And what we eat has the biggest impact on our body composition.

If you’re over weight, it’s usually as a result of a small over consumption of calories over a long period of time. If you consume excess calories, your body stores that energy as fat, and we get bigger as a result…

You do not have to over eat by a lot for the impact to compound over time. The general rule of thumb is that 3500 calories = 1lb of fat. So by that maths you’d only need to over eat by 500 calories every day to put on a pound of fat a week!

Likewise, you don’t need to eat a lot under your caloric requirement to lose body fat over time either. That will also compound too, meaning the larger the deficit, the quicker the fat reduction, but the deficit needs to be consistent. That’s it. Continued calorie deficit = fat loss. The bigger the deficit, the quicker the weight loss. Simple?! Yes. Easy?! Well no! It’s not! Not in the world we live in! It’s why we need to find the balance between enough of a deficit to lose fat, but also not being over restrictive at the same time. Because let’s face it, life is for bloody living.

And that’s where I come in.  There are many ways and principles I work through with my clients in order to make a sustained calorie deficit easier.  The science is still the science – that doesn’t change – but it doesn’t necessarily mean that changing our diet and eating healthier is an ‘easy’ thing to do – at least not at first!

In summary, let’s not be scared of the word ‘diet’ – it’s just what we eat!  And if you need any help understanding what kind of calorie deficit and diet will work for you, please don’t hesitate to contact me, I’d love to help.

The post Calorie deficit explained and why we shouldn’t be scared of the word ‘diet’ appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.

I have personally employed some of these strategies to help me control my snacking and like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes…. I promise!  (And – spoiler alert – YOU CAN STILL HAVE SNACKS!!)

1. Drink water – staying hydrated is important to help you feel fuller for longer, so you are less likely to experience cravings.  It’s also really bloody good for you, so try and drink lots of water every single day, regardless of your snacking habits!  
2. Introduce a NEW RULE!  One snack per day. Limit it. Set yourself a rule. If you are serious about achieving your goals, you’ll understand why this is important!  If you are tempted by a snack after you’ve already had your daily allowance, save it for the next day.   You’ll probably enjoy it even MORE if you wait!  Delayed gratification!  
3. Only have it if you REALLY want it. Make it a ‘HELL YES!’ snack!  If there are biscuits in the office which you think are ok, but aren’t your favourite, just say NO!  Practice it!  Remind yourself that saying yes to the biscuits is like saying no achieving your goals.  Or flip it – saying NO to the crappy office biscuits is like saying YES to your goals!!  Get serious about it – nothing changes if nothing changes.  
4. Enjoy your snack as you eat it, take the time to savour every bite. This is important, let yourself enjoy it, guilt free, especially if you’ve factored it into your calorie intake (which I encourage you to do!)
5. Create a barrier or remove the stuff likely to tempt you. Don’t buy it, or if you do have it in the house, or move it somewhere else to interrupt the automatic habit of opening the snack cupboard (or your equivalent!).  Create a barrier, or do something which makes you pause before taking action.  

Hope this is helpful and you’re able to take some pointers away to help you take control.  Snacking isn’t ‘bad’, but having some strategies to implement will definitely help you achieve your weight loss goals!  Please let me know how you get on!

The post Don’t let snacking be your downfall! appeared first on Kaye Louise Fitness.