ERF 133: Stop Bullying Yourself

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I talk about how you need to stop bullying yourself. 

Often times we are our own worst critic and wouldn’t speak to our mortal enemy the same way we speak to ourselves.

This podcast gives you an opportunity to hear my thoughts on why this is and what you can do to possibly start changing that. 

If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to leave a 5 star rating and review on iTunes as it means the world to me for those of you who do that.

Talk soon,

-E

How To Achieve Your Weight Loss New Years Resolution

how to achieve your weight loss New Years resolution

The new year is coming and the number one thing on your mind is how to achieve your weight loss New Years resolution.

It may be a cliche thing with the whole “new year new me” phrase and waiting until the new year to make some changes to your fitness and health, yet let’s face it, it is what people do.

I can sit here as a coach and scream from the top of my lungs all day that you don’t have to wait until January 1st to start making change.

The fact still remains something about the turn of a new year lights a spark in people to make a change and I don’t think that is a bad thing.

It is a bad thing if you use it as an excuse to totally binge in December or you quit a week into your resolution.

Yet it is never a bad thing to want to make a change no matter what time of year it is or what the initial motivation is.

This article I am going to lay out 5 important things you need to be looking at if you want to know how to achieve your weight loss new years resolution.

Each one has their own intricate part to it so be sure to read and understand them fully.

Let’s get you to not only make this change, but keep it forever.

How To Achieve Your Weight Loss New Years Resolution

5 Keys To Success

A lot of people make new years resolutions, that normally isn’t the hard part. The hard part is sticking to and keeping those resolutions.

It is great to have this motivation and drive to change but it has to be a change that lasts. People make fun of people for making new years resolutions, which truthfully I never understood because why put someone down for wanting to change?

Yet the fact remains most people think it is almost a joke because you see someone make a resolution to eat healthier and exercise, yet that same weekend they are drunk off eggnog and stuffing their face with pizza from their last Christmas party.

These 5 things I am about to give to you are things that can make sure you not only make a change but keep it forever.

  • Set Realistic Expectations
  • Have A Plan
  • Make A List Of Things You Want To Include
  • Create A Consistency Calendar
  • Get Accountability

Let’s dive into each one of them right now.

Set Realistic Expectations

how to achieve your weight loss New Years resolution

One of, if not the biggest mistake I see people make when talking about how to achieve your weight loss new years resolution is you don’t have realistic expectations.

Why are realistic expectations important when it comes to achieving a goal and seeing change? Let me tell you.

Let’s stay on the topic of weight loss.

Clearly you want to lose weight if you are reading this article. Let’s say you go into your weight loss journey thinking every single day you wake up you expect to see the scale go down. That is your expectation.

When that clearly does not happen because your weight is going to fluctuate up and down for so many reasons , when day 3 rolls around and your weight goes up you are going to freak the f*ck out.


You are going to get incredibly emotional and frustrated. The first thought that comes into your head is you are doing something wrong. You are going to look for reasons why you should quit and eventually you will quit. All because your expectation was you should or would lose weight every single day.

You may have actually already experienced this so this may be all too familiar to you.

Yet if you would have had realistic expectations from the beginning knowing that your weight will fluctuate and that is normal, when the scale went up on the third day you would not have flipped out and quit because you know it’s normal.


You were prepared for it mentally which allowed you to remain consistent, stick to your plan, and see progress long term.

This is one quick example of why having realistic expectations is so important.

I am going to break things down into two categories for expectations, goals and mindset.

Goals

If you want to know how to achieve your weight loss new years resolution, the first step is having realistic goals.


You are not going to lose 20 lbs in January. You are going going to lose 100 lbs by March. Sorry, it is not going to happen.

Not because you can’t, but because that isn’t healthy or sustainable. You will have to eat next to nothing, do hours of cardio, and hate your life. It is not fun.


Plus let’s say 3 weeks in you are “only” down 5 lbs, which by the way would be absolutely incredible progress.

If your expectation was to lose 20 lbs but you are only down 5 you are going to get wildly upset, unmotivated, and once again end up quitting.

All because you thought you were going to lose 20lbs in a month. Stop it. It is not smart and you are setting yourself up for failure.

If you want a weight loss number to aim for, aim for .5-1.5 lb per week on average of weight loss.

Notice I said on average. One week you may lose 2lbs and the next you may lose none. Over a span of two weeks your average weight loss is still 1lb per week, which is amazing progress.

Yet more importantly than a weight loss goal per week or per month is having a consistency goal. That will guarantee your weight loss much more.

We will talk about this a bit later on.

Mindset

Another key to success with your new years resolution is getting your mind right first.

You are heading into the new year therefore you are super motivated to make a change. That is probably why you are reading this article.

Yet what happens two weeks from now when you got no sleep because your kid kept you up, work is crazy busy, and all you want to do is lay on the couch watching Netflix and eating cookies?

You have to realize that you will not be motivated every single day. Sure you are right now but this feeling is going fade and get tested as each day passes.

Yet here is the thing, that is not a bad thing. That doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong. It does not mean you are lazy or “unmotivated”.

It simply means you are a human being. I am not motivated every single day to get up and workout or eat right.

Hell I wasn’t motivated to write this article before I started writing it.

The thing you have to realize is you will not be motivated every single day and that is okay. You still have to do what you are supposed to do even when you don’t feel like it.

Now that you have this expectation, when a day comes that you would much rather stay in bed than workout or eat out instead of cooking dinner because you aren’t motivated to stick to your plan, you will remember reading this.

You will know that it is okay to be unmotivated and there is nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is you not doing what you are supposed to doe just because you aren’t motivated to do it.

You cannot let your emotions dictate your actions. Keep pushing through even when you don’t want to and that is how you will create change.

Have A Plan

how to achieve your weight loss New Years resolution planning version

Thanks Eric, you are a real genius. Have a plan? Really?

Hear me out first. I cannot tell you how many people dm on instagram or tik tok on a regular basis saying “ I want to lose 30lbs!”.

My response is “great! How will you do that?!”.

I would say 8/10 times they have no clue how they will achieve this goal, they just have the goal.


Most people don’t ever get past the goal part. I mentioned earlier making the resolution is not the hard part most anyone can do that.

The hard part is not only sticking to the resolution but the only way you stick to that resolution is if you have a clearly drawn out plan of how you will achieve the goal.

How many calories will you eat? What will your workouts be? Who will you go to if you have questions during your plan?

I use this all the time with my online coaching clients and that is the metaphor of peeling back the onion.


One of my clients will say “ I need to increase my steps!”.

My answer to them is “Great, how?”.

Having the goal of increasing steps is a great one but how will you achieve that goal?

We take “I need to increase my steps” to “at 6am before work I will take my dog on a 5 minute walk, at 12:15pm after I eat my lunch I will work in a 30 minute walk, then after my workout at night I will take a 10 minute cool down walk”.

Now that is having a plan. That is how to achieve your weight loss new years resolution right there.

There is something important I want to touch on so you don’t miss it.

Setting Small, Attainable goals

In the plan above you saw how I would take one of my clients through creating a plan for their goals.

I want you to notice how I didn’t tell them “you have to go do an hour and a half on the treadmill every single day”.

First off what if they don’t have a treadmill? What if they live 15 minutes from the gym to get to a treadmill? That hour and a half session just turned into a two hour session including drive time.

That is not easy attainable nor is that something you can remain consistent with for a long period of time.

Yet taking a 5 minute walk in the morning is usually pretty attainable and something you can stick with for a long period of time wouldn’t you say?

Take a 30 minute walk at lunchtime is normally pretty attainable (it doesn’t have to be 30 minutes exact it could be 15 minutes).

Taking some time to cool down and walk after your workout is also fairly attainable and something most people enjoy doing anyway.


Point being we set small, attainable goals in our plan.

If you want to achieve your goals you need to set small and attainable ones. This will create consistency and momentum.

I would much rather you walk for 5 minutes 7 days a week than walk for 35 minutes one day a week.

Why? It is the same time period either way right?

Yes but doing something “smaller” 7 days a week builds greater consistency and habit making than doing something one time a week.

Too many people go into these resolutions trying to workout 7 days a week or cut out all of your sugar in your diet and quit frankly it is stupid.

It is not setting you up for success.

Focus on making and hitting smaller attainable goals in your plan and do that with 90% consistency. Watch at the results you see.

Make A List Of Things You Want To Include

If you google “how to achieve your weight loss new years resolution” the first hit that pops up is someone telling you to make a list of the things you want to cut out.

That is the sole reason I am including this in my 5 keys because that could not be more stupid.

At first glance you are thinking “well why? That sounds pretty normal to me”.

I agree, yet let me break it down for you.

Once you start making a list of the foods you “can’t” have or things you “can’t” do, you have already lost.

We are humans. The minute something is “off limits” or we can’t have it we automatically start wanting it that much more.

It is like when you tell your kid don’t touch anything in the store, they immediately start touching everything.

Therefore making a list of the things you want to cut out is already setting yourself up for failure.

You will not win this way.

What can you do instead?

Well the exact opposite, make a list of what you want to include in your resolution.

When you start cutting things out you are already in a subtraction or restriction mindset.

No one likes feeling restricted.


Rather when you add things in you go into an addition or abundance mindset. We as humans love that.

Let’s say you want to cut out eating sweets at night.

Instead of saying you are going to cut out eating sweets, start saying you are going to include 2 servings of vegetables at nighttime (notice the small and attainable goal by the way 😉 ).

What this does is if you have two huge servings of say spinach, broccoli, asparagus, or a salad, I can pretty much guarantee you aren’t going to be craving a bunch of sweets at night anymore.


If you still have them that is fine too because they aren’t off limits and you didn’t cut them out, you simply added something else in.

Through the process of adding in vegetables it will automatically force you to cut back on the eating of the sweets at night.

If you want to stop snacking during work, add in one protein shake at lunch time.

The protein will fill you up and cause you to eat less. Again, not because you cut out snacking but because you added in the protein shake.

Start including more things that can benefit you and watch how the things that aren’t benefitting you magically become less and less apparent.

Create A Consistency Calendar

how to achieve your weight loss New Years resolution

Full disclosure before I dive into this point, I got this idea from a mentor and friend of mine Jordan Syatt. He is the first person I saw talk about creating a consistency calendar. You can check out his website here.

With that being said this is one of the best things I believe can help people truly make a change in their life.

I talked earlier about setting a weight loss goal per week or per month and how that wasn’t really the most optimal way of going about it.


I am going to explain why.

You can’t control the scale. The scale is going to fluctuate, sometimes even when you are perfect it won’t go down, it will go up when you have more salt, many different reasons.


What can you control? Your actions. How consistent you are to your plan.

I would much rather make a goal of and focus on hitting your calories and workouts with 90% consistency as opposed to just looking at losing 1lb per week.

Why? Number one you are going to see better results. I can assure you if you are 90%+ consistent to your plan your are going to see all of the weight loss results you could ever want.


Not from magic but simply because you are actually following your plan.


Number two is for what I just mentioned, you can control how consistent you are. It takes your mind off of the scale and puts it on something that is in your total control.

What the consistency calendar is is simply that, tracking your consistency.

Go get a calendar. Yes a real physical calendar not on your phone.

For everyday you hit your calories and workout give yourself a green check mark.


For everyday you do not hit your calories give yourself a black O.

Don’t complicate it, keep it simple.


What this does is day by day, week by week, it keeps you accountable first and foremost.

Second there is something about giving yourself that green check mark in the morning when you hit your calories that is so damn satisfying knowing that you hit your goals.

Third it allows you to see if you are being consistent or not over a span of weeks and a month.

If you are seeing more black O’s than green check marks, well then you can’t really be surprised or upset if and when you aren’t seeing progress.

If you are seeing a sea of green check marks, not only will that motivate the hell out of you, but I can assure you that is going to lead to you seeing all of the weight loss progress you could ever want.

This works incredibly well for my online coaching clients and when it comes to how to achieve your weight loss new years resolution I know it can for you as well.

Get Accountability

There is no doubt that when you are accountable to someone else besides yourself it guarantees success that much more.

One of the things I love the most about being a coach is that I can be that accountability for people.

I have seen first hand how holding people accountable, checking in with them, answering their questions and being in their corner can literally change someones life.

It is one thing to maybe eat a few bites here and there that you don’t track because no one will know anyway.


It’s a lot easier to maybe skip a set or workout here and there if no one else is going to know besides you.

It is another ballgame when someone else is involved in your goals.

Not only involved, but invested.


When I coach my clients I actually give a f*ck about them.

I care if they succeed or not. I am into what they ate that day or how their workout went so I am their biggest cheerleader.

Not just to cheer them on with the rah rah stuff but because I actually love this fitness world and seeing people make change in their life.


Having someone like that in your corner can and does make the world of a difference to be there for support, guidance, and questions you may have.


Now does it have to be me or a coach? No it does not. I am bit biased because I see peoples lives change everyday so of course I am going to say hire a coach but accountability can come from anywhere.

It can come from a group of people at the gym, your best friend, you posting on social media.

I recently did an 8 week mini cut where I lost 23 lbs and one of my forms of accountability was posting my weight every single morning on my instagram story .

There are many forms of accountability but the fact remains that external accountability is the glue that keeps fitness goals together.

Find yourself some form of accountability and watch how much of a game changer it can be for you.


If you want to look into working with me as your coach, I will link my application form HERE. Feel free to fill it out so we can see if we may be a good fit together.

How To Achieve Your Weight Loss New Year’s Resolution : Final Word

I truly hoped this article helped you get more confident in how to achiever your weight loss new years resolution.

This article was to not only give you actionable things you can like create a consistency calendar or to set small and attainable goals.

It was also to ensure you have the right mindset going into this journey because this is just as much of a mental game as a physical one.

I am excited for you because I know you have the tools in your tool belt now to crush your goals.

If you need any help from me don’t hesitate to shoot me an email at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com.

Other than that, Happy New Years, and we will look to talk soon.

-E

ERF 132: How To Win Your New Years Resolutions

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I talk about 4 things to help you win your new years resolution.

I cover 

  • mentally preparing for success
  • action based vs outcome based 
  • Quick fixes always fail
  • find some accountability 

I hope you enjoy the podcast. If you do, feel free to leave a 5 star rating and review on iTunes as that would help me out a ton 🙂

If you want more information on my New Years Resolutions challenge coming up, feel free to shoot me an email to coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com and I would like to chat 🙂

Talk soon, 

-E

ERF 131: 4 Weight Loss Strategies That Don’t Involve Changing Your Diet

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I cover 4 weight loss strategies that don’t involve chaining your diet.

I talk about 

  • planning 
  • journaling 
  • noticing hunger cues
  • taking time to be mindful 

 

This podcast is one that I think can be really life changing for you, so I hope you enjoy it.

If you do, feel free to write a 5 star rating and review on iTunes, it would mean the world to me 🙂

Thank you as always and talk soon, 

ERF 130: My Transition From A Calorie Deficit To A Calorie Surplus, Losing Body Fat To Building Muscle

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness podcast I go over how I transitioned from a calorie deficit to a calorie surplus and why I did it. 

I talk about t

  • my diet
  • my diets
  • how I worked my calories back up
  • what different foods I ate

& more. 

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to shoot me an email at coacheric@ericrobertsfitness.com or shoot me a dm on instagram. 

If you enjoyed the podcast it would help me out a ton if you could write a 5 star review for me 🙂

Thank you so much and talk soon,

-E

ERF 129: Why I’m Not A Fan Of Intermittent Fasting

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I talk about why I am not a fan of intermittent fasting.

I cover 

  • what is intermittent fasting
  • how can it be used for weight loss
  • why intermittent fasting can backfire for a lot of people
  • what negative side effects intermittent fasting brings

& more. 

Hope you enjoy the podcast and if you did please leave a 5 star rating and review on iTunes, it would mean the world to me 🙂

Talk soon,

-E

A Free Personalized Weight Loss Calorie Calculator

weight loss calorie calculator

You are looking for a weight loss calorie calculator online so you can figure out exactly how many calories you need to eat to lose weight, yes?

Well don’t worry because you have stumbled across the perfect spot.

I am going to give you everything you need to know in this article to make this the final piece of information you will ever need on this topic.

I know there are tons of calculators out there as well as people on instagram and tik tok telling you to eat 1200 calories if you want to lose weight.

This is going to be a real, sustainable weight loss calorie calculator you can use specific to you and your goals.

Most coaches would charge you money for stuff like this ( I don’t know why, but any who).

I don’t. It is all here for free.

My only ask, really I beg of you, is to read the article in full.

I truly want you to leave here having nothing but utter confidence in what you will need to do to lose weight moving forward.

Do we have a deal?

Perfect, let’s go then.

Weight Loss Calorie Calculator

Why Calories Matter

If you are reading this right now you are probably at least somewhat aware that the food you intake plays a large role in determining your body composition.

For that, I applaud you. It takes a lot of people a long time to realize that.

With that being said let’s dive a bit more in depth on what calories are and why they matter when it comes to losing weight.

Calories Are A Unit Of Measurement Of Energy

free weight loss calorie calculator

Broken down in the simplest form a calorie is simply a unit of measurement of energy.

The calories within food provides our body with the energy that it needs to survive.

Our body is provided energy through food and it expends energy throughout living everyday life.

If you want a more in depth breakdown of how your body burns calories, I will link a podcast HERE that I did talking in depth on that topic.

Yet simply put, you intake calories and you burn calories, that is the process of human life.

When it comes to losing weight what has to happen is you need to consume less calories than your body is burning. This is called a calorie deficit.


This is the only way possible to lose weight. I don’t care what diet you do, I don’t care what drink you drink, and I certainly don’t care what sweat belt or waist trainer you use.


If you are not in a calorie deficit you will not lose weight.

On the flip side very quickly, this is also how you gain body fat. If you are consistently consuming more energy than your body is expending, your body will store the extra energy you are giving it that it is not using as extra body fat.


Your next question is going to be “Well if I have to eat less calories than my body is burning, how do I know how many calories my body is burning!?”.

(By the way, I am going to be using my 2nd skill other than coaching which is a mind reader and answer questions as they pop up so don’t worry).

The answer is, you don’t.

Hear me out.

When it comes to tracking how many calories you burn on a daily basis, there is no accurate way of tracking that.

Your apple watch or fit bit has been found to be up to 93% inaccurate when it comes to tracking how many calories your body burns.

Therefore worrying about tracking how many calories your body burns is something I would not concern yourself with.

What do you do instead?

You track the calories you intake, aka eat or drink.

We have a much more accurate way of tracking the amount of calories you are consuming rather than how much you are burning.

If you need some help on how to track calories (which believe me, most people do), head HERE to read this article I wrote.


It has helped a ton of people out and it can help you too.

Point being, do not worry about how many calories you are burning and solely focus on how many calories you are eating.

Are All Calories Created Equal?

weight loss calorie calculator foods

We just learned that calories are simply a unit of measurement of energy.

When it comes to calories, no matter if it is 200 calories from a cookie or 200 calories from a greens salad, 200 calories is 200 calories.


Now, your next question is going to be “wait a minute so if all calories are just a unit of measurement, could I just eat ice cream and pizza and lose weight?!”

The answer is technically, yes. You could eat 1500 calories of pizza, beer, and ice cream and lose weight.

People have done it and documented it. In fact, one of the best coaches in this industry, Jordan Syatt, ate a big mac every single day for 31 days and lost 7lbs. You can watch that HERE if you want.

Yet just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should nor does it mean it is smart.

Just because your car is able to go 200mph doesn’t mean you should be doing it through a school zone as you go to pick up your kid, right?

Right. Same thing here.

Just because a calorie is a calorie does not mean all calories are created equal, and let me explain.

200 calories from a cookie is the same as 200 calories from a salad in terms of energy and calories, yes.

Yet what differs is the nutrient breakdown of those calories.

The cookie is going to a lot higher in carbs and sugar. It is going to be lower in protein and actual food volume in comparison to calories, meaning a little cookie can be 200 calories which is not that much food in your stomach.

On the flip side the salad is going to be higher in food volume and lower in calories, meaning you are going to eat a lot of actual food going into your stomach for very little calories.

It is going to be lower in sugar and carbs.

This doesn’t mean the cookie is “bad” for you and the salad is “good” for you, they are both 200 calories, it simply means they are different.

Think of it like this.

If you run a mile in the sand, walk a mile on the pavement, or swim a mile in the ocean, it is all still a mile.

The composition is different. The sand, the pavement, and the ocean, yet the fact remains it is all still a mile.

Same goes for calories. The composition of calories can different but a calorie is always a calorie.

Side Note :


This is why there are no “good” and “bad” foods when it comes to dieting. One thing you may struggle with (here I go again, reading your mind) is thinking that you can’t have “bad” foods in your diet if you are looking to lose weight.

When it comes to losing weight you can enjoy foods you like in moderation and still lose weight.

Why? Because of what we have been talking about above. If you are in a calorie deficit you will lose weight.


No one food inherently makes you gain weight or is bad for you. Cookies don’t make you fat. Donuts don’t make you fat. Tacos don’t make you fat.

The only way you gain fat is if you are in a calorie surplus and the only way you lose fat is if you are in a calorie deficit.

Yes your food choices matter, and we are going to talk about why they matter right below.

Yet please don’t think you can only eat “clean foods” if you are looking to lose weight because it is simply not true.

When it comes to losing weight and using this weight loss calorie calculator I am going to give you below, even though you can eat 1500 calories of pizza, cookies, and ice cream and still lose weight, it is not optimal for these reasons.

When you are on a diet what happens? You get tired and hungry.

If you get tired and hungry, what normally happens then? You over eat.

If you are eating nothing but pizza, cookies, and ice cream, you are going to be incredibly tired and hungry leading it to be almost impossible to lose weight.

You are making it that much harder on yourself.


As opposed to if you are eating nutrient dense whole foods like salads, high protein, good quality carbohydrates, you will be way less tired and hungry which will lead to you sticking to your diet better.

Therefore, seeing better results.

Even though a calorie is a calorie, the food you eat still matters a ton.

Try to stick to the 80/20 rule.

80% of your foods should come from minimally processed, nutrient dense whole foods. Things like

  • Chicken
  • Steak
  • Oatmeal
  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Rice
  • Potatoes

Then 20% of your foods can come from other things and or treats you enjoy.


This 80/20 rule makes up the style of dieting which is called “flexible dieting” . I wrote an entire article on this topic if you would like to dive more in depth you can find it HERE .

Therefore once you get your number from your weight loss calorie calculator, keep in mind that the food you eat still does matter.

Weight Loss Calorie Calculator

How To Find Your Calorie Number

Before we got into the calculation of how to find out how many calories you should be eating to lose weight, I wanted to make sure you understood the reasoning behind the importance of calories.

Most people just say “here, eat these calories!” Yet give no context as to why.

What happens then is you may eat those calories for a week or two, but since you have no education backing why you are doing things, you fall off and quit.

One thing I am big on with you reading this as well as any and all of my online coaching clients is I want to educate and empower you.

You need to understand why you are doing things and the importance behind them so you are able to adhere to them better. If you don’t know why you are doing something, why on earth would you keep doing it or even be motivated to do it!?

Now, let’s get down to the fun stuff shall we?

In order to find out how many calories you need, simply follow this equation below.

Take your goal body weight (in pounds) x 10-12

 

This is by far the easiest equation you can do that already does all of the leg work for you. It takes into account the amount of calories your body burns based on your goal body weight and gives you a calorie number to hit to be below that.

There are other more complicated equations out there you may find on the internet and if you would like to take a stab at those be my guest.

Yet this has worked me and all of my clients since the beginning of time and I know for a fact it will work for you too.

A Quick Note On “Goal Body Weight”

I mentioned taking your “goal body weight” and multiplying it within that range.

Here is the thing. Let’s say right now you weigh 280 lbs and your goal body weight is 130.

I would not use 130 for this equation. Why? Because it is going to give you an unrealistic, unsustainable number that will probably end up being entirely too low.

If you have say more than 30lbs to lose, I would choose incremental goal body weights.

For example if you weigh 280 lbs and your “end goal” is 130, I would pick 240 as your first “goal body weight”.

Then once you reach 240, I would pick 210. Then once you hit 210, go to 180, and so on, and so on.

This way you can make this sustainably and not entirely starve yourself along the way.

Now, I gave a range between 10-12.


Your next question is going to be “well how do I know what to pick?! 10, 11, or 12?!”.


First off I will say everyone is different. Unless I work with you directly I cannot truly tell you.

I can tell you though that this is a kick ass starting point.

Next I will tell you this.

I always start with taking your goal body weight x 12 and that is for a few different reasons listed below.

#1 Why not eat more calories and still lose weight?

If you can eat 2000 calories instead of 1500 calories, and still lose weight, why wouldn’t you?

That is as simple as I can put it. I love food I don’t know about you.

#2 Keep your metabolism high

You may have heard before that eating too low of calories can slow down your metabolism.

That is true and not true at the same time. I would encourage you to watch this YouTube video here I did talking about what happens to your metabolism when you eat too little.

Yet the fact does remain the lower calories you eat the lower your metabolism will go.

To avoid slowing down your metabolism too much and keeping it as high as possible, I generally like to start with the x 12 equation.

#3 Be More Flexible With Your Diet

You can be a bit more flexible with your diet, enjoy some of your favorite foods more, and make this a more sustainable lifestyle change.

Now, beyond that, there are two things I would be aware of when looking at this equation.

Resist the urge to go straight for the lower number.

I know, I get it, you want to lose weight faster.

You are thinking “well if I do the lower number that will give me less calories! If I eat less calories that just means I will lose weight faster!”.

In theory you are correct.

Yet in application you could not be farther from the truth.

The number one mistake people make when doing a weight loss calorie calculator like this and starting their weight loss journey is they try to eat so few calories.

This makes it damn near impossible to be consistent with and sustain for a long period of time.


You will have to go super restrictive with your food amounts and choices.

You may be able to do it for say 4 days, but then what happens?

Friday comes around and you are starving, deprived of food, and have cravings out the wazoo.

What does this then bring on? A 3 day binge cycle on the weekends.

Yet Monday rolls around and you still think “Well I gotta get back on track, back to super low calories again!”.

Then the same cycle repeats itself over and over leading you to not be consistent at all and seeing no progress.

I understand the urge of wanting to eat fewer calories and lose weight faster but I promise you that is the #1 way to sabotage your journey before you even start.

Start with the x 12 equation and do what I will say a bit later in this article.



If you did that equation and thought “OMG No way, that is too many calories!”, That is the reason you have not been able to lose weight.

If the thought came into your mind that this was too many calories I can almost guarantee this is why you have not been seeing progress thus far.

Let me elaborate.


I spoke on it above but the reason you are not seeing progress if you are thinking like this is because you are in this constant over restrict – binge cycle.


You eat 1200 calories for 3 or 4 days, then you eat 3000 calories for 3 or 4 days.

You can not be consistent with those insanely low calories for an extended period of time.

Therefore if you picked a more moderate number, like the one I am probably giving in this article, you will be able to be incredibly more consistent.

Eating 1200 calories for 3 days is getting you no where and has gotten you no where for a long time now.

It is time to try something new.

As opposed to you eating 1200 calories for 3 or 4 days then binging on the weekends, if you can eat say 18-1900 calories for all 7 days and actually be consistent with that you will see incredible progress.

Let me let you in on a secret.

It is much less about the exact calorie number you hit, whether it is 1500 or 1700.

It is much more about how consistent can you hit either one of those numbers. You hitting 1700 calories with 90% consistency will get you more results than you hitting 1500 calories with 60% consistency.


It is just a fact.

This is not a game of perfection, this is a game of consistency. You do not have to be perfect to lose weight, you just have to be consistent.


Which brings me to my last point of this article which is, TRY IT!

How Do You Know If It Works?

You are probably now thinking “Okay I did my weight loss calorie calculator and I got x number, but how do I know if it works?!”.

Here is a concept that may sound foreign to you possibly but hear me out.

Trial and error.


The god’s honest truth is there is no perfect thing.

You looking for the perfect equation is probably the reason you are here right now. There is no perfect equation, not even this one.

Yet like I mentioned above this is not a game of perfection this is a game of consistency.

The more you are looking for perfect calorie number and debating back and forth between eating 1500 or 1700, you are actually doing nothing at all.

You keep debating and looking for the perfect thing that you are doing nothing at all, which I can assure you, you are not going to lose any weight that way.

Here is what I need from you.



Take this equation I just gave you, stick to it with 90% consistency for the next 4 weeks, and track your progress.

I said 90% consistency. That means in the next 31 days you need to hit these calories 27-28 days.


Anything less than that you cannot wonder if it worked or not because you were not consistent enough to see progress.


Do this for the next 4 weeks and track your progress.

I have a funny feeling you are going to see some damn good results.


Which by the way, for reference, a healthy good rate of weight loss is anywhere from .5-1.5lb per week on average.

I say on average because one week you may lose 2lbs and the next week you may lose 0. That would be an average of 1lb per week, which would be amazing progress.

Yet let’s just say you don’t lose any weight and you were 90% consistent.

Perfect. Now you know what doesn’t work so you simply adjust as needed.

There is no perfect plan and there is no way around doing the work.

Put in the work, track your progress, and make changes if need be.

Please just don’t forget that the most important part is

  1. Actually starting
  2. Being 90% consistent

Weight Loss Calorie Calculator: Final Words

My hope is that this was the most in depth weight loss calorie calculator piece of content you have ever come across.

This article started by me telling you I wanted to make sure you left this article feeling 100% confident moving forward and I hope you now do.

On top of that, I want to say I know this can be a bit overwhelming.

I kind of do this for a living if you could not tell. I coach people everyday through their weight loss journeys.


If you would like to see if we might be a good fit for coaching so I can take all of this guesswork out of it for you and be there to help you every step of the way, feel free to head HERE to fill out my online coaching application form.

Other than that, take this information and go get started.

No more waiting, you have done that long enough.

Now is the time.

You got this.

-E

PS: if you or someone you know are more a visual person, I have a short video on this topic as well.

ERF 128: Are you a Parent, A People Pleaser, And Chasing A Health & Fitness Goal?

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I talk something I see a lot within the health & fitness space and that is people who are people pleasers and or parents chasing a health and fitness goal.

Often times you put everyone else’s wants and needs before yours and I am here to give my spin on that. 

If you enjoyed the podcast feel free to leave a 5 Star rating and review on iTunes as it means a ton to me 🙂

Talk soon,

-E

ERF 127: A Perspective Slap In The Face

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I tell a story about how I had a perspective reality check today and think you could benefit from hearing it as well. 

I hope this at least sparks some thoughts in your head when it comes to perspective and makes this journey a bit easier on you. 

If you enjoyed the podcast, feel free to let me know 🙂 

-E

ERF 126: Your Dieting Success Checklist

In this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast I give you 4 things you can check off to ensure you are going to see long term success with your diet. 

  • is what you are doing something you could do for the rest of your life?
  • does your diet allow for flexibility ?
  • is your diet habit based?
  • does your diet have realistic, attainable, habit based goals

Hope you enjoyed the podcast and if you do please leave a 5 Star rating and review on iTunes as it would mean a ton to me 🙂

Look to talk soon, thanks.

-E