So why do you have the calories you are on?
All calorie budgets are made up of the amount of energy the body needs each day. It's has lots of factors. Age, weight, height, gender, activity level.
Everyone has a maintenance level which again is different for everyone. For this explanation, we will go with the standard 2000 calories to maintain.
1lb of fat is the equivalent of 3500 calories so to lose weight the new allowance will be 1500. If you then add in activity your allowance is higher as you will be burning more calories. If you had a whole day of no activity not even walking you would need to adjust your calories. (Just for that day down to your base loss calories of 1500)
Why is it important to eat your calories?
Your body needs fuel to burn. Your calorie allowance is based on all those factors. If you are too low then the body doesn't burn efficiently and you'll start to feel tired. The odd day of going low isn't bad especially if you are having a day over calories during the week but generally eating those calories is important for good health.
Also remember. To lose weight you need to reduce calories. This has been done for you. You've been given your personal allowance based on all those factors so going lower, although creating a calorie deficit it's too low. You may lose the first couple of weeks but it could then stop where your body isn't burning. Also when you go too low you have nowhere to go when you lose weight.
For example.
You are on 1700 calories.
You eat 1400 calories.
You lose weight ok but then you've lost weight and need to adjust. You reduce to 1600 but not making a difference. You go to 1500 and still not making a difference. Why? Cause you've been eating 1400 so you'd need to go even lower than that to lose weight. This then isn't sustainable plus you'll be creating too big a deficit again will stall your weight loss.
It is always worthwhile to have your calories checked by me at certain points. Age change, weight loss maintaining, activity levels change, height change. This will ensure you are on the best calories for you.
Also the calories you are given are based on your activity level. If you see them on the app as extra don't eat them. That's already been added for you. If you want to change this I can work it out for a sedentary lifestyle so you can still eat them or if you like seeing the bigger calorie allowance then you can separate the activity and food. Most do this. So it makes it easier to navigate. I can show you how to do this in the app if needed. Just ask.
I hope this makes sense. Basically in a nutshell. Eat your calories 💜
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