‘Just a drizzle…..’ 🍳
If you’re trying to lose fat and are working on reducing calories then you’re probably going to be recording your cals somehow. But are you really recording everything? It’s very easy to overlook some things because they seem so insignificant.
Oil used in cooking is a great example. So many of my clients will say they’ve just used a ‘drizzle’ of oil when cooking, so it’s not much. As a result they perhaps don’t measure it and don’t factor in those calories. Now aside from the fact that one person’s ‘drizzle’ could be another person’s ‘pour’ there’s actually a pretty good chance that you’re adding 100-200 cals a day to your meals with that ‘dash’.
That ‘drizzle’ of oil in the pan is probably around 25 ml, which depending on the type of olive oil will be at least 200 cals… But hey, that’s not worth recording right? Wrong! A sensible calorie deficit for fat loss is around 200 – 300 cals per day. So you’ve already eaten into your deficit with that one dash and turned a potentially low calorie meal like a stir fry etc into one that takes you over your allowance, for minimal satisfaction. You won’t notice those extra calories, and you’ll consume them without them really affecting how full you feel but they can really add up. If you’re cooking once a day that’s 1400 extra calories a week.
Now I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t use oil – if you want to then go for it! But if you are trying to lose fat, or your fat (weight) loss has stalled perhaps go back to basics and double check whether the amount you’re using could be more than you realise. And be a bit more mindful of this, or simply record it and have it within your daily calories. If you want to reduce the calories from cooking with oil then invest in a one calorie oil spray (you can get olive oil ones so you still get the health benefits if those monounsaturated fats) – 20 sprays will only be 20 calories, rather than the 200 plus cals from the ‘dash’ of oil 🤗
Xx
Every Step Fitness 