So, you want to eat whatever you want and lose weight? Well my friend, you have come to the right place.
However, before we embark on this journey, we need to be upfront and honest with each other.
This journey does not involve any: magic pills, detoxing potions, dragons (I wish), white walkers, magical slimming belts, or any mumbo jumbo bull sh*t. It just requires discipline and you buying me a cannoli..maybe two.
I am going to be 100% honest. I truly want this article to help you and provide you with actual knowledge and strategies on how to eat what you want and still lose weight.
If you happen to have skipped my previous article, “The Beginner’s Guide To Weight Loss”, I suggest you start there and then come back to this article. Things will make a lot more sense. It’s like starting to watch Game of Thrones on Season 8 instead of Season 1..you’d just be lost..and miss out on 7 great seasons.
So, now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s make your dreams come true baby.
I’ll be Captain Obvious and guess if you are reading this article your goal is to lose weight/fat..fantastic.
I want you to remember the Golden Rule throughout the article:
The only way to lose weight/fat is to be in a caloric deficit.
This is extremely important because you will not be able to eat what you want and lose weight without following the golden rule.
What is a caloric deficit? Essentially, eating less calories than your body needs to maintain its weight.
Don’t know how many calories you should eat to lose fat? Start by multiplying your goal weight by 12 (this is just a baseline, more in depth on previous article).
Ex. Goal weight is 130 lbs, 12×130 = 1,560 calories
Now that you have your fat loss calorie intake calculated it is time to learn how to eat what you want and STILL lose weight.
Please insert dramatic noise..let’s talk strategy.
Calorie Reservation.
Calorie reservation is not an app on your phone, it is not a vacation resort, it simply is reserving a certain amount of calories to fit a meal you want to enjoy.
Example:
It’s pizza night, you have been craving this freakin delicious miracle food for weeks. You are afraid that eating pizza will make you fat (it won’t). You remember reading an article about how to lose weight and still eat foods that you like. You decide to reserve X amount of calories for the pizza.
1 slice of cheese pizza equals about 275 calories. Let’s say you eat 1,700 calories in a day. You want to eat 4 slices of pizza, 275 x4 = 1,100. Therefore, you reserve 1,100 calories to eat those 4 delicious slices of pizza. How?
Option 1) Spread out the remaining 600 calories throughout your day, with an emphasis on protein. Remember, protein helps keep you satiated, so you will be less likely to feel the urge to go over your 600 calories you allotted for yourself.
Option 2) Intermittent Fasting. Fast until pizza time. Let’s say pizza is at 5 or 6. You can save all of your 1,700 calories for your dinner. Allowing yourself more freedom to enjoy what you want at dinner besides your 4 slices of pizza. Utilize carbonated beverages such as seltzer water and diet soda to curb your hunger.
Example #2
It’s girl scout cookie season. The tactical and vindictive cookie salesman roams the land and your local grocery store. Their tagalongs, samoas, and thin mints haunt your dreams every year. You want to eat all the cookies. But how?
You work your day around the goods. It is possible to still eat these cookies, obviously, you need to have some will power because a box of girl scout cookies most likely won’t fit your calories. However, 5 or 6 just might.
So work your day around these cookies and practice calorie reservation. Plug in your cookies, then input your remaining food for the day in your calorie tracking app. Stay within your calories, aim to hit your protein goal and you’re good..seriously, that’s it.
That is how you can eat what you want and still lose weight.
Just remember the Golden Rule, “The only way to lose weight/fat is to be in a caloric deficit.”
Now, as I stated before, I want to be 100% honest with you. This technique requires discipline. Ironic because it allows for flexibility, however, if you cannot control yourself then use caution.
If you love ice cream, but you know you can’t limit yourself to 1 cup, then it might be a matter of not having ice cream as often as you like. These types of foods are called Trigger Foods. Trigger foods are foods that may cause you to eat uncontrollably. Not to say you can never master these foods, but I recommend starting with food you exhibit great will power with. Once you establish self control habitually then try portioning your trigger foods.
Calorie Reservation has helped my clients incorporate more foods that some think are not possible having when dieting.
If you follow me on instagram @bodybyryanfitness, you will see that I often incorporate foods that I enjoy. And quite often I get the “you can’t have that, it’s bad for you”. L O L.
There is no “good” or “bad” food. There is just food. And every food has a calorie total. It is just a matter of portioning the right quantity of the food.
Imagine this: You are at an arcade. You have 10 tokens. Certain games require more tokens, some games require less. You can spend more tokens on one game or spread them around. However, just because one game requires more tokens..doesn’t mean you can’t play it. It just means you have less tokens to use on other games. The same thing goes for food and calories.
Dieting does not equal restriction. It just comes down to portion control.
And more importantly, if it’s a special event, whatever your definition of special is..just f*cking enjoy it. Don’t worry about counting calories or how much protein you should be eating. Just enjoy the moment, because, after all, what is all this for if we can’t enjoy the little things in life.
I truly hope this article helps.
If you have any questions please feel free to DM me on instagram @bodybyryanfitness or email me at [email protected]
Interested in 1:1 online health and wellness coaching? Email me @ [email protected]
Love you,
Your Coach,
Ry Ry
BodyByRyan