During my journey of building a healthy lifestyle, I've not seen many blogs that put everything you need to know under a single canopy. As a beginner, there is still much noise, confusion, and many niches to discuss when it comes to this topic.
I wanted a method that was scientifically sound and yet easy to follow.
This is a breadth-first view of all the learnings that I've accrued. Look out for the references at the end to get more depth of the topic.
Basically, this is the blog that I wish someone handed me when I first started out. It's a little long but everything here is quite actionable.
Word of caution, this is based on my experience and what I've learned so far, although I've ensured that everything is backed by solid scientific facts and good resources I'm NOT a physician, I'm just a guy, who's passionate about getting fit.
Many clinical studies have already found the ideal body weight according to a person's age, height, and gender.
The first step would be to find your ideal weight to know your ultimate goal.
The second step is to buckle up and realise that this is going to be a life-long undertaking, you have to always "maintain" yourself. This is true in the quite literal sense, if you give up exercising you will lose your precious progress.
It's not a sprint but a marathon, so buckle up and start thinking this is your life now. To be honest you will find joy in it after you stuck with it for a couple of months, as I did.
It's simple, your meat machine needs the energy to work, and you get that energy as calories from the food you eat.
The huge you are the more calories you need to get through the day.
The body burns calories even when you're not working out, even when you're sitting idly, even when you're sleeping.
How many calories does it burn 🔥? That would depend on your build and metabolism.
So, do yourself a favor, and calculate how many calories you need to consume per day to maintain your current body weight.
The link is here: https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html