Your Lose Weight nutrition guide
With Cardio fuelled programs, I know what it takes to get you burning fat and losing weight.
But the food you eat is the other key to your weight loss journey, so you’ll need to back up that training expertise by getting serious about nutrition.
When you set your goal to Lose Weight, a meal plan is customised. Nutrition estimates are based on what is needed by the average active man or woman who is trying to lose weight. While this provides a structure and strong base for achieving your goals, you may need to adjust intake to suit your needs.
So why is nutrition key to losing weight?
If you want to lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than you expend.
You need adequate protein to minimise muscle loss.
It’s not just about what and how much you eat, but when you eat – to help you perform at your best and to fuel your recovery.
Read on to get your nutrition on track, and set your weight loss journey up for success.
Important: If you’re following all the advice in this guide and still not seeing results, or you are concerned about any other aspect of your nutrition, consult an accredited dietitian.
The Lose Weight meal plan
The Lose Weight meal plan is designed to deliver lower calories to create a calories deficit that will promote body-fat loss – but it’s not so low that you are constantly tired and lacking energy. You still need to be able to feel good and train at your best!
And it’s definitely not about depriving yourself. You can choose up to 2 snacks per day to enjoy between meals.
The daily calorie range for this goal (including snacks) is:
Women: approximately 1300–1400
Men: approximately 2300–2400
These figures are estimates only. Measure your own progress for best results.
Minimum Total Daily Calories Men 2300-2400 Women 1300-1400
Daily Macros (regular, pescatarian) Protein 30% Protein 40%
Fat 30 - 35% Fat 30%
Carbs 40% Carbs 30%
Daily Macros (vegetarian) Protein 15-30% Protein 25-40%
Fat 30-35% Fat 30%
Carbs 40-50% Carbs 35-45%
Daily Macros (vegan) Protein 15% Protein 25%
Fat 35% Fat 30%
Carbs 50% Carbs 45%
Breakfast 600 300
Lunch 600 300
Dinner 800 400
Snacks (2 per day) 300-400 calories 300-400 calories
(macros can be variable in this category)
Remember, everybody’s nutrition needs are different. Your requirements vary according to a range of factors including how hard and often you’re training, body composition and muscle mass, your age, size, metabolism, genetics, as well as your specific goals. It’s important that you monitor your own progress – as well as your hunger and energy levels – to ensure your nutrition needs are being met.
What about protein?
Keeping your protein intake up during weight loss is important to stave off muscle loss.
Consuming adequate protein will help to minimise muscle loss..and because muscle mass assists metabolism, you’re also promoting body-fat loss and fitness gains in the process.”
What if you’re vegetarian or vegan?
You can lose fat and maintain muscle on a plant-based diet, but it does require a little extra care and attention.
A high-quality vegan protein powder can be useful for ensuring you’re getting the right mix of amino acids at the right time, so you’ll often see this as an ingredient in smoothies and snacks.
These Choc Mint Energy Bites make the perfect post-workout snack for vegans and omnivores alike.
How to keep your weight loss on track
How quickly can you expect to lose weight? About 0.5-1kg of weight loss per week is a healthy goal for most people – trying to drop weight faster than this is often not sustainable and could leave you fatigued.
Remember, the scales are only one way to track your progress, and often don’t tell the full story.
Take pictures before starting, and as your journey progresses. Use a tape measure and keep an eye on how your clothes are fitting. (You may notice you need to tighten your belt before you see a big change on the scales.)
Having some goals not related to weight loss – like making it through workouts with fewer breaks or nailing a tricky exercise – will also help you to maintain a healthy attitude during your health and fitness journey.
Help, I’m not losing weight!
If you’re smashing workouts consistently and following your meal plan, but still not dropping weight, there could be a number of factors at play.
Stay consistent and wait it out. A few weeks of no weight loss doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve stopped losing it for good. Give it time.
Track your food intake for a week. Mindless snacking adds up, and we don’t always remember doing it. It could be that finishing off your kid’s sandwich or that ‘occasional’ handful of chips is happening more frequently than you think. In addition to recording what you eat, keeping track of when and why you are eating can be a helpful way to determine your triggers. For example, you might find yourself turning to the fridge more often when you’re stressed.
If you’re already at a healthy weight for your height, it may be time to reconsider your goal. Sometimes people think they want to lose weight when what they really want is to ‘tone up’ – i.e. grow lean muscle and change their body composition. You could consider switching your goal to get fit & toned, which will provide you with more calories to add definition.