A newspaper picked up on the calorie content of a five guys chocolate milkshake recently.
It even made me double look and read it again.
A chocolate and peanut butter milkshake with whipped cream at Five Guys contained nearly 1200 calories.
The equivalent of 4 cheeseburgers.
These are the drinks that we grab as a snack in between meals or even WITH a meal.
That calorie content could be more than two-thirds of the daily calories needed for a normal person who is looking at losing weight.
Add in 3 “normal” meals and they are way over the daily limit.
Now today’s blog isn’t about never having a milkshake in your life again.
At Transformation HQ we strongly believe that NO food or food groups should ever be banned.
We just need to be smarter about including them in.
And how do we do that?
When members initially start at THQ, they follow the HQ meal planner to build nutrition structure into their lives.
They then start to record food intake.
By tracking calories and macronutrients.
The biggest shock they get is when they put in their favourite treats.
The treats that they may have been having 2 or 3 times a week.
And imagine you’ve been picking up one of the five guys’ milkshakes 2-3 times a week, but the rest of the week you eat healthily and from scratch.
Do you think you will be in an energy deficit?
Probably not.
But if we say keep just one of those shakes in and take out a couple, that may just be enough.
This isn’t just bashing milkshakes if you are thinking you got away with it as you don’t have them normally.
Tracking calories opens people’s eyes to the high-calorie content in ALL types of foods.
That bottle of wine Friday and Saturday night.
The night at the curry house.
The quick 4 pints at the pub.
The cream-filled doughnut.
Whatever your little temptation is – it could be holding you back.
But you said not to ban foods Ryan…and that’s correct.
If you are wanting results AND flexibility in your diet.
You need to track and record.
It really couldn’t be any easier.
Download an app like Myfitnesspal (it’s FREE!)
Use this formula below.
Weight loss x weight in pounds by 10-12 depending on activity (more if you are active)
e.g. 150 pounds = 1500-1800 calorie a day
Hit that number every day of the week.
Do that for at least 4 weeks and watch the pounds and inches melt away.
But you can also fit in a few treats into that figure.
If using the example above of 1500-1800kcal and trying to fit in a five guys milkshake…you aren’t left with a lot else to eat.
Or…
Have three meals a day with lean protein, veg & low-calorie carbs such as rice and potato….this will only use about 1000-1200 calories of your day.
You then have 300-500 kcal to spend on a treat.
That could be a normal milkshake.
Slice of pizza.
Bowl of ice cream.
A couple of pints a beer.
YET, you’ll still have lost pounds & inches.
You can do the whole “I eat from scratch & healthy but never see results” thing that everyone says.
Or guarantee yourself results AND get to eat your favourite treat foods most days.
I know which way I’m going.
Track this weekend and see what you normally consume – to what you should be doing (weight in pounds x 10-12)
Keep tracking every day until you see results slow or stall.
Take your new lower scale weight and use the formula again.
Repeat until happy!
There you go, you thought at the start of this I would be banning milkshakes.
You’re now having your milkshake (or cake) and eating it!
Yet still living a normal, happy and weight loss results filled life.
Enjoy
Ryan