If you just ate 150 calories less a day you would be eating 1050kcals less a week
7700kcals = 1 kg of fat lost so in just over 7 weeks you could lose 1kg of fat (not 1kg scale weight) by making small changes that you won’t really notice. Provided that you are in a calorie deficit by making these changes, if not then you may need to increase the deficit.
Now I am looking at calories only not how healthy the food is – that is a blog for another time.
We make fat loss so complicated – all we need to do is look at what we really eat, not what we think we eat. Then look for ways you can decrease the calories by 50 each meal or a total of 150 a day.
You could pick a different deficit, but the point is I wanted to highlight how thinking smarter and making small changes may be all you need to do to lose weight over time.
I am not asking you to give up your social life just to think a bit more about the easy changes you can make that require minimal effort.
A SIDE NOTE
Just by adding 20000 steps a week you could burn 1000-1300 kcals a week (depending on height, weight, sex and intensity/speed)
That’s a 30 min walk a day.
No real effort just a commitment to make the time to do it.
You could also take walks at lunch or go for a longer walk on weekends, get off the bus or train 1 stop early or take the stairs at work.
Every little bit adds up to help you move closer to your goal.
Just the same as over eating a little bit adds up to weight gain over time.
The fat loss won’t be an overnight transformation but what you will notice is that you aren’t stressed about your food, you can go out socially and just lead a normal life without being on a diet 24/7.
Something to think about
HOW YOU CAN CUT 50 KCALS FROM YOUR DIET TODAY AND A FEW CALORIE SWAPS
Below are just some examples of what 50 calories looks like and some ideas on how you can reduce what you eat quite easily.
1 slice bread granary bread = 85 kcals and 2 tsp butter (10g) = 74 kcals – so cutting your bread with butter intake down by 1 slice a day would lead to you eating 160 kcals less a day.
Each serving below is 50kcals, we have also added a few alternatives so you can see the difference in calories compared to similar items so you can learn how to calorie swap.
If you want to reduce calories by as little as 50 kcal a day then the below portions are what you would need to cut out. Or if you simply swap to a lower calorie food you can cut them out that way.
What does 50 kcal look like?
Ice cream
Hagen Dazs – 25mls
Oppo (Choc and Hazlenut) – 63mls
Yoghurts (yeovalley)
Greek – 38g
Natural – 63g
0% Fat – 100g
Meats
Chicken Breast – 40g
Rump Steak – 34g
Prawns – 75g
Milk
Full fat – 60mls
Semi Skimmed – 100mls
Skimmed – 138mls
Brown Rice – 50g
Oats – 14g
Condiments can be a very slippery slope if we don’t portion accordingly – by reducing your current portion by the amounts below you cut our 50kcal for that meal – if you’re doing this 1-2 times a day it will add up in your favour.
Tomato sauce – 45mls (3 tbsp roughly)
Salad cream
Normal – 15g
Light – 22.5g
Mayonnaise (Hellmans)
Full fat – 15ml (0.6 Tbsp)
Light – 19g
These are just a few examples of how you can cut calories by simply reducing portions or switching to a lower calorie choice.
There are more options but hopefully you get the point.
Don’t make fat loss complicated.
Don’t make it so difficult that you can’t succeed.
There is an easier way that will work for you, you just need to weigh up your options, make a decision and stick to it.