- Consider your goal. Weight loss, Fat loss, Maintenance or Muscle gain
Simply put, “What do you want to achieve?” or “How do you want to look?” The key is to make a choice and stick with it. Keep one thing in mind even though these things should and will take time! The biggest problem we face in achieving our goals is crash or fad diets. Don’t believe the hype! Put it this way if you gained 20 kilos over 5 years do you really think it’s safe or feasible that you could lose that weight in 5 weeks?
- Weigh yourself and track your daily food intake
At the beginning and end of the week weigh yourself – if the scale stays the same then you are at a balance with your intake. If the scale indicates less then you are in a deficit and will continue to lose weight as long as you stay in a deficit. If you weigh more then you have a calorie surplus and will continue to gain weight.
Now here comes the “Sciencey” part! With your food intake that you documented, we can assess your actually daily average caloric intake. 1lb is equal to 3500 calories. For example, if you’ve lost 2 pounds in 7 day that is a 7000 calorie deficit over 7 days.
7000 divided by 7 = 1000 calorie deficit per day. This is an extreme example and we would say that most people do better with a 500 calorie deficit per day for healthy weight loss. The same is true if you weigh more, do the same calculations to give you your daily average surplus.
Now that we have your goal and your numbers, we can make a plan.
- Plan and Make the necessary adjustments
Now that we have the numbers we can make adjustments accordingly. If you don’t want to lose weight then we have to increase the amount of food. If you want to lose weight then we have to decrease the amount of food. The adjustments don’t have to be drastic, 250-500 calories per day is enough for anyone to see changes.
- Macros and micros
Hitting the macro prescription can be difficult. An easier way to get what you need is to make sure you have protein, carbs and fat at each meal.
Easy eyeball guide to quantity – Palm size of protein (chicken, beef, fish) fist size portion of carbs (rice, sweet pot) and a thumb sized portion of fat (avocado, nuts, oils)
The other thing to help keep your body in check is your micros – vitamins, and minerals. Make sure to have a hand full of veggies with each meal to ensure adequate intake of micros.
- Meal prep
Preparing meals in advance will stop you from binge eating on sugary snacks, or making bad decisions on your lunch break. It’s easier than you think.
– Make yourself a menu of 5 meals you like to eat,
– Shop for just those ingredients (make sure to buy enough for three of each meal)
– Cook three days worth of food and store in the fridge. Ready for you to take to work and eat when you get in after the gym.
- Bonus tip
Get a coach! Nutritional assessment, guidance, planning and support. For more info on nutrition coaching then contact [email protected]
