Habit 6 – Calorie Awareness

Eg.
* Sally burns 2200 calories per day
* Sally consumes 1500 calories per day
* Sally loses weight because the 700 calorie “deficit” needs to be pulled from her body somehow

* If Sally does not consume adequate protein in her 1500 calorie budget, she will most likely lose some lean muscle as well as excess body fat (not desirable)

* If Sally consumes adequate protein in her 1500 calorie budget (which as a by-product, means she eats  less carbs and fat), then most of her lost weight will come from excess body fat (yay)
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On the other hand..

If Sally burns 2200 calories per day
and eats 2300 cals per day, she will gain weight.
Even if those calories are from wonderful healthy sources.

7000 calorie deficit = 1 kg of weight loss (approx
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** Please also read – 8 surprising facts you need to know about calories
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Instructions / habit for this week.

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1) Become calorie AWARE

Please take 5 seconds or so to check some labels to find out how many calories you are consuming in the foods and drinks you regularly consume.

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2) Look for easy places to shave off some calories

Look for the “low hanging fruit”, so to speak.  It should feel like No Big Deal. #NBD

Examples –

1. You LOVE your morning coffee with milk and sugars. It would feel like a Big Deal to take this away. This is NOT where I want you to focus on reducing calories this week.
2. You check the label of the “healthy” low fat smoothie that you have after work. You are surprised to find out that it contains 500 calories. You halve your serving size and it feels like No Big Deal #NBD = Saves 250 cals
3. You realise that the oil you add to your meal contains 120 calories per spoonful. You reduce from 2 – 3 spoonfuls down to one. It feels like No Big Deal #NBD = Saves up to 240 cals
4. You no longer need your mid morning snack because your balanced breakfast kept you fuller for longer =  #NBD. Saves up to 300 cals
5. You reduce the carbohydrate portion size of a meal and bulk up the vegetable portion size of your meal.  #NBD = Saves 100 calories

**See also 10 healthy food swaps to help you lose weight

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3) Don’t get obsessive

If you find yourself becoming obsessed with strictly counting every calorie IN vs calorie OUT, then please STOP!
Simply ensure that most meals contain protein, fat, carbs and veg (portion plate).  Eat when fairly hungry, stop when satisfied.

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Some questions to ask yourself when checking calorie content

• How much protein does it contain? – Remember you should be aiming to include between 0.8 and 2.0grams of protein x your body weight in kgs.
• How full will it keep me? Higher calorie foods are fine if they keep you full for longer. Low calorie foods are not ideal if they don’t keep you full and don’t contain many nutrients. (think rice crackers, low fat muesli bars, diet packaged snacks etc.)
• How much do I love it? Don’t choose a low calorie food if you don’t truly enjoy it.
• Is there something else that might be a better option?

I would like you to (eventually) get to the point where there is very little emotional attachment involved in checking food labels and calorie content. Calories are fuel, simple as that.

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Some other important points to consider

• A weekly average is what’s important. Don’t try to micro-manage every meal or even every day. More on one day and less the next day is fine.
• If you are already a seasoned “dieter” and believe that you are consuming low calories each day, then please don’t aim to go lower. You should focus on a) ensuring adequate protein and veg are included in your daily calories, b) Moving more   c) Adding exercise (we will address this shortly)

• Vegetables are high in nutrients and very low in calories. It never hurts to add more veggies / salad to your meal

• If you want to go down the path of logging calories IN and OUT into a tracking app (which I don’t recommend btw), then please view it as a short term learning strategy only that you will eventually wean yourself off, like an apprenticeship.