Nutrition: Tips for Success

Original Post written by Beau Gardner, Certified Personal Trainer in Austin, TX

Losing or gaining weight is as simple as calories in vs calories out, or burning calories vs consuming them. If someone has gained substantial amounts of unwanted weight, it is because they have consistently consumed more calories than they are burning for an extended period of time. Contrastingly, someone who cannot gain the weight they desire isn’t eating enough calories to outpace their daily caloric expenditure.

A good way for someone to calculate roughly where their metabolism is at (or an estimate of their daily caloric expenditure), is to track calories for a 5-7 day span to get an idea of what you’re eating on a regular basis. There are fitness apps available to help you log your food intake and separate the calories into protein, fat, and carbs. MyFitnessPal is a great app that will give you the nutritional information for almost any type of food imaginable.

Once you diligently log a week’s worth of calorie intake, you can then see the average amount of calories you’re eating on a daily basis and strategize to decrease that number gradually. Seeing exactly what your diet is makes it simpler to make the necessary adjustments. These adjustments combined with a structured exercise plan is the only surefire way to get results. It will take some discipline and attentiveness, but you will thank yourself for putting in this extra effort.

Benefits of Low-Carb 

You have undoubtedly heard about the effectiveness of a low-carb diet for losing weight, and that is for good reason! Your body utilizes two main fuel sources for energy: glycogen (carbs) and fat. Since glycogen is the most readily accessible fuel source, your body burns through that before transitioning to fat burning. In the absence of glycogen, your body will have no other option than to utilize fat as fuel. This will make that fat-loss we all want come quicker!

Steps to Success

• Download MyFitnessPal (or other fitness app)

• Diligently track food intake for a week

• Find the mean for your calorie and macronutrient count

• Make a plan to decrease calorie intake by 200-500 per day

• Aim to make most of the calories you cut out from carbohydrates

• Stick to a well-structured workout plan that includes strength training

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Contact Beau today to schedule a risk-free personal training session.  If you are looking to lose weight, build muscle, or improve your overall quality of life, a RightFit Personal Trainer will help you set and achieve your health and fitness goals.