Eat chocolate and STILL lose weight?
It is possible! Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself.
You see, to lose weight you need to be eating in a calorie deficit. That means eating a bit less than your body needs to maintain where you are now.
Understanding what your “TDEE” is ‘Total daily energy Expenditure’ and reducing your calories a little.
To get your TDEE enter your info into this calculator HERE
Now you need to start tracking your diet. I use an app called MyFitness Pal. It's free and super easy to navigate.
You can work backwards starting from your chocolate. I have mine after dinner, 2 squares (20g) of Lindt 70% dark.
*I used to eat a block of dairy milk, easy! Now I can enjoy a few squares of chocolate and maintain my weight and so can all the Ellavate Clients.
Log your chocolate into your diary as a snack.
Now work backwards for the rest of the day entering the food you want to consume, staying within your calorie and macro targets, focusing on lean protein, lots of veggies 2 servings of fruit, legumes, nuts/seeds and low-fat dairy.
Make sure you hit your protein and fibre as a priority!
Keep your food choices as whole foods, minimally processed and things that will nourish your body, give you energy and make you feel good.
Be sure to track and monitor your progress weekly with photos, measurements and scales. And also ask yourself 3 questions.
Q1) How do I feel? Why do I feel like this?
Q2) Have I given good effort to the process? if not why not, what was holding me back?
Q3) What were my WINS this week?
For weight loss, counting calories is all you need. If you're in a caloric deficit, where your calories come from doesn't matter, you will still lose weight.
However, for fat loss, you need to be a bit smarter and consume sufficient protein to preserve muscle tissue.
For overall health, energy, and mood you need to be eating some of the good stuff too. That means fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.
Precision Nutrition has some great infographics on this here.
Now start tracking!