You want change. Simple as that. The “hard” part is developing that change. I say “hard” because the difficulty of any task is relative to the individual. It would be only as hard as you make it, but reaching your goal will require work. You will need to put in the time, energy, and effort if you want to see change. But, where do you start?

In order to lose weight or fat you must be in a Calorie Deficit, meaning you are eating under your Maintenance Limit. In order to gain weight or add muscle you need to be in a Calorie Surplus, meaning you are eating over your Maintenance Limit. When you eat under your limit, you are burning more calories than you consume. When you eat over your limit you are consuming more calories than you burn. Remember that! People either have the goal of losing fat or gaining muscle and it takes calories to achieve either goal.

“What’s my maintenance limit then?”, you may ask.

Figuring out your calories should be the first thing you do when starting to seek results. I use to think that working out was the only way to build muscle or lose fat, I was wrong, and because of that I learned my lesson.

The best way to figure out your calories is to use an Online Calorie Calculator. (I suggest/use this website, click here)

If using the website I provided, you will insert some information and below it will give you a Maintenance number. That number means if you want to maintain how you look, that’s how many calories you need to do so. If you are seeking results, I’m going to assume you either want to lose fat or gain muscle and not stay the same. Do you remember how to do that?

If your Maintenance number came out to 2,500 calories and you wanted to lose fat, what would you do? That’s right, decrease that amount since you want to eat under it.

If your Maintenance number came out to 2,500 and you wanted to gain muscle, what would you do? That’s right, increase the amount since you want to eat over it.

How do you know how much to increase or decrease?

That’s a great question, because believe it or not, adding or subtracting the wrong amount will lead to fat gain no matter what. So what is the perfect amount? Personally, I believe it’s better to be safe than sorry and start with adding or subtracting 200 calories, then go from there. *Anything above 350 would be pushing it. Trust me, changing even 1/4 of your nutrition will create results, so 200 calories is a great starting point!

How will I know when I need to change my calories? (read here)

It gets a little deeper.

Let’s say your Maintenance number came out to 2,500 and you wanted to lose weight, what would the number now be? That’s right 2,300 calories. But, where do those calories come from? What makes up 2,300 calories? (read here)

GREAT! You now understand:

-that you have a certain limit you need to eat in order to lose fat or build muscle

-when and why to increase or decrease calories

-what makes up calories and how to do the math

What do you do with these numbers?

You TRACK them everyday!

I suggest downloading an app that allows you to track your calories. Input what you eat everyday so you know where you stand with calories. Tracking your calories is just as important if not more than figuring out your calories. Knowing where you are at with your calories allows you to make any necessary changes.

Don’t know how to track calories (read here)

Recap: The only way to lose fat is to be in a Calorie Deficit. The only way to gain muscle is to be in a Calorie Surplus. In order to know which one you are in, you need to track your calories. You know to start off adding or subtracting 200 calories in the beginning If you used the website I provided, you should know how many calories you need and how much of each macronutrient make up that calorie amount. You are aware of what to eat and how to eat up to your limit

You have just learned some information that will help you get started! Any questions, feel free to ask!

Thank you!