The short answer is, no, you do not, but tracking your calories is a very useful tool for fat loss.
There is no one size fits all. We are all unique and we need to find what suits us best as an individual to reach our goals.
You may have heard us use the term Nutrition Coaching, this is because when it comes to fat loss it’s not as simple as handing someone a meal plan or suggesting a calorie and macro target.
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To change a persons nutritional intake for the better and for the longterm it takes a lot of coaching and educating. Yes we can hand someone a plan to help with short term results but it’s sustainability, enjoyment and long term results we should be in search off.
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So how do we know it’s time to start tracking our calories? If you are someone that hasn’t been aware of their nutrition intake or cared about food choices then there is so much that can be altered in order for you to make progress before counting calories.
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The following are some examples that we have touched on in other articles that you could start with:
- prepare more food at home rather than eating in the canteen
- have 1 takeaway a week instead of 3
- have a night out every second week rather than every week
- increase your fruit and vegetable intake
- remove any foods from your home that you tend to overeat
When it comes to fat loss we need to get in a calorie deficit, eating less calories than we currently are will help towards achieving that. We can still eat a high volume of food but by replacing certain foods with foods higher in nutritional value our overall calorie intake will be less. Did you ever hear someone say “I’m eating more than I ever did and I’m losing weight”, well they’re not, they are just eating less calories!
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It’s fairly common for a person to make plenty of progress through a change in nutrition habits but then plateauing. It may have happened you after using other certain nutritional strategies such as cutting food groups or following a “weight loss” plan. Basically what has happened is now that you are at a lower weight you also require less calories or more exercises to continue to progress.
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This is where tracking your calories can come in useful. By tracking your calories alongside of tracking your measurements you will soon be able to determine how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. This will then allow you to determine how many calories you need to further progress.
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Tracking your calories can be time consuming and a bit of a pain at the beginning, but the better we get at tracking the easier and more manageable it becomes.
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Also our actions must match our goals and that can mean sacrifices and discipline.
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