Summer is right around the corner, and many start looking for the fastest way to lose weight so that they can rock a summer body.
Lately I have had so many people reach out to me asking me for diet advice and which diets I recommend, but I give everyone the same advice: Yes, you should eat healthy and watch what you eat, but the most effective way to lose weight is…
CALORIE DEFICIT.
That’s right.
There are a ton of diets out there, such as
1) Weight Watchers
2) The Vegan Diet
3) Flexitarian Diet
4) Atkins Diet
5) Keto Diet
6) Paleo Diet
7) South Beach Diet
8) Nutrisystem Diet
9) Low Carb Diet
10) Pescatarian Diet
11) Low Carb Diet
12) High Protein Diet
I just named a few diets out of the hundreds of out there. There are so many; no wonder many are confused.
Which one is the easiest to follow? Which one is financially affordable? Which one is the most effective? Ultimately, which one will help me lose weight?
I am not a Registered Nutritionist, so I cannot offer you specific advice on what you should be consuming. I will, however, tell you that you can have the best diet and eat healthy all the time but if you are not at a calorie deficit, then you simply won’t lose weight. Plain and simple.
I’ve lost weight and I’ve kept it off. I’ve written lots of articles about losing weight about that theme. Everything that I write includes the basic facts of what I’ve learned over the years on how to lose weight and keep it off, but it all comes down to one principle.
How did I lose weight? Caloric deficit.
How do I keep it off? Caloric balance.
Calories are all that matter to weight loss, but that doesn’t mean you can eat whatever you want because quality affects quantity.
Bottom line is, any diet will lead to weight loss if you’re in a caloric deficit.
A calorie deficit is when you consume fewer calories than your body burns (or burn more calories than you consume, which is the same thing). Doing this puts your body in a state of negative energy balance, in which it doesn’t have the calories it needs to perform all of the daily tasks it needs to perform (moving, breathing, digesting, exercising and walking). So, in order to perform those tasks, your body is forced to burn your own stored body fat for energy instead. As a result, you lose weight (or, more specifically, you lose fat).
This is why a calorie deficit is the absolute key to weight loss.
In this article, you’ll learn how to set a calorie deficit.
- Set up a specific number to achieve a certain rate of fat loss.
This is where most people decide how much weight they want to lose, usually about one pound per week. They know that one pound of fat has about 3,500 calories, so they figure out how many fewer calories they’ll need to eat per day to lose one pound of fat — 500.
- Set your calorie intake according to your body weight.
This approach is a little more customized to your individual needs because it accounts for differences in body size. However, this only takes into account your body weight, which is not always an accurate predictor of your total energy needs.
People who exercise more are going to have higher energy needs, and sedentary people will need lower than average calorie needs.
- Set calories as a percentage of your maintenance intake.
You estimate your maintenance calorie intake and then subtract a percentage from your maintenance. If you need 2,000 calories per day to maintain your body weight, and you slash your calorie intake by 20%, then you’d eat 400 calories less per day, or 1600 calories.
Here’s how we’re going to define the size of caloric deficits:
- Small: 15% below maintenance calories.
- Medium: 15-25% below maintenance calories.
- Large: 25% below maintenance calories.
This is generally the best way to set your calorie deficit.
I know it sounds all confusing, but it really isn’t. Creating a calorie deficit to lose weight just means eating fewer calories than your maintenance amount.
You can use the calorie counter here to find out how many calories you need for weight loss.
Also, make sure to track what you eat; there are tons of fitness apps where you can log your food intake that will also let you know how many calories you are consuming. My favorite application to track what I’m eating is MyFitnessPal.
Deciding which calorie deficit you should use to lose fat is not always easy. There are a lot of factors to consider, all of which depend on your goals, tolerances and preferences. A deficit that’s perfect for one person might be totally inappropriate for another. With a little planning and experimentation, however, you’ll find a deficit that works for you.
Simply put, a caloric deficit is the One Absolute Requirement for weight loss. It is a scientifically proven “secret” to losing fat and weight. Losing weight literally can’t happen any other way.
Featured image via Unsplash
