So, you want to ACTUALLY lose weight? Well, I am here to help. I am Kerry-Ann and a few months into my weightloss journey having lost over 12% of my weight. Today we will tackle two topics: how to count calories and how to handle a deficit without bullying yourself. I am not a doctor or dietitian, but I am also not a spectator- I'm in the same boat as you and I do every single thing I list below.
How to Properly Count Calories
Some of these may seem super simple or easy, but trust me every step below is important;
Get a calorie counting app/food diary. I recommend My Fitnesspal
Get a food scale/kitchen scale
Measure every bit of food and be honest with yourself
Either use the nutritional information at the back of the food's packaging, use google (there are lots of websites that have the nutritional info for you which is especially useful if you get takeaways or you can go to a shop's website where they may have the nutritional value of your food which is useful if you've lost/thrown away the packaging) or make use of My Fitnesspal by using the section but this should be a last resort as it is the least accurate of the options.
Add every single meal, down to that bite of a muffin you took. Every calorie counts.
When you exercise, if you don't have a watch or a machine that tells you use the calories, keep track of the time and use that ALSO by searching for the average calories burned by that action (e.g dancing, bike riding, hiking, swimming, soccer, etc.).
Overestimate food, underestimate exercise. If you for some reason don't have the exact number of calories burned/eaten, use the highest possible calories for food and the lowest possible for exercise. This will help ensure you burn more than you eat.
How to Stay on Track, Healthily
I have had times where I ate nothing or overexercised or just give up; here's how to not do those things;
Think of calories as a currency. Can you afford another cookie? Do you have 'money' for it? If not, exercise to earn 'money'. If you know you will exercise later, you can 'loan' the calories. Just make sure you don't get into debt. So DON'T think of it as gambling for your weight and don't think of it as burden or anything like that; calories are not bad or scary, they are just a currency. If you are willing to run like your life depends on it for 5km you can have ten goddamn cookies! If you want two servings of dinner- you can! Just 'pay' for it. burning 1000+ calories a day takes work, but it's possible and that is worth a lot when it comes to calories.
Learn to prioritize. Do you want that cookie more than that slice of cheesecake? Eat what you really want but save what you don't for later, if you aren't willing/don't have the time to 'earn more money'. If you don't really mind removing rice or pasta from your meal, that can score you A LOT! Just look at what you don't mind swapping out and that can save you so much and let you eat more of what you really want.
Your first few days don't have to be perfect, hell, they can be a train wreck! For your first two to four days of counting calories can be as much of a mess as you'd like. Use this time to get a feel of what calories are in the foods you eat and what you are willing to give up. I also find the idea of "saying goodbye" to two servings of a totally unhealthy food helpful. Your first days should be trial and error and not you being fussy or bullying yourself.
Now, day 5-8? Go down! Calorie cutting time- but don't go 1200 calories unless you are sure. Go to "maintain weight" level as practice or anywhere between there and 1200 until you are ready to choose your final goal.
IF YOU WANT SPEEDY HEALTHY RESULTS go 1200 calories. However don't go under, ever. That's unhealthy. Make sure your balance is 0 every day, or a little into the negative. If you steal fuel from your body it will retaliate.
Be forgiving. If you go over one day, if you binge eat one day, if you're too sad to exercise one day... that's okay. One day does not destroy your progress, however you have to be strong enough to stop it from becoming a pattern. A week CAN halt progress, one or two days cannot.
Take breaks. Personally I went on for weeks without a break UNTIL my plateau hit. When my weight stopped budging I, for a week, went into the "somewhere between maintaining my weight and losing 0.2kg per week" range to kind of restart my body. I NEVER went over "maintain weight" calories but never ate only 1200 calories. Moral of that story is to reward your body for working hard but do it responsibly.
Be aware that you cannot healthily loose weight more than 1kg a week. Accept it's 1kg, or just below, a week or nothing.
Conclusion
So, that is how I got 12%+ lighter in three and a bit months. This is coming to you from someone who cares and spent her life overweight. You can truly do this. You can also shake things up and do it your own way, but make sure you don't lie to yourself or cheat yourself. I promise you that you can do this. With all of my heart I wish you the best in your journey of losing weight. You are a beautiful human, your feelings are valid and you are strong enough to do this.
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