There is a tonne of information out there on how to lose fat and how to be healthy. The simplest truth of it is that to lose fat, you must be in a calorie deficit. No matter how you get into that deficit, that is still the essential piece. In saying that, there is a lot of grey as to what may be best practice to get there and stay there. So, we have put together our top 10 tips to get in to maintain a calorie deficit and stay healthy.
- Whole Foods: Using as much whole food as possible that is lower in calories is the best way to control your intake and manage hunger. Examples would be a colourful range of vegetables and lean proteins.
- 2-3 Proper Serves of Starchy Carbs: Take note of “proper serves”. Most starchy carbs such as rice, whole grain pasta, lentils etc are recommended to be consumed in 100g portions. Stick to this to best control your portion sizes. This leads to our next tip.
- Use Food Scales: Getting an understanding of what a serve of something looks like is crucial to long term success. If you don’t measure it, you won’t manage it.
- Drink 3L of Water Per Day: Most people are dehydrated and don’t even know it, and often confuse dehydration with hunger. Not only will it help with calorie intake, but your skin will also look better, you will recover faster from training and your brain will work better.
- Zero Sugar Drink Options: Things like Pepsi Max, Coca Cola Zero, Zero Sugar energy drinks and low to zero sugar cordial are great ways to curb cravings, help in social settings and help with water intake.
- Avoid Extra Fats: Adding things like oils, nut spreads and even the seemingly healthy avocado toast will add more calories than you realise, especially if they are not measured.
- Move More: This does not have to be extra training sessions. I can be parking further from work, using the stairs, or going for bike rides with your family. Getting generally more active with your lifestyle is great way to burn a few extra calories but is just fantastic for your physical and mental health.
- If you can’t say no to a food, do not have it in your house: If chocolate is your downfall, stop buying it! If it’s not there, then you can’t eat it.
- Have a protein shake before dinner: This one may be a little left field but here me out. Most people are not eating enough protein. Protein is also quite filling. So having a protein shake before dinner not only will top up what you’re missing but will also control how much you eat at dinner. It’s a win/win!
- Forget About Perfection: I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you are not competing in a bodybuilding competition in the next 6-12 months. So, your diet does not need to fit some perfect scheme. If your consistent 80% of the time you can still make progress. Is that an excuse to not follow a plan just because? Absolutely not, but it is great to keep perspective on the fact that sometimes you won’t be 100% “on it” and that’s ok. Move on and start again.
We hope these tips help and that you can implement some if not all of them to assist in any fat loss and fitness goals you may have.
