Are you on track with your fitness and nutrition? Or do you not know quite where to start? If you’re already working out, then your results, or lack of them, is usually mostly due to your eating habits…

 

Let’s start with the basics…

One of the most important tools you can have on a daily basis to control your weight loss efforts is KNOWING how many calories YOU specifically should be eating daily in order to shed fat and gain or maintain muscle.

I’ve found freedieting.com has one of the most accurate daily calorie needs calculators (look to the left-hand column). I would recommend going to that site and following the “fat loss” number every day and then doing the workouts each week that you’ve told the calculator you plan to do. Do what works for you, but I personally don’t add calories back in or subtract calories based on what I burned while working out… for one, calories consumed and calories burned are all just ballpark estimates anyway. Don’t get caught up in counting right down to each and every calorie. I round up and make estimates. In my opinion, awareness is what’s important – be careful not to obsess over numbers (especially NOT the number on the scale!). And secondly, that’s a lot of math throughout your day and the calorie range on freedieting.com is ALREADY factoring in the number of workouts per week and intensity you entered.

The next step is being able to track your calorie intake daily EASILY. Calorie counting can be monotonous and boring/annoying. You don’t have to do it for life, but it’s something to consider doing for a few weeks until you have a better awareness of what and how much you’re consuming daily. One way to track is through the MYFITNESSPAL app on your phone or creating an account online at www.myfitnesspal.com. Once you have your recommended calorie intake from freedieting.com, you can easily insert your calorie goal on myfitnesspal and be tracking your calories in no time 🙂

Calorie counting is obviously not the only piece to the puzzle when it comes to successful fat loss. Eating CLEAN and the right amount of protein, fats, carbs, water, and SLEEP are all key factors as well, but if you’re eating healthy then too many or too little calories can be one of the BIGGEST culprits if you’re not seeing results. Keep in mind I am not a nutritionist, so these are just suggestions. I am not at liberty to “prescribe” a specific amount of calories one should have in a day.

Want more tips to help you stay on track? Head on over to my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/kimberly.ough) and we can connect over there! I would love to help in any way I can!