My experience has been that you need to pay attention to what I call the “satiety-to-calorie ratio.” Some foods have really good ratios, meaning you feel full without a lot of calories. Some foods have really poor ratios, meaning you get a lot of calories but still feel hungry afterwards. Start keeping track of how full you feel after eating a meal or a snack, and also keep track of how many calories it has.

You will be surprised by some of the results. Some of what would be considered healthy foods can have pretty poor ratios and some of what would be considered unhealthy can have pretty good ratios. Obviously, the issue here is that we’re only factoring in calories, not nutrients, so this isn’t the end-all-be-all system that you need to follow. But if weight loss is your primary objective, this is a good starting metric.

You’ll want to cut out or minimize foods that have a low ratio, and keep foods that have a good ratio. Keep a couple of good-ratio snacks for when you crave snacks. That way, you can satisfy cravings without getting too many extra calories.

I find that it helps me to set a daily calorie limit and aim to keep under it. Going over the limit is fine, but the extra calories get rolled over and need to be paid off over the next days. If you don’t know the calories of foods that you ate, give your best estimate. You’ll get better at estimating over time as you pay attention to the calories of the foods that you do know.

Also, when you cook, make sure to add in the calories from oil. And if you just need a way to drop your calories rapidly, I find that Soylent or Huel have remarkably good ratios and taste like milkshake, though they are somewhat expensive.