Changing the way you eat...is it a game changer?

No matter what you do, how healthy you think you eat, or how little you think you eat, or walk 10k+ steps a day, or how hard you train…..are you struggling to lose weight? Are you frustrated you aren't able to see the number on the scale go down even half a pound? Yeah, I know, that's exactly where I am!! I'm starting on this nutrition journey to find a different and better way to eat, and I want to share what I'm learning and take you along the journey!! A few pointers I learnt in the past few weeks…..

• Calorie deficit is important - that's what makes you lose weight!!
• If you're tracking calories at say 1350, your goal has to be under 1350 for the day. If you work out, and say burn 300 calories, that doesn't give you permission to eat 1650 calories!! (personal lesson learnt the HARD way and wondering why I wasn't dropping lbs!)
• This is THE most important part of tracking, otherwise you're not gonna see any different at all!
• Macros - Don't need to track everything. Start small first and track how many calories you're eating, how much protein you're eating, how much fiber you're eating (helps you stay full)
• Macros I started with: 1350 Calories, 120g Protein, 30g Fiber
• Start with this and see how it goes for you
• How do you know where to start? Well, a nutrition coach helped me with the basic, you could use ChatGPT or any other AI friends to get to this point too, based on your goals.
• Use an app like MyFitnessPal, NutrionX Track etc. to track your macros everyday. That's super important!!
• You might need to stair step your way into increasing protein intake, start a lil lower and build as you go. 
• Try to hit 15-20g every meal, that's a good ballpark number
• Always have a few go to foods that you know you can eat everyday to hit 50-60% of your goals everyday. For e.g. a Protein shake (30-40g), chicken (20-25g), Protein bar (20g), Greek yogurt (20g) etc. Rest of it, needs more planning based on what you like to eat!
• Sleep: 8-10 hours to rest otherwise body doesn't recover
• Movement - 10k+ steps a day and 2-3 days of strength training
• The more protein we eat, it calories your body burns, just burning what you're eating
• We burn more calories by just existing and running bodily functions, not necessarily with extensive workouts.
• Consistency is key - Find a rhythm and what works for you and stick to it. 
• Tracking macros strictly for weekdays and letting yourself loose over the weekend to eat whatever you want is not a good strategy (personal lesson learnt the HARD way)!
• You don't have to kill yourself (maybe, I dunno yet!) but as you keep tracking you will find what works for you, what doesn't, what and how much you need to eat etc.
• Stay away from alcohol (preferably). Keep it to maybe one to two drinks in 2-3 weeks. It takes about 3-4 days to flush everything out of your system and you don't functional at your optimal in this condition.
• Movement
• 10k+ steps a day has several benefits! The consistency of daily walking is more important than achieving the exact number on one day because the benefits add up over time.
• If you don't already, add two strength training workouts a week. Exercises like Pilates are good for your joints but don't build strength. 
• How does Indian food fit into all this? Good question!! I'm working on it and trying to figure it out! Will share my gyan as I learn more :)

Long story short…..what's hindering you might just be the nutrition part, making some tweaks right away could be a game changer! I lost 2.5lbs in the first 10 days of tracking, despite me slacking at least half the days where I didn't hit my goals! I'm starting to see the power of this approach and am excited to find out what it does for me!