Move more, eat less!
It’s that simple right? That’s the simple way of looking at it. You just have to burn more energy than you require and you will lose weight, right?
It would be great if it was that simple. It helps to have an understanding of the following simple concepts
The Calorie Deficit
All diets work due to one consistency, a calorie controlled system with planned eating patterns. Meaningful weight loss requires you to expend more energy than you consume. Each person has a set amount of calories they require to maintain their body mass.
When you consume too more calories than you require you are in a positive energy balance
Positive Energy Balance = Weight Gain
When you consume less, you are in a negative energy balance and you will lose weight
Negative Energy Balance = Weight LOSS!
When you spend a long enough time period in a negative energy balance, you will notice the weight loss. This is called a Calorie Deficit because we are consuming fewer calories than we require.
Most people do not take enough control over their eating for a long enough time period to notice a visible change in their appearance, or often they fall off the eating plan.
Daily Consistency
Hitting your nutritional requirement EACH DAY is also very important.
For example: For Jessica to lose weight she must consume around 1300 calories per day and plus 45 minutes of moderate exercise. Jessica’s food choices are bad and she consumes 1200 calories on Monday, 1700 on Tuesday, 1300 on Wednesday, 1800 on Thursday and this continue on throughout the week. At the end of the week Jessica has not been in a large enough calorie deficit and will not notice any results. Those energy-dense snacks and large portion sizes have thrown Jessica’s eating plan out of whack.
If Jessica had tracked and taken control of her eating she could have maintained the 1300 calories and she would have noticed visible weight loss after 2-3 weeks. She needed to keep consistent on a daily basis instead of having ups and downs in her intake.
The Goal: Maintain your calorie deficit until you are satisfied with your weight loss. When you are satisfied with your weight loss, adjusted your eating to a maintenance calorie level, and enjoy being lean.
How to Figure Out How Many Calories You Consuming
Track it! It’s time to up your nutrition game. Time after time the person who “can’t lose weight” or has “metabolism issue” has often never tracked their nutritional intake enough to realize they are constantly eating too much.
I would recommend using myfitnesspal to track your food intake, it’s simple and allows for you to scan barcodes and re-enter your regular food items with ease.
Generally, if you have not gained/lost weight during the past 3 months, you can assume that the number of calories you are consuming is your maintenance level. Track your eating for a minimum of 3 consecutive days and average out the calories to get your maintenance number.
I know the idea of tracking your calories can be a bit overwhelming to some, however, it’s very similar to how you need to track your money in / money out when you want to save money. Knowledge is the key. You may be good for 70% of your diet but 30% of the foods you consume are throwing everything out of whack.
How to Figure Out How Many Calories You Are Burning
You guessed it… it’s time to track that too! Track your workout duration and intensity, plus time spend doing a light activity (LISS). You can add it up on a few online tools to get a vague guestimation of the calories burnt. Also, try to train consistently for the same time period and perceived effort on a regular basis. Most basic trainers recommend you to wear a smartwatch or a heart rate monitor and track the energy you burn, but this technology is nowhere near accurate, so don’t bother. There are too many impacting factors when it comes to using heart rate technology, so unless you are doing steady state cardio and the calculations in the device are calibrated to you, it’s not accurate. That being said, tracking steps per day can be useful as a gauge of incidental activity.
Stay Consistent For ATLEAST 3 Weeks
You may notice changes after one week, sometimes after 2 weeks, however, to really get a clear idea of how you are progressing you will need to stay consistent for at least 3 weeks. After 3 weeks you will notice a change in your weight and sometimes even visual changes in your body composition.
Track Your Progress To Make Sure You are Getting Results
“I think it’s working” is a horrible method of tracking. You need numbers and pictures to compare to each other so to see the changes.Take before/after pictures for yourself, a measurement around your stomach and your weight first thing in the morning on an empty stomach/bladder.
Consult An Expert
Coaches, Nutritionists and Dieticians all have specialities, do some research and find one that specialises in what you are trying to achieve. Sometimes we get the best results when we are held accountable.
I hope that helps, feel free to contact me or comment below and ask questions if you are still unsure of what to do
Stay Frosty
Trainer Simon
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