Disclaimer: I’m just sharing what worked for me.
I’m trying my best to make this as
healthy and sustainable for you.
How many calories do I need in a day?
First, you need to know how many calories you need in a day and eat less than that.
The amount of calories you burn everyday at rest (bed-bound, just blinking,
breathing, and existing) is called BMR. BMR + the amount of calories you burn doing
activities is called TDEE (I honestly don’t remember what they stand for). You can
think of TDEE as the amount of calories you need to take to maintain your current
body weight.
To know your TDEE, you can simply Google “TDEE calculator”, click on the first
result, then input your info there. Your TDEE is affected by different variables,
like your age, height, weight, and level of daily activity. These free calculators
online of course cannot count specifically your needs, but it’s a good start.
Now that you know your TDEE, you can multiply it by 0.85 (85%) to find your needed
daily calorie intake for weight loss. For example, my TDEE is 1,800 calories. If I
wanted to lose weight, I should eat 1,800 x 0.85 = 1,530 calories in a day.
How do I track my calories?
You need a food scale and an app to track your calories. I used Lifesum; it has
some paid features but the free version is good enough. It’s pretty straightforward
and easy to use—just weigh the food you’re gonna eat and search it on the app.
If you’re eating out and don’t have access to a food scale, you can go to
[Link] to get an estimate of how much calories there is in your
food. If you’re not sure about the number, input it a little bit higher in the app.
Weigh and track everything before you eat. Do not eyeball the calories unless
you’ve been doing this for years. Chances are, you’re gonna underestimate them.
You’re gonna learn that a lot of foods have higher calories than you think. 100-200
calorie difference matters when you’re in a deficit.
What should I eat?
Well, technically, you can eat literally anything and still lose weight, as long as
you don’t exceed your daily calorie limit. You can have nasi padang, cakes, pizza,
and all kind of deep fried and greasy food and still lose weight, just as long as
you stay within your calorie limit. How do I do that? Aren’t those foods really
high in calories?
The answer is portion control. You can have a little bit of anything, don’t have to
eliminate any of your favorite food/animals.
However, since the foods I mentioned above, and most of the food sold outside, are
high in calories, you can only eat very little of them and most of the time, you
will still feel hungry after that.
So, to make sure you’re not starving, choose foods that are high in volume low in
calories. Most fruits and vegetables and bubbles are like that that you’re gonna
get full before you can overeat them. How food is processed also matters. For
example, you can have ayam bakar for 230 calories instead of ayam goreng tepung for
470 calories.
Can I really eat anything at all and still lose weight?
The short answer is yes, but it’s unhealthy and not sustainable. You must also
remember that it matters not only how much (or little) you eat, but also what you
eat. Eating only carbs and sugar is far from ideal even if you stay within your
calorie limit (and most of the time, the easiest options available are meals high
in carbs and sugar). Yes, you will still lose weight, but you will also lose your
muscles and become skinny-fat, where you have a low body weight but high body fat.
You will also feel faint and lose focus easily, before you soon hit a plateau, that
is when your body is adjusted to your new calorie levels and stop losing weight.
That’s why it’s important to track your macronutrients as well. Macronutrients
(macros for short) are the food components that our body needs, they are
carbohydrate, protein, and fat. The Lifesum app also helps you track your macros,
so it’s pretty convenient. If you aim to lose not only weight but also body fat,
you need to watch your daily fat intake.
How do I stop thinking about food and control my cravings?
When you’re in a calorie deficit, especially for the first time, I’m not gonna lie,
you’re gonna be hungry. The knowledge of what your body needs and doesn’t need
helps, but it’s not always gonna be easy.
To help dealing with that, you need to be more mindful when you’re eating—eat more
slowly, be more present and actually enjoy your meal. You can drink a glass of
water before your meal. It helps you not to overeat. It’s actually also good to
stop eating before you’re feeling full. One thought that really helped me was to
eat to stop being hungry, not to feel full. Our body takes twenty minutes after a
meal to process the fullness, so even if you’re not full after you eat, it’s okay,
just wait and you will be. You will feel more comfortable too compared to when you
eat until you’re full.
Everytime you think of eating or crave something, take a pause and don’t
immediately act on it. Is it actual physical hunger, or are you just bored? Try
distracting yourself with other activities (especially that requires you getting up
and moving) for 10-15 minutes, and the craving intensity will subdue. However, if
you really, really want, let’s say, cheesecake, go for it. Remember portion
control? You can have a small bit and tell yourself that it’s enough. Just stay
within your calorie limit.
Remind yourself that when you’re hungry, it’s actually good because it means that
your body is entering the ketosis state. A ketosis state is when your body “eats
itself” because there is no carbs in the body to burn, so it burns the fats stored
in the body.
How long is it gonna take?
The healthy weight loss is about 0.5-1kg per week. Can you lose more than 1kg in a
week? Yes, especially when you’re doing it for the first time,but you really should
not do it because:
1. It’s not sustainable. As it is mentioned before, you’re gonna lose
muscle and hit plateau soon,
2. Your body is going to “panic” because it’s suddenly deprived of food,
so it’s going to adapt by slowing down the metabolism, which results in number 3,
3. You’re gonna gain weight easily. Your body is always gonna keep
adjusting to your calorie intake level, so the more you cut, the lower your
maintenance calorie will be (meaning you have to eat very little to stay in your
current weight).
You should increase your calorie intake if you lose more than 1 kg a week. Be
patient and give yourself time. Time will pass anyway, so might a s well give
meaning to it.
General Tips
1. Eat enough protein. Your body stays full for longer when you do
2. Use smaller plates
3. Read nutrition facts labels on packagings and eat what you need. Do not
eat directly from the packaging because it’s easier to overeat that way
4. Remember that food isn’t going anywhere. If you don’t eat it now, it’s
still going to be there later
5. Green tea helps with cravings and controlling fat absorption
6. Eat more slowly. Put down your utensils or food while chewing helps
7. Minimize or avoid liquid calories. A glass of sweet tea can have about
100 calories and some of sweet drinks can have up to 500 calories
8. Cut down the “additional” part of a meal rather than the actual meal.
For example, you can have a whole portion of 10 tusuk sate ayam with less calories
by using less of the peanut sauce
9. Bodies fluctuate all the time. You weigh differently throughout the
day, so pick a day and a time in a week where you weigh yourself to track your
progress
10. Don’t be so hard on yourself and make extreme changes. Think of it as a
change in lifestyle rather than something you’re gonna do for a while. Make changes
and adjustments that you wouldn’t mind doing if you had to do it your whole life