LOW CALORIE DIET. For who?

How LOW is too low?

Well this all depends. You will hear it time and time again that calories are king OR calorie deficit is the key to fat loss. This my friend is very true.

Although, this deficit will carry from person to person.

Let us put some context to this:

• How tall are you?

• How much do you weigh?

• What is your job?

• How many days of the week do you train?

• What is your training regime?

• What gender are you?

All of the above matter a lot when it comes down to calculating your total daily intake and understanding what you deficit may be or should be.

A male who weights 100kg and is 190cm, who also lifts weights 5x per week and works as a plumber will hands down never see the 1000cal mark.

On the other hand - A female who is 50kg and stands at 150cm, who lifts 4x per weeks and works behind the desk as a receptionist may need to get herself down to 1000cal at some point to see some fat loss.

HOW LONG DO YOU NEED TO BE IN A LOW CALORIE DEFICIT FOR?

It depends. Baring in mind the above, being in a low calorie deficit (30-50% lower than your maintenance) can only be sustained for a certain period before health markers and physical effort deteriorates.

Here are our guidelines for fat loss with the sole goal of being "healthy lean" and not "stage lean":

• Identify your calorie maintenance

• How long you want to be dieting for?

• How much weight do you need to lose?

Now we can begin to put this into an equation:

• Ideally you want to be losing 0.5-1% of your bodyweight per week to MAXIMISE fat loss and MINIMISE muscle loss.

• 1% is recommended for people higher body fat or at the beginning of a fat loss phase

• 0.5% for a leaner individual or someone coming to end of a diet.

• Anywhere in between also works for a consistent pace for fat loss.

If you are losing more than 1% per week, INCREASE the food intake to ensure you don't tap into muscle for energy.

So if we have an individual who:

• Weighs 80kg and wants to lose 5kg

• If we use the range of 0.5% per week of weight loss that would = 400g/0.4kg

• The duration of this fat loss phase should be about 12.5 weeks.

5000g (5kg) / 400g = 12.5 (weeks)

FINAL POINTS

• As the weeks continue, the amount of calories that we ate to lose weight in week 1 will need to be reduced in week 6 to continue the fat loss process.

• As we diet and lose weight, we slow down our metabolic rate

(we simply burn less calories at rest and when moving)

We hope this assists in building your confidence with your nutrition and building a stronger foundation for your next fat loss journey.

Coach Moe