How do I get started with weight loss?
You’ve read the FAQ. So you know that the key is TDEE. But what do you do with it?
With TDEE, you have only one side of the equation. CICO, or Calories In, Calories Out, bases its effectiveness on lowering your intake below your output.
So, you’ve got your app (I use https://www.fatsecret.com) – now you need to count up all the food you eat, every day. Sounds like a pain, right? But get this – you can easily learn to eyeball your food in grams. That’s what the kitchen scale is there to help with.
Now, once you’ve put in all your food calories into the app for the day, use your preferred tracker from our Resources page and add the day’s calories in the appropriate field:
Make sure you also use your bathroom scale to put in your starting weight. Weigh yourself every morning naked, and after having used the toilet.
Do this for a week without setting any goals for yourself. Just measure so you can get a good data snapshot of what you’re doing currently.
Finally, once you start the next week, you’ll have a result for average TDEE for the previous week. The fat equation is simple: 7700 kcal = 1 kg of fat, so if you want to lose:
– 1 kg of body mass per week
– eat 1100 calories less than your TDEE every day (1100 kcal x 7 days = 7700 kcal)
– 0.5 kg of body mass per week
– eat 550 calories less than your TDEE every day
Boom! It’s easier said than done, but now you know exactly what steps to take to lose (or gain) weight – it’s a mathematical formula, nothing more.
But what about food types, carbs, fat, and protein? Should you do a Keto diet? Or maybe cook Mediterranean-style cuisine? What about the gym, should you lift weights or maybe enter the next half-marathon?
None of the above. All you need to do to lose mass initially is reduce your caloric intake.
Wait, what?
You can’t outrun your fork!
That’s right, you don’t need to lift a finger in order to get started losing weight. In fact, you just need to do less – specifically, eat and drink less calories. It doesn’t matter if you do it eating salad with no dressing and raw fish, or with junk food like Twinkies. You just have to fit within your target calorie goal below your TDEE.
Other common misconceptions:
1. Not counting juice, cola, or alcohol: Juice has around 40 kcal per 100ml, sugary soda has more. Alcohol (ethanol) itself carries caloric content, and it encourages snacking. Doesn’t mean you can’t have it! But it’ll be harder for you to stay within your target because it doesn’t fill you up like a big slice of turkey breast.
2. You need X/Y/Z ratio of carbs/fat/protein to succeed: no, you have to eat less than you “burn”.
3. You burn fat to get energy: not quite, you break down fat into carbon dioxide and water, and breaking the bonds gives you energy. But you’re not an atomic reactor 😀
So, just by eating less, you can reach your weight goals. This is a great first step to getting to balanced, sustainable health!