Weight loss and calorie deficit
Weight goal
One of the most impactful steps in a glow-up, for both men and women, is often weight loss, because excess body fat can quickly affect the silhouette, face, muscle definition and overall appearance.
What weight should you aim for?
For beginners, body weight (BW) can provide a useful reference: aim for approximately 5 to 10 kilograms less than your height in centimetres after subtracting 100 (BW -10 to -5). Exceeding this range while maintaining a low body-fat percentage generally requires more muscle mass.
Pounds and feet/inches are rounded. The BW calculation starts from height in centimetres.
This is not an absolute rule: build, muscle mass and body composition can change your ideal weight. BW -10 to -5 is simply a useful reference.
Calorie deficit
The golden rule: the calorie deficit
Understanding the calorie deficit
The calorie deficit is the basic principle of weight loss. It consists of consuming fewer calories than your body spends. For example, if your body spends about 2 200 kcal per day and that you consume it 1 800, you create a deficit of 400 kcal.
To lose weight, you need to maintain this deficit over time.
One gram of pure fat provides about 9 kcal, or close to 9,000 kcal per kilo. The adipose tissue also contains water and other components: it is often used about 7,700 kcal to estimate the energy of one kilo of fat tissue. Arronding at 7,000 kcal can help make a quick calculation, but this is not a fixed conversion rule for every kilo lost. With an average deficit of 500 kcal per day, we theoretically get about 0.45 kg of fat per week (3,500 - 7,700). In practice, weight loss and the composition of this loss are changing; water, glycogen and digestive content also vary the balance.
Calories your body uses each day
Your body uses energy even when you are not exercising: breathing, circulating blood, regulating temperature and maintaining tissues all require calories. This resting expenditure combines with your daily movement, digestion and physical activity to make up your total daily energy expenditure. The 2,200 kcal figure is an example: actual calorie needs differ from one person to another.
What deficit should you aim for?
To begin with, a deficit of around 300 to 500 kcal per day is generally a good starting point. It allows you to lose weight gradually without unduly reducing intakes.
However, we must not just reason day per day. The most important is the Average weekly.
For example, eating a little more on Saturday or Sunday is not necessarily a problem as long as your weekly calorie total remains consistent with your goal. Thinking in weekly terms makes it easier to include restaurant meals, outings or small deviations.
Learn to estimate your intake
Get used to weigh your carbohydrates and check the calories of the foods you consume. The aim is not to weigh everything indefinitely, but to learn to estimate your portions and intakes.
Over time, you will know about what you eat and can more easily respect your daily calorie target without having to constantly pull out the balance.
Physical activity and walking
7,000 steps a day
Walking is an excellent way to increase your daily calorie expenditure and to facilitate the creation of a calorie deficit, indispensable for weight loss.
Why 7,000 steps?
At around 7,000 daily steps, studies already observe substantial health benefits. For several outcomes, additional gains tend to slow afterwards, but more walking can still be beneficial. This slowdown refers to associations with health: calorie expenditure continues to rise with additional steps.
Illustrative estimate, not guaranteed calories: body weight, stride length, pace and terrain affect actual expenditure. Beyond 7,000 steps, additional steps still add to calorie expenditure.
Nutrition and habits
Meal frequency: choose what you can sustain
There is not really a universally better method for the number of meals. Two, three or four meals can work: to lose weight, Total calorie and regularity counts more than the frequency chosen.
Choose an organization compatible with your hunger, schedule and social life, in order to be able to maintain in the long term.
Protein needs for men and women
Protein requirements are calculated mainly according to the body weight, physical activity and target, and not just by sex. For a healthy adult, the general nutritional reference is: 0.83 g protein per kg body weight per dayFor both men and women. This corresponds for example to about 50 g per day at 60 kg and 66 g at 80 kg.
During weight loss combined with resistance training, needs may be higher to help preserve muscle mass. Spread protein across several meals and prioritise foods first: eggs, dairy, fish, meat, tofu, legumes or suitable alternatives.
Do not overcomplicate things at first
There are many other nutrition rules, such as the right time to consume carbohydrates. These elements can be useful, but they are secondary for a beginner.
First, understand and master one thing: eat slightly less calories than you do.
Once you master this principle, you can gradually optimise the rest of your diet.
Tips
Coffee and appetite
Coffee and its caffeine may temporarily reduce hunger for some people.
Music during exercise
Studies have shown that listening to music during exercise can improve sports performance.
Strength training and energy use at rest
A strength-training session generally does not burn a huge number of calories. It also helps build or preserve muscle: having more muscle allows your body to use a little more energy at rest.
Stairs and incline walking
Using a stair machine or walking on an inclined treadmill are excellent ways to increase your calorie expenditure.
Reminder: you cannot target fat loss
No exercise lets you choose where your body loses fat. Training your abdominal muscles strengthens them but does not cause targeted belly fat loss. Fat loss results from an overall energy deficit; where it happens depends partly on individual factors.
Make room for foods you enjoy
You do not have to ban refined sugar entirely. You can enjoy a sweet food if it fits your calorie target and this flexibility helps you sustain your eating plan over time.
Guide summary
- Weight loss is often one of the most impactful steps in a glow-up.
- Body Weight (BW): BW -10 to -5 is a general reference for setting a first goal.
- Aim for around a 300 to 500 kcal daily deficit and look at the weekly average.
- The best meal frequency is the one you can sustain.
