By Raquel Sbrana (Registered Exercise Professional Level 2/Cert IV Fitness/Group Exercise/Boxing & Kickboxing)

Fruit & Vegetables

DAILY CALORIE LIMITS

I’m sure you have all heard of calorie expenditure, and are aware of the “eat less calories than what you need for energy each day to lose weight” rule of thumb. That’s all well and good, but how do I know what that is? As a general rule, personal trainers like to use the following:

Women should aim to eat as close to 1,200 calories per day as possible to lose weight.

Men should aim to eat as close to 1500 calories per day as possible to lose weight.

CAN I EAT LESS CALORIES & GET SKINNY FAST?

Just like your car, your body needs fuel. When you don’t fill up your car it inevitably stops. By starving your body of fuel, you may not stop, but you will not be running as well as you should. Make sensible choices, and eat well. Couple this with exercise and you will see results.

TIPS TO MAKE BETTER CHOICES

  1. Check your food for ingredients labels. If you don’t know half of the contents, should you really be eating it?
  2. Just because it sounds healthy doesn’t mean that it is. Check your food for nutritional value labels and Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) percentages. They are there to help you plan and monitor your daily food consumption.
  3. Chose low Glycemic Index (G.I.) foods rather than high G.I. foods. Put simply, low G.I. foods will give you sustained energy throughout the entire day, reducing the likelihood of snacking on unhealthy foods for a quick hit of energy.
  4. Don’t drink away your daily calorie allowance. Water will always be your best choice. If you need something other than water, think before you drink. For example, having your hot chocolate on skim milk rather than full cream milk can save you up to 100 calories per serve.
  5. Diet soft drinks do not equate to weight loss. Whilst they are a better alternative to standard soft drinks, they should only be consumed every now and then. Don’t be fooled into thinking that they can replace all the “not so good beverages” you used to consume. Be aware of smart marketing tools!
  6. Look at the “extras” and chose carefully. Adding a seemingly harmless condiment to your sandwich can dramatically change the calorie value. For instance, try low fat mayonnaise instead of your ranch dressing—you will save yourself a minimum of 110 calories, not to mention approximately 13.4 grams of fat.
  7. Energy deficit foods make great snacks. Foods like watermelon take more calories to digest than what they actually contain. In other words, to digest watermelon, the body needs to use stored calories in addition to the calories from the fruit.

Check out the single day diet following to see how small changes have big impacts on your calorie intake.

THE EXAMPLE DIET

THE 'NOT SO GREAT DIET' - SINGLE DAYCAL.THE IDEAL DIET - SINGLE DAY
CAL.
BREAKFASTBREAKFAST
Just Right - One Serve158Uncle Toby's Oats Sachet - Single Serve114
1 Cup of Full Cream Milk1601/2 Cup Skim Milk (as per directions)44
Cappuccino with Full Cream Milk165Cappuccino with Skim Milk96
MID MORNING SNACKMID MORNING SNACK
Banana99Apple54
Strawberry Yoghurt - Full Fat178Strawberry Yoghurt - Low Fat67
LUNCHLUNCH
2 x Sandwiches with White BreadOpen Chicken Sandwich
4 Slices of White Bread3321 Grilled Chicken Breast284
Ham1121 Slice of Brown Bread71
Cheese204Spinach5
Tomato16Tomato16
Butter72Beetroot26
600ml Coca Cola Soft Drink258Cottage Cheese34
Cucumber3
600ml Sparkling Water w/ Lemon Essence6
AFTERNOON SNACKAFTERNOON SNACK
2 x Scotch Finger Biscuits17612 x Raw Almonds84
DINNERDINNER
130g Baked Thigh Fillet230130g Baked Breast Fillet198
Mashed Potato2231 Small Whole Baked Sweet Potato52
Mixed Vegetables42Mixed Vegetables42
BEFORE BED DRINKBEFORE BED DRINK
Hot Chocolate on Skim Milk162Herbal Tea4
DAILY TOTAL CALORIE SPEND2,587DAILY TOTAL CALORIE SPEND1,200
WORK OFF THE EXTRA CALORIES =80min run at 9km/phCALORIES SAVED PER DAY =1,387
EATING LIKE THIS FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR =944,255EATING LIKE THIS FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR =438,000
CALORIES SAVED PER YEAR =506,255

Remember to drink 8+ glasses of water

Bowl of breakfast cerealFOOD COMPOSITION

When looking at your calories, you will notice that some foods have very similar calorie counts. Look closer! By reading the nutritional values on the packaging you will see that they really are very different.

Take this example:

Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes 30g, 119 calories per serve

Uncle Toby’s Rolled Oats (Microwave Sachets) 30g, 114 calories per serve

When you look a bit closer at the nutritional values you will see that one is a better choice than the other…

KELLOGGS CRUNCHY NUT CORN FLAKES (30G)NUTRITIONAL VALUESUNCLE TOBY'S QUICK SERVE ROLLED OAT SACHETS (30G)NUTRITIONAL VALUES
TOTAL FAT1gTOTAL FAT2g
TOTAL SATURATED FAT0.2gTOTAL SATURATED FAT0.5g
CHOLESTEROLNilCHOLESTEROLNil
SODIUM107mgSODIUM4mg
CARBOHYDRATE24.8gCARBOHYDRATE17g
SUGAR9.5gSUGAR0.3g
DIETARY FIBRE0.8gDIETARY FIBRE2.9g
PROTEIN2gPROTEIN3.8g

In this instance, go for the oats! They have less sugar, less sodium, less carbohydrate, more protein and dietary fibre. Whilst they contain slightly more fat than the Crunchy Nuts, you more than make up for this by reducing your intake of all the other nasties.

CHECK THIS OUT

To have a look at the calories you consume each day try www.calorieking.com.au. You might be surprised at how much you’re eating.

BEST ADVICE

For more precise, personalised dietary information we recommend you see a Dietitian. Health Mates has their own Dietitian, Rebecca Gawthorne, who can devise a healthy eating plan for you to follow.

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