Tuesday Tip: Calorie tracking 101 đź“ť
When people tell me “calorie counting doesn’t work for me” I’m a bit skeptical… why? because the ONLY way to lose weight/bodyfat is through a calorie deficit. So if you’re counting your calories and not losing fat then something is going wrong somewhere – and unfortunately that’s usually human error.
The most common problems are either not tracking consistently (or not doing it for long enough to see an actual result) or not tracking accurately. Consistency is fairly self explanatory – you’re either being consistent or you’re not – and if you’re not well then you know exactly how to change that. The accuracy though is slightly trickier.
It’s actually very easy to make errors in tracking calories. Now for things like fruit and vegetables if you’re estimating cals then it’s no big deal. But for foods like nuts, seeds, oil, avocado, hummus – and other high cal food then small errors can impact massively on your calorie intake.
So if you’re trying to count calories then it’s really vital you are weighing and measuring your food – using digital scales. As well as ensuring you’re eating as much as you think you are, it will also help you learn what portion sizes actually look like which means when you HAVE to guess you’ll be much better at it.
Do you have to weigh your food forever? Not if you don’t want to. You’ll get to the point where you don’t need to. I don’t anymore – but every now and then I go back and recheck my portions to make sure they’re still what I think they are. But if you’re trying to lose fat sustainably with a modest deficit each day then I’d definitely recommend you weigh as much as poss.
Happy Tuesday 🤗 xx
Every Step Fitness 