Week One Example: 20-Something Male
So you made the effort to document everything you ate during the last seven days and estimated that things looked like this:
- Day 1 2,900 calories
- Day 2 3,350 calories
- Day 3 3,600 calories
- Day 4 3,400 calories
- Day 5 2,950 calories
- Day 6 3,900 calories (you had too much beer and/or nacho cheese)
- Day 7 3,100 calories
Your total estimated calories for this week comes to: 23,200. This yields an average of 3,314 calories per day.
Knowing this number, we now need to analyze what happened on the (dreaded) scale during the past week. Here’s how the carnage shook out:
- Day 1: 220 pounds
- Day 2: 219 pounds
- Day 3: 221 pounds
- Day 4: 222 pounds
- Day 5: 220 pounds
- Day 6: 221 pounds
- Day 7: 224 pounds
Over the course of the last seven days you’ve gained four pounds.
That Saturday night beer and nacho cheese-fest didn’t do your body wonders. Obviously, some of this gain is bloat, but the numbers we now have will still help us establish a starting point for your fat loss journey.
Remember, the magic comes from adjustments. We will cover how to make adjustments soon. Hang tight. Don’t get all worked up if this starting point seems a few hundred calories too high or low.
It’s step one.
Relax. Don’t panic. Here we go... During the past week you:
1) Ate 3,314 calories per day
2) Gained (about)4 pounds.
Using the adjustment chart presented earlier, we understand that you must subtract 600 calories from your daily intake to establish a starting point for your flex calorie diet.
3,314 calories - 600 calorie adjustment = 2,714 calories per day.
This is your starting point for your flex calorie diet. We’ll round it down to 2,700 calories per day. Life is easier when we round things other than our bellies.
Week One Example #2: 40-Something Female
Here we have a 42 year old professional female whose weight has slowly crept up to 180 pounds over the years. She’s unsatisfied with her life and health, and desperately wants to make a change.
Her week one calorie analysis shakes out to be:
• Day 1 1,900 calories
• Day 2 2,250 calories
• Day 3 1,550 calories (crazy work day no time to eat)
• Day 4 2,600 calories
• Day 5 2,650 calories
• Day 6 2,300 calories
• Day 7 2,250 calories
Your total estimated calories for this week comes to: 15,500. This yields an average of 2,214 calories per day.
Knowing this number, we now need to analyze what happened on the (dreaded) scale during the past week. Here’s how the carnage shook out:
• Day 1 180 pounds
• Day 2 180 pounds
• Day 3 181 pounds
• Day 4 178 pounds
• Day 5 179 pounds
• Day 6 180 pounds
• Day 7 180 pounds
Over the course of the last week your weight has remained the same. Great job. During the past week you:
3) Ate 2,214 calories per day
4) Gained no weight!
Using the adjustment chart presented earlier, we understand that you must subtract NO calories from your daily intake to establish a starting point for your flex calorie diet.
2,214 calories ZERO calorie adjustment = 2,214 calories per day.
This is your starting point for your flex calorie diet. We’ll round it down to 2,200 calories per day. Which brings us setting up your flex calorie diet…