You Do The Maths - Say No To Useless Calories

A common goal among most of my clients is Body Fat Reduction or weight loss, and you have taken the first step in beginning a regular exercise program.

What you need to know is what you eat and how much you eat has a more significant effect on weight loss than exercise alone.

It is far easier to reduce consumption by 500 calories a day, than to burn off 500 calories a day with exercise.

One study, (funded by Curves, but peer-reviewed) found that replacing carbohydrate with protein, while keeping fat intake at recommended levels, (30% of daily calorie intake) has been shown to provide the largest decreases in waist circumference, body-mass & fat-mass.

Example: a 35 year old woman who is 160cms tall, weighing 120kgs has a BMI of 47 and is morbidly obese. This woman needs 1935 calories per day at rest, to maintain her body functions of breathing, heartbeat & temperature, without losing weight.

It really is all about the numbers; if you consume more calories than you use, you will gain weight and of course the composition of those calories is also a factor. The amount of calories your body needs to maintain it's current weigh is less than you think, so spend your calories wisely.

"Objective analysis shows that cuts in calorie consumption add up faster than increases in exercise. Studies show that a combination of smaller portions and changes in what we eat can easily add up to reduce calorie consumption by 500 daily, whereas burning an extra 500 calories daily can be a daunting target.

Exercise plus lower calories for women

In a study conducted at the University of Minnesota, moderate or substantial drops in dietary fat were linked to weight loss in overweight and obese men and women, regardless of how much they changed physical activity.

On average, these successful program participants decreased the number of high-fat foods they ate by five to ten servings a week. In women, even substantial increases in exercise were not enough to produce weight loss if they did not decrease fat consumption."

A Harvard study published in the New England Journal of Medicine stresses that any diet is useless if the calorie count is too high.

Spend your calories wisely, eat well and have more energy to live your great life!