How to lose weight the “easy” way
There are so many ideas for how to lose weight: special diets, restrictions, rules, meal plans, exercise, apps, etc. I’m here to tell you that it is incredibly simple to figure out how to lose weight. All you need is a calorie deficit, that’s it! Let me explain.
TDEE
Every day, your body burns a certain number of calories to survive based on your size, age, genetics, activity level and so on. This is called your Total Daily Energy Expenditure or TDEE.
There are calculators online that can give an estimate of your TDEE so you can have a rough idea of how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight. This is where you need to start.
Calorie Deficit
To lose one pound of weight, you will need to consume 3500 less calories than you consume. Since there are 7 days in a week, that would be a deficit of 500 calories a day during the week, and mathematically you would lose a pound or so.
Let’s say your TDEE is 2000 calories per day, you would need to eat an average of 1500 calories a day all week to achieve weight loss in the week. This is 1500 calories of whatever you want, as long as you are in a deficit.
Trial and Error
Obviously, an online calculator is not going to be the most accurate for your daily calorie needs, so you may need to tweak the number up or down based on the results you see. For example, you lose weight a little too fast (aka 2-3 pounds a week) you may need to eat another 100-200 calories a week to make it more sustainable.
Or, you aren’t losing at all, bump it down 50-100 calories and see what happens. The smaller you get, the harder it can be to lose weight because your amount of food will be smaller.
Write it all down
There can be a couple of pitfalls in this method. Many times, people underestimate the amount of food they eat. This is why I weigh my food and log what I eat daily. I highly recommend a food scale as I’ve mentioned in another post. Also, I highly recommend a food tracking app such as myfitnesspal.
Here are some ways to eat more in your calorie budget when you are busy or at a restaurant.
I do not recommend taking their calorie suggestions as they can be too low (aka 1200 calories a day) and they add in exercise calories which can be bloated stats and will not help you (aka adds in too much extra calories).
In the past, I used it to lose some weight in the past and used their recommendations but I stalled on the same weight for years not realizing they give too many calories for exercise so I didn’t understand why I wasn’t losing weight. Now I know.
Don’t have too big of a deficit
If you feel hungry with your lowered calories when you are trying to lose weight, this is normal. If you find your hunger unbearable and end up eating too much food in the pantry late at night, you may need to add a few calories back in. Go easy on yourself, and take your time to do this right.
Lifestyle Changes
Now, am I saying that none of these other methods work for weight loss? No! Any method will work if you are in a calorie deficit. How you do it is your choice, however, you must make sure it is a method you can stick with and incorporate into your lifestyle.
Please note: I am not a nutritionist. This is just information I have learned over the years through trial and error. Always listen to your doctor!