What You Need to Know About a Calorie
Do you cringe at the word ‘diet’? Does it feel like you have spent a lifetime trying to find what works for you? Do you feel as if hormones and medication may be sabotaging success and you feel like a victim of late night cravings and too much Door Dash? Do you try to take back control through workouts and good habits only to find that they don’t seem to be getting you where you want to be?
The truth is you are only going to burn 5-10% of your daily calories through exercise. The only way to achieve the body you want is in the kitchen. My father-in-law has a saying, “All diets work. You just have to stick with it.” He is right - most diet models are based around a calorie deficit. Calories are not evil; they are fuel - just a measurement of heat. You gain weight when you give your body too much fuel. The excess is stored as future fuel - or fat. How do you know how much fuel is right for you? Multiply your body weight by 15 if you are moderately active (at least 30 min of physical activity a day). This is your maintenance number. If your goal is to lose weight you need to get below this number.
Here is why it is almost impossible to exercise the extra weight away; let’s say you incorporate running into your schedule 3 times a week. You burn 200 calories each time. You have now used up an extra 600 calories that week. That’s great! But to burn one pound of fat you need to eat 3,500 less calories that week or burn 3,500 calories from activity. 600 is now a drop in the bucket.
What is the best use of your time? Focus on calories coming in. Track them to get a weekly average as this will be more accurate than just tracking for a day. Do not trust your gut. Do not estimate with your feelings how many calories you have consumed in a meal or in a day. It is easy to think it is less than reality and then blame all the things around you to avoid taking responsibility for your crisis. You need data and calorie awareness. Without changing anything, track what you are already eating. This will be useful in deciding how to change moving forward.
Personally, I find calorie counting to be a detail-oriented, migraine -inducing nightmare. I have found success in hoping off the food weighing train and instead focus on managing my blood sugar. I do this by primarily eating meat. It stabilizes my blood sugar and prevents insulin from coming to the rescue and taking too much sugar out which then triggers the hormone ghrelin to tell my brain I am starving. I hopped off of this rollercoaster ride and feel stable energy levels throughout the day now. This is just what I have found works for me. Schedule a meeting so we can work together to find a plan that fits your personality and lifestyle!
