It’s understandable that when we decide to make a change we want to go “all in” and start eating less to see results. What if we aren’t actually in a place to be able to do that?
Well, before we can say yes…do we even know how much food we are consuming each day? It would be hard to know if we are in a deficit if we don’t know how much food we are consuming each day. That’s where tracking comes in.
If we discover we already have been under-consuming calories (below maintenance), it might not be the best idea to try and force calories even further down. Ex: only eating 1100 cals per day, is it realistic to live on 800 in a deficit?
Remember our bodies are adaptive. If we eat below our maintenance to begin with, then keep in mind that our metabolism, hormones, thyroid, etc. typically downregulate. We can counter this by slowly increasing our calories (reverse dieting) and giving the body time to re-adjust to being less restricted.
So again, I ask are we in the proper place to lose weight? We can start to take steps to find out. In most cases, people believe lowering calories is step 1. In reality, it’s closer to steps 8, 9, or 10. Let’s use the example of we signed up to run a marathon, would you immediately run out the door for 15+ miles and run at a fast pace? More than likely you would spend some time researching, find a good training program, or hire a coach.
Where do we start? Well, we need to slowly start putting in the work each day. We do this by starting with the proper foundations in place.
Getting enough water
Eating enough protein
Eating enough fruits and vegetables
Getting lots of Fiber
Sleeping 7-9 hrs. a day
Getting a minimum of 7,000-10,000 steps per day
Working out 3-5x per week
Step 8 – Caloric Deficit?
After we master the foundational habits and get to a better place with our eating (proper maintenance) then we might be ready to get to our first deficit and get closer to our end goal. It’s all about playing the long game when it comes to nutrition & lifestyle.
This is where Innov8 Fitness excels. We help our clients identify where they currently are, (is it weight loss or fat loss you are actually looking for, and did you know there can be a difference)? From there we will find out if we have the proper foundation to meet your goals, and if not, we will help you to get there.
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