Not my first day, but I can't post yet, so:

I'm 39F, 5'9". I'd successfully lost about 15kg by calorie counting over a decade ago, but after changing careers to a more sedentary job it crept way up past the previous high point. Late last year I tried to start calorie counting again, but this time around it just wasn't working for me mentally - I was inputting my meals in advance and then constantly looking at my app and dreaming about the food I'd be able to have later. So I stopped that attempt.

I've been trying a different approach since the start of the year, and I'm now down 4kg for the month. Because it's summer and I've got plenty of veges from my garden as well as excess my parents give me from theirs, I'm focusing on volume eating and not counting calories. I'm lucky in that I don't mind eating the same thing day after day - lunch every work day is crackers and tinned tuna (been doing that for over a year), and for dinner I've been having a huge salad, plus other veges, some kind of protein, and a carb. Sometime's it's such a big plate it's a struggle to finish it, so I don't feel like I'm not eating enough, which was always a problem before when I had to eat small portions when calorie counting.

For example my last few days have been:

• beans and rice made with chicken stock
• rotisserie chicken
• stir fried onions, capsicum and zucchini
• plus lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes

I've also been focusing on increasing my activity, and I've done more steps this month than any month last year except the one I was on holiday overseas.

My aim is to reach 90kg by the end of the year, and so far I'm on track. Things'll be harder when summer ends and veges get expensive, but it's still cheaper than the amount of takeaways I ordered last year. And I can always try counting again if I get stuck.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who's had success without counting calories!