In this post, I want to touch on a super popular and relatable topic—how to lose weight without counting calories. I’ll share my personal experience and explain how I manage to drop pounds without tracking every bite. I’ll include a bit of calorie math just to help illustrate some points.
Back when I was prepping for bodybuilding competitions, I obviously had to count my daily calorie intake. But I’m not competing anymore, so I don’t need to be that strict. These days, when I want to lose some weight, I follow what I call my “lazy weight loss diet”—and honestly, it still works great.
Just a heads-up: this approach works really well for me, but results can vary depending on your body’s systems—like your metabolism, hormones, and nervous system. That said, the tips I’ll share here are based on human physiology, so they can help pretty much anyone trim down around the stomach, hips, legs, and glutes.
My lazy weight loss diet helps me curb those strong cravings to eat, satisfies hunger, and even eases stress—without needing to count calories at all. By the way, this diet is a cut-down and more restrictive in terms of calories version of my other similar but less strict diet.
The star of the show? Simple veggie salads with fresh greens!
When I’m in weight-loss mode, I pretty much cut out all carb-heavy foods and sweets!
Why cut out carbs so strictly? Because you're still going to have some bite of carbs here and there. I mean, like this week your mother-in-law treats you to a new pie recipe and you want to honor her cooking skills and just try a little piece. And next week you're going out to a restaurant with a potential investor for your new business idea and he suggests trying a dish he really likes that has a little bit of carbs in it. You know what I mean.
So, instead, every meal is built around a big serving of vegetable salad with greens—like the one in the photo—and I mean as much as I want. Seriously, I eat these salads by the pound.
Along with the salad, I add some kind of animal-based protein like meat, chicken, eggs, fish, or a bit of cheese in the amount I normally eat, not more. And I don’t make this part boring—I'll cook the protein however I like, whether it’s a classic steak or something else that tastes great.
There are tons of salad recipes out there, and they’re not just healthy—they’re really tasty. Honestly, even plain raw veggies will do the trick.
Here’s another important detail: when I eat, I always start with the veggie and greens salad first. I pretty much fill up my stomach with it, and by that point, I’m usually almost full, and then I move on to the meat, fish, or whatever protein I’m having —and that’s exactly the point.
As for dressings, I usually go with low-fat sour cream. Sometimes I’ll switch it up and use extra virgin olive oil or unrefined sunflower oil. But plant-based oils are super high in calories, so I try to keep those in check.
Of course, there are salad recipes that include veggies along with meat, fish, or eggs—and those are totally fine to use too. But! No potatoes, pasta, rice, pizza, bread, or any other carb-heavy foods. And keep an eye on how much fat you’re adding in your salad dressings—don’t go overboard with the oils.
So, what happens as a result of eating this way?
Well, most vegetables are super low in calories, which means you can eat a lot of them without actually giving your body much energy. Because of that, my body starts tapping into stored fat for fuel—and that’s how I lose weight. The best part is, I still get to eat a lot and feel full and satisfied. That’s huge, because I’m not constantly craving food or thinking about what I want to eat next. I just keep losing weight without feeling deprived.
But! Once a week, usually after a workout, I let myself have one "cheat meal" where I eat absolutely anything I want—even sweets or fast food. It’s kind of like a reward for sticking to the plan and staying on track all week.
After that, I go right back to my lazy weight-loss diet without counting calories.
I honestly believe that with this kind of eating, you can lose weight at home even without working out. Your body doesn’t get enough energy from food, so it naturally burns stored fat. But you’re still getting enough food, vitamins, and minerals to feel okay—so your body doesn’t go into stress mode from hunger.
Calorie Breakdown for Salads
The calorie count of veggie salads mostly comes down to what you use as a dressing.
I don’t really count the calories from the veggies and greens themselves, because they’re so low—around 10–15 calories per 100 grams. Plus, a lot of that doesn’t even get absorbed by the body due to all the fiber, so they basically pass through your system.
If you dress your salad with 100 grams of sour cream that’s 10% fat, you’re looking at about 115 calories.
If you eat that kind of salad three times a day, that’s roughly 350 calories total—which is really not much.
If you use one tablespoon of olive oil instead, you’re getting about 150 calories per spoon. Three servings a day would come out to around 450 calories. Still not much.
The rest of your calories should come from things like chicken, meat, fish, eggs, or even a little cheese. Basically, you'll be getting fewer calories than your body uses up, and that's how you lose weight.
To me, this lazy weight-loss diet feels super simple—and honestly, it’s always worked for me. You might want to give it a shot too. It might just click with you, and you’ll start seeing those numbers drop on the scale.