NUTRITION - Not seeing results with your diet? This is why!

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Summary - 

There is nothing more frustrating than feeling like you’re putting the hard work in, yet you’re still not seeing results. In this episode, I share the two things you need to know and understand if you’re serious about achieving fat loss or muscle gains. 

Things I Mention - 

  • Why knowing your numbers is a non-negotiable to achieve fat loss or muscle growth.

  • How to calculate your daily calorie intake to give you a greater chance at seeing results.

  • Why protein matters and how to calculate your daily protein minimum. 

  • How knowledge is power and ignorance is not bliss when it comes to nutrition. 

PLUS, I share my own method of tracking to ensure it doesn’t become controlling, addictive or time consuming. 

Links & Helpful Resources - 

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I want to start this episode by saying that your diet dictates your weight, exercise dictates your shape. Now just let that sink in for a moment … 

There is nothing more frustrating than putting in the time and effort exercising yet you’re not seeing results. There is a reason you’re not seeing results though and the reason is because you don’t know your numbers. What gets measured, gets managed and therefore can be improved. If your goal is fat loss or muscle gain than you need to know your numbers - there’s no ifs or buts or ways around it. 

So what am I talking about when I say your numbers?  Let’s chat about your TDEE first.

There are thousands of “diets” these days, all with their own list of pros and cons but what most people don’t realise is that they all have the exact same thing in common - they all put you into a calorie deficit. It doesn’t matter which diet you choose - low carb, low fat, high protein, vegan, intermittent fasting, weight watchers - they all work because they all put you into a calorie deficit.

To be able to put yourself into a calorie deficit though, you need to know your TDEE.

TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Your TDEE is the amount of energy/ calories that your body burns throughout the day. To maintain weight, you need to consume the same amount of calories to which you burn. To lose weight, you need to consume less calories to which you burn (otherwise known as a calorie deficit) and to gain muscle and/ or weight, you should consume more calories to which you burn. 

You can understand now why it’s so important to know what your own TDEE is so you have the best chance of successfully achieving your goals. 

To help you calculate your own TDEE, I’ve included a calorie calculator in the show notes for this episode. No calorie calculator is 100% accurate because it’s impossible to take into account everyone's physiology and activity levels but it’s a great place to start. From here, you’ll know your TDEE and so depending on your goals, you can decide whether you’ll need to consume either 10-15% less calories to achieve fat loss or consume 10-15% more to achieve muscle and/ or weight gain. 

The next number you need to know is your protein minimum. If you can’t tell me now what your TDEE or protein minimum is, then I can guarantee you won’t see fat loss or muscle gain results. 

Every person needs to consume a specific amount of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats. For the purpose of this episode, we’re going to focus on protein only because we can play around and alter the amount of carbohydrates and healthy fats we eat depending on whichever diet we choose to follow but we should always aim to hit our protein minimum every single day. What’s more, protein takes longer for the body to digest therefore has the added bonus of increasing the amount of calories you burn throughout the day too. 

The amount of protein you need to consume, depends on your weight. If you’re new to fitness or new to tracking your protein minimum, I’d recommend 1.5g of protein per kg of body weight. 

So if a woman weighs 65kgs, her protein minimum would sit around 100g therefore she needs to make sure she eats 100g of protein each day. 

To add to this, 1g of protein contains 4 calories. So having said this, let’s just say the same woman has calculated her TDEE and to lose body fat, she knows she needs to consume 1500 calories per day HOWEVER she also knows now that she needs to consume 100g of protein too.

If 1g of protein = 4 calories than 100g of protein = 400 calories. This means that out of the 1500 calories she should be eating per day to achieve fat loss, that 400 calories should be made up of protein. Now she has 1100 calories left to divide amongst carbohydrates and healthy fats and ideally 80% of those calories should be nutrient-dense foods (foods that we all know are good for us). The diet she decides to follow whether that be high carb/ low fat etc. doesn’t matter. 

There are lots of free tracking apps available. I’ve used My Fitness Pal, LifeSum and Easy Diet Diary - I do love Easy Diet Diary though because as the name suggests, it’s easy to use but My Fitness Pal does have the largest database of foods. If you’re wanting to achieve fat loss or gain muscle, your chances of achieving this goal will quadruple if you spend a few minutes tracking a few days worth of meals to ensure you are hitting your TDEE and protein minimum target. Knowledge is power and ignorance is not bliss when it comes to nutrition. Something so simple can be tweaked or changed but only if you’re aware of it. Some may argue that tracking your food takes too long but honestly I can promise you that you’ll spend more time on Instagram than you will tracking what foods you eat. 

Tracking calories or protein should not become obsessive. Personally, I don’t track my calories day to day but I know my TDEE and I know my protein minimum and depending on my goals throughout the year, I’ll track periodically to ensure I’m on track to achieving those goals. 

Over time, you’ll know roughly how many calories and the amount of protein a meal or snack might include. You’ll also know how many calories you need to maintain your weight but more importantly, you’ll know how to change this, if you’ve been living too much of the good life or you decide you’d like to gain muscle.

So to finish this episode, I want to leave you with this - The reason you’re not seeing results with your diet is because you don’t know your numbers. So get to know your numbers and from here, the aim of the game is to finish as close as possible per day to your TDEE and protein minimum amount. Stay consistent with this and you will see results. 

Elisha CasagrandeBrisbane Personal Trainer, Brisbane Health Coach, FEEL BE LOOK, Womens Confidence, Confidence, IIN Health Coach, Healthy Eating, TDEE, Protein Minimum, Womens Health, Diet, Calorie Deficit