After 15 years of working in the fitness industry, I have seem a whole stack of "miracle diets", exercise programs and supplements that offer the "secret" formula to weight loss. When, at the end of the day it all comes down to a very simple fact... And that is, Calorie deficit...
So what do this mean? Well, in layman terms everything that you consume on a daily basis adds an energy value into our system. We note that energy value as calories, or Kcal to be exact. To maintain a stable weight, the energy we put into our bodies must utilised on a daily basis. In essence the energy we put in must be the same or less than the energy we use by normal bodily functions and physical activity.
If the energy we put in less that the energy being used by our system we find ourselves in a calorie deficit.
Now, the big question is why is this important to weight management and weight loss? Well it's pretty simple actually... If we find ourselves in a calorie surplus - more calories in, than out - our bodies have no choice but to store those calories, and yes you guessed it, it stores the excess as fat. The opposite takes place when we find ourselves in calories deficit, where I body needs to make up the calorie requirement somewhere and hence starts working through our local fat stores for energy. This in turn results in our weight coming down and hopefully through daily calorie deficit staying under control.
It is quite important to understand that a healthy calorie deficit is knocking off 5-10% of your daily calorie requirement. Knocking off to many calories can have the opposite effect, where you force the body into starvation mode and it starts to store everything you give it. So, it's quite important to find out what works for you.
Another way to ensure that you maintain a daily calorie deficit is by putting in at least an hour of moderate to vigourous exercise on a daily basis. Simple science, the more you move, the more calories you burn.
I hope this helps! Have an amazing week everyone!
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