Tuesday Tip: Average Calories 📊
You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight but that doesn’t mean you need to be in a calorie deficit every single day. This is where people often get confused and struggle. It’s averages over weeks and months that count.
If you’ve determined that you need to eat 1700 cals per day to give you a deficit to lose weight most people assume that means they have to have 1700 every single day to get results. But of course it doesn’t work like that – in reality you just need to average 1700 cals per day. Some days you could eat more calories, and some days you could eat fewer, but if you’re averaging 1700 cals by the end of the week, you’ll be on track.
E.g.
Monday – 1700 calories
Tuesday – 2200 calories
Wednesday – 1400 calories
Thursday – 1700 calories
Friday – 1500 calories
Saturday – 2000 calories
Sunday – 1500 calories
Weekly Average – 1714 cals (basically on target)
Now, let’s say that you hit 1700 cals every day for a week, but then you have a day where you have a bit of a blow out at the weekend.
Monday – 1700 calories
Tuesday – 1700 calories
Wednesday – 1700 calories
Thursday – 1700 calories
Friday – 1700 calories
Saturday – 2600 calories
Sunday – 1700 calories
Weekly Average – 1828 calories.
So yes in that second example you’ve gone over but your weekly average is still not far off the deficit goal and long term that small amount of extra cals won’t stop progress. So many people will have a bad day and think they destroyed their progress for an entire week, but that’s not the case. You’d have to have that blow out Friday, Saturday and Sunday to have any meaningful impact.
You will have days where you go over your calories – intentionally or unintentionally. When that happens, don’t panic and think f*ck it and then ruin the next few days. Just put it behind you and, most importantly, get back on track the next day. Do that, and you’ll still be moving in the right direction.
Happy Tuesday 🤗xx
Every Step Fitness 