Calories Part 3: How to create a deficit.

Calories

Part 3: How to create a calorie deficit.

This next part is written solely with weight loss in mind. As talked about in the first episode of the mini-series, weight loss is all about energy balance and to lose weight you need to create what is commonly known as a ‘calorie deficit’. Now there are various ways in which this calorie deficit can be created and if I’m honest I could probably create another set of blogs to go further into that, but for now I am going to give you a few quick and easy ways in which you can do it, and specifically through your nutritional habits.

The obvious way to create a calorie deficit through food is well, to just eat less, but let’s face it, it’s not always that easy is it? The first and easier way is by mastering your portion control. Take time when preparing your meals, even if it’s just your breakfast, taking time and questioning whether you actually need that amount of food is key in creating small portions. Low fat options are an easy way to shave a few calories off your food, same food with less calories, surely that’s an easy one for you to try. The third example I’ll give is to STOP SNACKING! Now I have ranted this point many a time but snacking really isn’t necessary, only as a last resort. If you were on a 25 mile walk then yes snack, for energy, but to get you through ‘mid-morning’, no, you don’t need it, grow up. Now those three points are simple ways to do it without having to count calories and in all fairness take minimal effort so I would definitely suggest trying one of them.

Away from counting and creating a deficit there is one issue with food and calories that a lot of the time people are oblivious to, and that is the calories that are in ‘healthy’ foods compared to ‘unhealthy’ foods. Again, as stated at the beginning we are now talking specifically from a weight loss point of view. I am going to use examples from “Eat what you like & lose weight for life” by Graeme Tomlinson, or for those of you who use Instagram, The Fitness Chef. The first example compares the modern and trendy smashed avocado on sourdough and the old-fashioned bacon and egg on sourdough. The Smashed avocado with a few chia seeds weighs in at 505 calories whereas the bacon and egg weighs in at 360 calories, nearly 150 less! The second example compares a protein cereal bar and a slice of bread, the cereal bar contains 4 grams of protein and 123 calories, yet the bread contains 5 grams of protein and only 95 calories. See where I am going with this? Don’t be swayed by the way so called healthy foods are marketed, yes, they may contain a few more vitamins and minerals but from a weight loss point of view, they are often worse.

Health is always number one priority, but if weight loss, which often leads to better health can be achieved through eating ‘unhealthy’ foods, then we have to take some considerations when making our food choices.

Hope this helps!