It is just about counting calories

[TaraNorth]

Calories are the very basic level of it all. When it comes to practice, there's so much more you can do (eating more fiber so you're not as hungry, drinking more water, etc), but at the very foundation, it's calories.
You won't be hungry if you count your calories right. Cutting back on calories doesn't mean cutting back on food. It means changing the calorie balance of how you eat. Start focusing on eating nutrient dense, lower calorie foods and you'll find that you could actually eat much larger quantities than you used to, but without the caloric impact.
Tracking your calories will help you to better understand your food. You'll be shocked at how wrong you were about how many calories are in what you eat. It's not what you think it is. Even without "dieting", try tracking your calories for a week, just to see where you are. You might find that you don't even need to change what you're eating. Just shift the portions on your plate. Let the veggies take up more room and shrink your portion of grains (pasta or rice) for instance. Or if you usually have meat taking up half your plate, serve yourself 2/3 that portion and fill the space with veggies. You'll eat more food, but fewer calories by a long shot.

Thank you so much! I never thought about it that way but that makes a lot of sense I'm going to track my calories this week to see where I am

[Tony1968]

Calories are the very basic level of it all. When it comes to practice, there's so much more you can do (eating more fiber so you're not as hungry, drinking more water, etc), but at the very foundation, it's calories.
You won't be hungry if you count your calories right. Cutting back on calories doesn't mean cutting back on food. It means changing the calorie balance of how you eat. Start focusing on eating nutrient dense, lower calorie foods and you'll find that you could actually eat much larger quantities than you used to, but without the caloric impact.
Tracking your calories will help you to better understand your food. You'll be shocked at how wrong you were about how many calories are in what you eat. It's not what you think it is. Even without "dieting", try tracking your calories for a week, just to see where you are. You might find that you don't even need to change what you're eating. Just shift the portions on your plate. Let the veggies take up more room and shrink your portion of grains (pasta or rice) for instance. Or if you usually have meat taking up half your plate, serve yourself 2/3 that portion and fill the space with veggies. You'll eat more food, but fewer calories by a long shot.

I was going to say something similar. Tracking your calories for a week is a good place to start so you actually know what you're working with. Making assumptions about how much you think you're ingesting isn't going to help you figure out what you need to do in the long run. From there, ChefMel is right, it's mostly about portion control and it can be easily done by upping your veggie intake and lowering the amount of carbs your eating as well as reducing the amount of meat on your plate and avoiding eating more than you need. For instance, instead of having two burgers and fries, have one burger and a big salad.

[ChefMel]

Calories are the very basic level of it all. When it comes to practice, there's so much more you can do (eating more fiber so you're not as hungry, drinking more water, etc), but at the very foundation, it's calories.
You won't be hungry if you count your calories right. Cutting back on calories doesn't mean cutting back on food. It means changing the calorie balance of how you eat. Start focusing on eating nutrient dense, lower calorie foods and you'll find that you could actually eat much larger quantities than you used to, but without the caloric impact.
Tracking your calories will help you to better understand your food. You'll be shocked at how wrong you were about how many calories are in what you eat. It's not what you think it is. Even without "dieting", try tracking your calories for a week, just to see where you are. You might find that you don't even need to change what you're eating. Just shift the portions on your plate. Let the veggies take up more room and shrink your portion of grains (pasta or rice) for instance. Or if you usually have meat taking up half your plate, serve yourself 2/3 that portion and fill the space with veggies. You'll eat more food, but fewer calories by a long shot.

[TaraNorth]

Is weight loss about only counting calories or is there more to it? I'm asking because I know not all calories are created equal. I want to watch my calorie intake but at the same time I don't want to feel like I'm starving. I'm taking 3GBurn to help with my exercising and I'm hoping it will help with appetite as well.