary to very active (15-20k steps per day), while eating mostly the same (both quantitatively and qualitatively). You can check it from my weight curve in the TrendWeight link of my signature: I went from 75 kg in April 2013 to 65 kg in September 2013. I only got my Aria scale in June 2013, so the first  three months are missing, but the starting point was 70 kg. Thereafter I’ve been maintaining between 65 and 69 kg for the next three years, and I’m now trying to establish a new, lower fluctuation range of 60-64 kg. However, even though in my case the initial weight loss was primarily driven by increased activity, I agree with @WendyB that nutrition usually plays a bigger role. If you are able to combine both (increase your activity, improve your diet and better control your calories), you will maximise the chances of success.

[Daves_Not_Here]

---

@wohlvo wrote:

I have had my FitBit Charge 2 for 2 weeks and have lost 2 pounds.  I am happy.  I have been walk/ jogging an average of 15,000 steps per day and have not tracked any calories.  Can anyone tell me their experience with weight loss with just moving and not logging?  I am 47, female, 5 feet 6, and 157 pounds. I want to get to 145.

---

My experience has been that I only lose weight when I log my weight and food.  Over the last couple of years, I've been fairly active, but had been overeating and gaining weight.  Two months ago, I started logging again and I'm on track to get back to my ideal weight.

[JoannaPW]

I lost 120 pounds years ago without counting or measuring anything.  Fitbits had not been invented yet so my daily brisk walk was just based on time, and occasionally checking my heart rate with my regular watch. I lost the weight by following Dr. John McDougall's eating plan. drmcdougall.com  Very easy to follow, once I made up my mind to do it.  I have eaten this way for over a decade.  Love the food and also love being able to stay in shape without measuring, weighing or counting anything.  Eat when I am hungry.  Stop when I am full.  Take a walk.  Move as often as I can all day.  Get a good night's sleep. 

[Coach9]

Interesting topic.  I find when I do not count calories I am less aware of what I am eating and when.  Fortunately I do not seem to gain much weight however it is up and down when I do not count.  When I count I tend to lose a few pounds but right now I am stuck at a weight and cannot seem to lose at this point in time.

[Julia_G · Accepted solution]

@wohlvo, I think this is very much a personal matter.  At the end of the day, you can't lose weight unless you burn more fuel than you consume -- i.e. you need to force your body to use your fat stores for energy, and it will only do that if it can't get the energy more easily elsewhere (from what you are putting in your mouth...)

How people achieve that varies enormously.  Many people find it very helpful to weigh everything they eat, calculate the calories in as much as possible, keep track of what their body burns to stay alive (BMR calories) plus exercise (calories out) and make sure they have a deficit.

I am personally too lazy for all that, but as @Dominique says, at the end of the day it still boils down to consuming less than you burn.  

For me, I try not to eat when I am not hungry (or, to be more accurate, try to eat only when I am very hungry), and try to do some activity every day.

I am also of the school of thought that not all calories are created equal.  I know the jury is out on this, but I feel confident that my body "hangs on" to carbohydrate calories more than it does to fat calories, and I tend to eat low carbohydrate generally, and especially low sugar.  Many days I eat zero sugar (except from wine!).  On the other hand, I eat (almost) as much fat as I want (I want a lot).

As @WendyB says, it is hard to lose weight from exercise alone, and especially hard when you don't have a lot to lose.  In that case you might find it helpful, at least for a few weeks, to keep track of calories in and calories out, as she suggests.

But so far, it sounds like what you are doing is working.  As long as it does, you are on the right track!  Two pounds in two weeks is good, healthy weight loss.

[Dan54]

Hi wohlvo. When I bought my first fitbit in dec 24,2015 my weight was 209 lbs and I felt fat. I joint the YMCA and starting to lift  weights and doing a lot of walking and riding my bike. I when on a diet cutting down on my carbs and not tracking my calories, I weight 171 lbs  as of sept 8 2017. also cutting down on sweets.

Dan54

[JRinAZ]

Whether you track your food intake or not your body does. I like tracking my food so I know where I am at and it makes me realize what foods are high calorie in my diet.