Why Eating Less Isn’t the Answer and What to do Instead

Traditional diets fail for a lot of reasons; too many food restrictions, arbitrary rules, but one of the biggest reasons that most dieters fail (even macro counters) is because their pre-determined caloric intake is far too low. 

We’ve seen it time and time again. Clients come to us eating too few calories, exercising 6 to even 7 days a week with results majorly lacking. Why? Because your body cannot sustain itself optimally for an extended period of time without adequate fuel. So what ends up happening? A vicious cycle of “severe calorie restriction; under eating, followed by big calorie surplus = overeating.” 

As you can see here, the typical dieter’s weekly caloric average actually puts them into a calorie surplus.

What should you do instead?

1. Track your food intake for 3 to 5 days to discover how many calories you typically average. This number will be very unique to you and will give you your best shot at sustainable fat loss when you determine how many calories you should be eating for fat loss.
2. Get your calories into a healthy range for fat loss. When calculating and adjusting macros we use body weight multiplier (BWM).

Body weight x BWM = overall calories

Example: 125 X 13= 1625 

BWM= 13

*If client is obese, BWM should be calculated by goal body weight.

Example:  Actual body weight: 300 X 10= 3,000 (overall caloric intake too high)

Instead: Goal body weight: 180 X 10= 1,800

Healthy Body weight multipliers can range anywhere from 10 to 13 for the non-exerciser all the way to upwards of 20 for the super metabolism.  *If you have over 30+ pounds to lose, run this formula off of goal body weight.

The higher your typical calorie average, the higher your Body weight multiplier can be and the more food freedom and flexibility you can have, but keep in mind regardless of how high, macro ratios have to be balanced and proportional to yield results.   No macro count, no matter how high, will enable you to eat 5,000 calories in pizza. 

3. Eat Macro Balanced.  Set your protein anywhere between .8 to 1.1 grams per pound of body weight (goal body weight if you’ve got 30+ pounds to lose). Set your fats between 29 and 35% of total caloric intake. Have carbs make up the rest.

Our bodies THRIVE on consistency. Eating more balanced day to day is not only going to yield you the body composition you’re looking for but will lead to better sleep, better performance in the gym, higher sex drive, healthy hunger, and more energy.