I’ve recorded this email as a video as well. You can find it on Facebook or Instagram.
Much is made (by me!) of the need to make sure you’re eating sufficient protein. And that is massively important, and perhaps even more so when you’re aiming to lose weight.
But, the question that follows is: how much of everything else should I eat?
Well, the first part of the answer to that question is: if you focus purely on eating until you are satisfied rather than stuffed, and only eat nutrient rich ‘real food’ when you are hungry, you’re not going to go too far wrong. For the majority of us, this is enough to achieve the weight loss we desire. Give this approach time to work (at least 4-6 weeks) before you try to move on – don’t make things more complicated than needed!
Sometimes, for a few people, eating in this way just doesn’t quite work. Some people just prefer to work with numbers rather than feelings too. So, for these people, the next stage is to work out your numbers.
Multiply your bodyweight in LBS by 15 in order to get a rough estimate of the calories your body needs to maintain its current weight. Then, take 10-15% off this in order to create a deficit.
Always start by working out your protein intake first. Ideally, you need about 1.5 grams protein per KG bodyweight per day. Multiply this number by 4 in order to find out the calorie cost of this.
Then, take the remaining calories and split them into carbs and fat. As a starting point, split the calories equally – so divide your remaining calories by 2.
Divide this number by 9 to find out how many grams of fat you should eat a day.
Divide it by 4 to find out how many grams of carbs you should eat a day.
Run with these numbers for about 4 weeks and see what results they throw up before you look at adjusting either the amount of fat and carbs you’re eating, or your calorie intake.
You can track what you’re eating pretty easily on the MyFitnessPal app.
As always, I’m very happy to help you work out your numbers or help you work out the finer points of adjusting your intake – send me a message and we’ll get you sorted.