Join Bianca as she discusses how you should approach your diet for weight loss, in episode seven of the Fit Not Fad podcast.

Calculate Your Daily Caloric Expenditure Here

Bianca Grover: Hi and welcome to episode seven of the Fit Not Fad podcast. In this episode we will be discussing the impact of your diet on weight loss. This will include how much you should eat, foods you should eat, foods you should stay away from, how to avoid overeating and reverse dieting. 

A reminder that this is not a medical podcast and I am not a doctor. Before making any drastic changes to your diet, consult your physician.

To start off, it is important to understand the concept of caloric intake and caloric deficit.

How much should I eat in a day?

Your body requires and burns a certain amount of calories every day. Most of these are burned by your resting metabolism and others may be burned through physical activity. Your resting metabolism is how many calories your body burns to function. If you are looking to improve this metabolism, you should listen to my previous podcast on Building Muscle. 

The amount of calories you eat in a day, is called your caloric intake. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you are eating. Pretty simple.This is called being in a caloric deficit.

A healthy caloric deficit is between 100 and 500 calories below your caloric intake. A consistent caloric deficit within this range is a key component to weight loss. Dropping below this range can damage your metabolism, cause fatigue and headaches and lead to extreme hunger or nausea. 

In order to stay within a healthy range for your caloric deficit, you must understand two things. 

1. How many calories you are eating in a day; 

2. And how many calories you burn in a day - Also known as your daily caloric expenditure.

Both of these numbers will change from day-to-day and from person-to-person.

Measuring Caloric Intake 

You can measure your caloric intake by reading the nutritional labels of your food to count and calculate the amount of calories you are eating. This may seem daunting, but this is one of the most accurate ways to determine your caloric intake.

The MyFitnessPal app created by Under Armour is a great resource for this. It scans the barcodes on your food and keeps track for you. 

Calculating Your Daily Caloric Expenditure  

To calculate how many calories you burn in a day, we are going to look at the basal metabolic rate, the thermic effect of food, the calories your body burns through non-exercise activity and calories burned through activity. 

The basal metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the number of calories burned daily to simply stay alive, not including physical activity, digestion or moving.

The thermic effect of food (TEF) refers to the energy we spend digesting the food we eat. This accounts for about 10% of your daily caloric expenditure. It is important to know that protein takes more energy to break down and process. Eating a high protein diet will in fact result in more calories being burned.

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) refers to the calories we expend through activities of daily living such as doing dishes, walking the dog, moving from one chair to another. This is not exercise.

Physical activity expenditure (TEA) refers to the amount of calories we burn through intentional exercising such as cardio, resistance training.

Total Daily Energy Expenditure = BMR+TEF+NEAT+TEA

We add all of these numbers up, and that gives us the daily expenditure. If you are looking to calculate this, I have placed a link below this podcast. 

If you have - or intend on buying - a smart watch, most calculate your daily expenditure and do a pretty good job. 

Simply subtract your Daily Caloric Expenditure and your daily caloric intake, and you get the caloric deficit.

Portion Your Food

If this method is a little too much for you, you can rely on your hand. Your hand can be used as a measuring tool for portion sizes. This is an easier method, that provides loose guidance. This method varies between males and females.

For Males (Every Meal)

• Two palms of lean proteins

• Two fists of vegetables

• Two cupped hands of carbs

• Two thumbs of fats

For Females (Every Meal)

• One palm of lean proteins

• One fist of vegetables

• One cupped hand of carbs

• One thumb of fats

Foods to Include in Your Diet

There are certain foods out there that simply do more for you. Whether they are nutrient rich or minimally-processed, here are some examples.

Here are some foods that are good sources of protein:

• Eggs or egg whites

• Chicken

• Duck breast

• Pork

• Lamb

• Turkey

• Fish

Here are some foods that are good sources of carbs:

• Beans or lentils 

• Plain Kefir

• Quinoa

• Farro

• Potatoes

• Whole grain, black or wild rice

• Steel cut and rolled oats

• Fresh or frozen fruit

Here are some foods that are good sources of healthy fats:

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Egg yolks

• Avocado

• Chia, flax, pumpkin or sesame seads

• Cashews peanuts or almonds

• Olives

• Fresh coconut 

Foods to Avoid

There are certain foods out there that do more harm than good. Whether they are loaded with junk or over-processed, here are some examples.

Here are some foods that are not a valuable source of protein:

• Fried meats

• Protein bars

• Processed deli meats

• Sausage

• High-mercury fish

Here are some foods that are not a valuable source of carbs:

• Cereal bars

• Flavored milk

• Fruit juices or soda

• Fries or chips

• Pastries

• Pretzels

Here are some foods that are not a valuable source of fats:

• Butter

• Corn oil

• Canola oil

• Processed cheese

• Dressings

• Vegetable oil

• Bacon

Reverse Dieting

It is important to keep in mind that having a restricted diet and frequent caloric deficits can sometimes - but not always - lead to feelings of exhaustion and hunger. When this happens, I might recommend reverse dieting.

Reverse dieting is the process of gradually increasing the amount of calories you are consuming, in order to promote long-term weight maintenance. This can restore those drained energy levels and help fight off the hunger. 

This method calls for small increases, which depend on the individual, but can be somewhere around 50 to 70 calories at a time. This helps to strengthen a potentially damaged metabolism without forcing the individual to gain large amounts of weight.

It may seem counterintuitive, but eating more can help you lose weight when done right. 

I hope you enjoyed this episode and that this information was useful to you. If you did, and if it was, please share this with a friend, family member or on your social media. Until next episode, thanks for tuning in and be mindful of what is on the end of your fork.