So if you've already had a chance to read my "about me" section, you'll notice that I mentioned how my healthy lifestyle didn't really go into full effect until I began counting calories. Although I agree, counting calories isn't for everyone, I have personally had such a pleasurable experience with it that I believe by sharing some of these tips, some of you guys may be able to benefit too.
The Basics: Understanding Calories Deficits
Reading calories on packaging can feel just like you're reading a bunch of numbers that kind of - don't really - sort of - make sense. I mean for instance, anyone can read the food label on, let's say, a Greek yogurt container and conclude that the mere 120 calories put it into the healthy category. The same way that reading the label on a package of Oreos can make you feel a little guilty about eating 5 serving sizes in one sitting (we've all been there...it's okay). However, at the end of the day...what do all of these calories really mean? How are we supposed to know when we're had enough for the day or how many we should consume to actually see those pounds fly off the scale?
Everything can be understood with a little math...(Nooo! Please don't frown like that, it's super simple and strictly numbers...no sneaky letters or other foreign symbols in this equation, I promise):
1 pound = approximately 3500 calories, this means that in order to lose 1 pound of fat, you need to reduce your caloric intake by 3500 calories.
The average adult burns between 1600 and 2200 calories a day without exercise. This is merely just your body doing its thing.
Now, obviously you can't burn a pound a day which would be extremely impractical and unhealthy, but by understanding these key bits of information, you can use them to create a weekly caloric deficit and set a weekly weight loss goal.
As I mentioned above, your body will already burn 1600-2200 calories prior to any exercise. So, if you want to add a little boost to your caloric deficit, some cardio will definitely help.
Now lets put all of this information into a little example to make it easier to understand, we're going to look at Vicci's average day:
Breakfast: 310 calories
Snack 1: 100 calories
Lunch: 290 Calories
Snack 2: 140 Calories
Dinner: 320 Calories
Total Calories: 1165 Calories
My body burned: - 1600 Calories
Did some light cardio: - 300 calories
TOTAL CALORIC DEFICIT: - 735 CALORIES
Now, I workout on average 3-4 days a week so my caloric deficit won't always be this big, but it'll be in the range of 300-900 calories.
Lets just say I average out at a deficit of 500 calories each day (some 300, some 700), by the end of the week, I would have lost 3500 calories....1 POUND!
It's honestly as simple as that, now I'm going to dive into the "Lose It" app and why I love love love it:
The Lose It app is basically an app that you can download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store which keeps a daily journey of all of the calories that you eat. Upon first getting the app, you create an account and fill in some basic information such as your height, weight and age. With this information that you provided, the app does this magic thing where it calculates how many calories you should be consuming per day depending on how many pounds you are looking to lose per week. I personally don't think you should aim to set your Lose It tracker to lose more than 1lb to 1.5lbs per week. Remember, we're aiming for a sustainable lifestyle, not a quick fix that could backfire a few months down the line.
Once you've set your weekly weight loss goal and you've entered your end goal weight, your're good to go!
Now it's all about entering those calories as you go, that means everything. Yes, even that mini chocolate chip cookie that you causally demolished on your way out the door.
I know for some, keeping track of calories can be tedious and time consuming (trust me, I know) but just please try to hang in there. The scale will let you know that it pays off. Here are also a few little tips to try to make things a little easier:
- When you have a little spare time on your hands, use it to plug in a bunch of recipes and foods that you frequently eat. That way they will be in the system and ready to log in whenever you need to.
- Plan your meals the day before, including snacks you plan to eat. The reason for this is that if you wait until the moment you're starving to start thinking about what you're going to eat...you're more susceptible to making impulsive and unhealthy choices. By already having your meals planned out, once you're hungry, you can simply check the Lose It app, see what you planned for lunch, dinner etc. and problem solved!
Huge Plus: Every recipe featured in my blog will be entered into the lose it system and can easily be found by typing in "ICDE (name of food)" ex: "ICDE Black Bean Patties) or by looking up the brand name "ItsCheatDayEveryday, so the tedious calorie calculations have already been done for you!