Tracking food & creating a calorie deficit
A question I get asked often is, “do I need to track my calories?”
My answer:
It can be helpful on a short-term basis to gain a better understanding of what your daily eating should look like. Once you have a solid grasp of your meals and food composition, you can estimate without the need for meticulous tracking.
I don't recommend continuous, long-term calorie tracking. Personally, I track my intake for 2-3 days a few times a year to make sure my estimates are hitting the mark and I’m meeting my needs.
While having structure, especially in the initial stages, can be helpful, it's not essential for your daily calorie intake to be exactly the same every day.
However, maintaining consistency, especially in achieving your protein intake, is crucial. I often advise my clients to focus solely on tracking their protein to ensure they meet that goal.
I've observed that many women tend to under-eat during the week and then overindulge on the weekends, often involving alcohol (or falling into cycles of under-eating and over-eating).
What they might not realize is that these patterns can lead to a much higher average daily calorie intake over the course of a week than they might expect.
To achieve your goal and support your health & well-being, it's important to strive for a consistent and reasonable RANGE throughout the entire week.
If fat loss is one of your goals, considering energy intake and expenditure is important, but it's essential to emphasize that this is just one part of the puzzle.
It truly frustrates me when I hear people simplifying the idea that all you need to do is burn more calories than you consume, and voila, problem solved.
It's just not that simple, and we'll delve into the complexities in the next two newsletters, exploring other important contributing factors.
For now, let's focus a bit more on calories.
In the context of fat loss, we do want to create a slight calorie deficit.
However, I want to make it clear that I'm not advocating for those extreme 1200-calorie-a-day fad diets. Drastically reducing your calorie intake might lead to short-term weight loss, but watch how quickly that weight can return, and often more than before. Additionally, it can disrupt your hormones, sleep, mood, & thyroid function, further undermining your efforts.
If you're not sure where to start, this calorie calculator can help you get an initial estimate of your maintenance calories (maintenance = you stay the same).
Please keep in mind, this is just a starting point. You'll need to do some trial and error or work with a professional to determine what truly works best for you.
I DO NOT recommend going below 1700kcal - this is a recipe for deteriorating your metabolic health. Most women do well within 1800-2200 calories depending on activity level & individual needs.
To create a calorie deficit, you can either …
reduce your daily calorie intake slightly (for example by 200kcal) *but remember, protein requirements remain the same!
focus on increasing your daily movement (keep calories more or less around maintenance)
…and then monitor your progress over time, making adjustments as necessary.
As much as you might be eager to expedite this process, remember that slow and steady is the best approach
The rate of weight loss can vary based on your starting point, but it's crucial to understand that rapid weight loss often means you're losing more than just fat; you're likely losing muscle and bone mass, which can undermine your health and your goals.
REVIEW:
Tracking (SHORT TERM) can be helpful to make sure you’re getting enough of what you need & developing an understanding of the composition of your foods (even just tracking protein alone in can be helpful)
Aim to keep your intake within a healthy & consistent range day to day. This will help keep you away from the under-eating to over-eating cycle that many women get stuck in, while also supporting your body’s important functions (hormones, thyroid, gut health, digestion, sleep, and more).
Create a small deficit through reducing calories and/or increasing movement.
Listen to your body! Stay open minded to adjusting things as you go based on how you’re feeling (avoiding any extremes). For example, if you are strength training and building muscle, it’s very possible that your caloric needs will increase over time!
If you’re unsure of where to start or you’re feeling stuck with where you’re at, reach out for help - shoot me an email or Instagram DM! :)
