Fitness coach shares easy DIY calorie deficit plan that doesn't require strict restrictions

You can organically lose weight by altering your diet. Except this time, you decide what stays on your plate, while still seeing sustainable results.

Staying in a calorie deficit is a common eating plan when it comes to weight loss. It means you eat fewer calories than your body burns, creating a gap that allows your body to use the stored fat for energy. Often, a calorie-deficient plan is thought to include strict diets which eliminate several food groups. But what if you had the agency to decide what stays on your plate while still seeing great results?

With the circle and swap method, you have the freedom to choose what stays in your diet. (Picture credit: Freepik)

Fitness coach Raj Ganpath, who regularly shares fitness tips with his Instagram community, in a November 3 post, shared a technique to create a plan all by yourself. Usually, with most cookie-cutter diet plans, you are in the backseat, letting others choose for you or make peace with whatever the standard plan offers. However, with this DIY method of circle and swap, you are in the driver's seat and decide what goes from your diet.

What is the technique for a DIY calorie-deficit plan?

The plan the fitness coach shared requires you to do a quick audit of your current eating plan. It means you have to be candid with yourself. This includes jotting down all the stray snacks and guilty cravings, too.

Here's the step-by-step guide to the DIY calorie plan, as shared by Raj Ganpath, “Firstly, write down everything that you eat in a day. Remember, this is for your eyes only, so be brutally honest with yourself. Then circle all the foods that are fatty in nature, anything that is oily, fried, creamy or rich. Then circle all the foods that are high in sugar, essentially all sweet foods. And then circle all the foods that are high in starch- rice, idli, dosa, roti, naan.”

It is relatively simple: name the foods, estimate calories and circle out which are potentially unhealthy.

Goal-wise modification

Now that you have circled the unhealthy foods in your current plan, the adjustment depends on your fitness goal. The fitness coach explained that once you have listed your foods, there are two ways to go about it: either you are looking to eat healthier without creating a calorie deficit (no major weight loss plans), or you want to focus on weight loss, which requires you to create a calorie gap.

Goal 1: Improve quality of meal

This route is for you if you want to eat healthy, but your goal is not necessarily weight loss. For this, you will only have to replace the unhealthy foods with better alternatives.

“If your goal is to simply improve the quality of your meals and improve your health, and you don't care about weight loss, here's what you want to do. Remove about 400 calories worth of foods from these three categories," he shared, revealing how many calories to remove.

However, since it is DIY, there's flexibility; you do have control over what to cut or keep. Ganpath further added, "You decide what you want to keep and what you want to remove, and then replace it with 400 calories worth of protein and vegetables. If you do this, you would have removed 400 useless calories and replace it with calories that are filled with protein, vitamins, minerals and fibre that will improve your health in long term.”

So long story short for this route: You are removing all the empty calories. They are high in calories but lack good nutrients. Instead, you are replacing them with better alternatives that keep your energy levels high and healthy.

Goal 2: Weight loss (calorie-deficit plan)

The second route is if weight loss is your primary fitness goal. This needs you to eat fewer calories and burn more.

“Remove 800 calories worth of foods from these three categories, once again you decide what you want to remove, what you want to keep, you don't have to eliminate all of it. Just find the things you can give up and remove them,” the fitness coach highlighted, removing more calories in this plan.

Since you are eliminating 800, the replacement is only half. Ganpath elaborated,"Replace it only with 300 to 400 calories worth of protein and vegetables. Now you would have created a calorie deficit of about 400 to 500 calories per day. Over the course of a week, this adds up to about 3,500 calories. If you can do this consistently,"

The deficit enables you to eliminate half a kilo each week, helping you to lose weight sustainably. Raj said, "You can expect to lose anywhere from 400 to 500 grams every week. Remember, in the long run, be it health or weight loss, it is simply about making small sustainable changes to what you are already doing."

The pace is steady, but it will keep you committed to healthy eating, unlike dramatic crash diets, which are very rigorous, demanding high restriction.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

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