Hey Fitstudios Fam! Coach Shannon here with some tips and tricks that helped me manage my food intake while in a calorie deficit.

A calorie deficit, also known as “cutting”, is consuming fewer calories relative to the number of calories needed for the maintenance of your current body weight. With summer quickly approaching, many people are looking to start losing weight and excess body fat to achieve that lean and toned look. Besides the training aspect diet is a HUGE factor in dropping that excess body fat. Here are some tips and tricks that helped me stay on top of my cut:

Track EVERYTHING. MyFitnessPal will be your best friend. Although it may be annoying, tracking your food will help as you are able to determine how much or how little you are eating, and can adjust calories based on that.
Plan and prep your meals. At the start of the day, I add all my meals into MyFitnessPal for the day. This helped me stay on track and eat within my calorie range.
Eat similar foods every day. This helps you become familiar with portion sizes and makes it easy to plan.
Prioritize protein. Protein is super important in muscle building and fat loss. Make sure you eat protein with every meal as it helps keep you feeling full longer so you won’t go off and snack after your main meal.
Find healthy alternatives for food you love. I am a chip girl, I love chips! I have been eating popcorn instead of chips lately as it is lower calorie and still helps with my cravings.
After you finish eating your last meal of the day, go upstairs brush your teeth, or take a shower. This will help you get out of the kitchen to avoid snacking later on. Because who wants to eat after they brush their teeth?? These tips and tricks helped me so much navigating my first real “cut” and I hope they can help some of you too! Thanks for reading and I am excited to hear about your journey!

This post was written by Coach Shannon.