Everyone and their dog is harping on about loosing weight this time of year and with every New Year comes a new "secret" -
"Eat these 5 things!"
"Just 10 minutes a day..."
"Don't do that, do this!"
Well now it's my turn and spoiler alert, it's not new. Sitting comfy? Right, here we go...
A 500 calorie deficit a day and move about a bit more than you usually do!
Yup...that's it. That's the "big secret".
Ok so I know that doesn't sound revolutionary and that's because it isn't. It just works.
I do have more to add though to make the above a bit more useful.
How do we achieve the 500 calorie deficit? Counting calories is again, probably not a shocking revelation but guess what? It works.
I do have a very good "hack" and this may sound a bit over the top. If you truly want to shave off calories without compromising too much on your favourite things, weigh them.
On most packaging now it should show the nutritional information, some may only show it per 100g, some by portion.
A great example of this was just the other night when I went to add my normal squirt of BBQ sauce on my dinner. With a quick look at the label I noticed the portion size was 15g and that was 84 calories! I put my plate on the scales and squeezed out 15g of sauce and very quickly realised where I could save probably over 100 calories as I use waaaaaay more than a portion size!!
See I'm not here to tell you to stop eating your favourite things, on the contrary, I'm here to tell you to eat a controlled amount. Weigh them!
Get to know what those calories look like and then make a choice.
Here is where I personally (quite literally) trim the fat -
Fried eggs - measure the oil (save around 50kcal)
Butter on toast - (smaller amount or sometimes none if I'm really trying - save around 100kcal)
Coffee - black and maybe no sugar (if the coffee is good - save around 50kcal)
Sauces - measure them and save around 100kcal (in my case!)
Try and keep each meal to around 600ish calories then I still have a little room for snacks but be mindful of the calories.
So as you can see I don't have to go on some crazy regime, just be mindful and I can shave 300kcal off without even realising it!!
This is important to note as this is how the weight can easily pile up in the first place, with sneaky calories!
I pair this with my normal volume of exercise and just keep at it until I reach my goal.
With the above I would expect to see around 1-2lbs a week progress.
With this said it needs to be noted that the progress will NOT be a nice simple drop every day. Mine for example looks more like a heartbeat going down the stairs. Sometimes I'm up a little, sometimes I'm up a lot but over time the goal is it's always trending down.
It's important to weigh yourself everyday to understand your weight fluctuates naturally. Weighing yourself only once or twice a week can be a disaster mentally if you happen to weight yourself on a "heavy" day.
There are many factors for these fluctuations but the simplest one to consider is water.
Nerd time!
Carbohydrates attract water, 1 gram of carbohydrate will grab 3-4 grams of water!
So you can see, you could have perfectly calculated meals, tick all your calories, macros, fats and STILL weigh in heavier, simply because you're carrying excess water. This in turn is not a "BAD" thing, just something to remember.
Also please...I'll say it again, please stop listening to people who are demonising carbs!! In fact ANYONE who pushes restricted diets! *Sidenote* unless they are for medical reasons...
Back to carbs and water...
So you don't need to cut out carbs, you probably just need to pee.
I shall end this post with perhaps the biggest industry secret I can currently think of.
Everyone is looking for or promoting a "shortcut" and I can tell you exactly what it is.
Ready?
Stop wasting time looking for shortcuts!!
This simple honest truth has saved me so much time, energy and given me much more focus on just doing the work.
It's not a nice glamorous, shiny answer, it's just constant, honest, relentless, progress.
Thanks for reading and remember, just keep going, you're doing great!!
Love and high fives,
Cardiosaurus
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