Hey fitness nerds!

I received a lot of dms on Twitter complaining that nutrition is difficult and that they don’t know where to start with calorie tracking.

A few people asked me if I could write a newsletter on it.

It is going to be tough at the start but with time you get so good that you can easily eyeball your meal macros and calories to ±100 calories accuracy.

Continue reading 🔽 to see how to start with calorie tracking.

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It is a crude first product so we need as much feedback as possible. A mobile app is in the making and will launch within 2 months. It has groundbreaking AI features that will help you lose weight much faster and more efficiently.

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IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES WE WILL COVER:

Weekly Insights:

• Is counting calories still the king of weight loss?

• Article of The Week: Can you lose weight without counting calories?

• Tips of the Week

• Healthy High Protein Summer Cheesecake Recipe

Is counting calories still the king of weight loss?

When I was in high school I really wanted to lose weight. I knew she was going to be in one of the classes with me.

And as a typical 14 year old does I wanted to impress her.

Everyone told me to start exercising so I started going to the gym. Mind you I was still eating pizza for lunch 5 times a week.

And of course, I didn’t lose any weight.

Instead of focusing on nutrition, I started looking at supplements (fat burners).

I skipped the basics. The basics aka nutrition and exercise account for 90% of progress for both weight loss and muscle building. Everything else (supplements, intermittent fasting, fasting, cold plunging) is the last 10%.

Nutrition 101

Carbohydrates, proteins, fats are the building blocks of every food we ingest.

Carbohydrates = Carbohydrates are often recognized as the body's primary source of energy. They are found in foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes. Once consumed, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, which is then utilized by our cells as a fundamental energy currency.

Protein = Support muscle repair and growth. They also aid in the production of hormones and enzymes and contribute to the immune system's effectiveness.

Fat = It provides a concentrated source of energy, is necessary for the absorption of certain vitamins (A, D, E, and K), and play a critical role in brain health.

Micronutrients like vitamins and minerals do not have caloric value but they are important for our health. If your diet is varied enough you should be able to get all of the essential vitamins from your diet. Otherwise, one multivitamin daily should do the trick.

Reading Between the Lines: Understanding Food Labels

Tips for interpreting nutritional information on packaging.

How to spot hidden sugars and unhealthy fats.

Calories

Calorie is a unit of energy used by our bodies.

A croissant has 400 calories. That means ingesting that croissant gives our body 400 calories of energy. And if my body uses daily 2000 calories that croissant constitutes 1/5th of my daily energy needed to maintain my body composition, ie. not gain nor lose any body fat.

If I want to lose weight Calories OUT > Calories IN

Calories IN = calories that come from what we eat

Calories OUT = Basal metabolic rate + Activities of daily living + exercise + thermic effect of food

Basal metabolic rate = Calories our body uses for bodily processes like digestion, thinking etc…

Activities of daily living is everything and anything that we do during the day. If we work in an office we spend less energy as a postman that walks everywhere.

Exercise is self explanatory.

The thermic effect of food is how much work our body has to do to break down the food into small particles that are used as energy. The general rule is that protein burns more energy to be broken down than fat or carbohydrates.

Calorie Tracking

Choosing the right tool is key. I started my journey using MyFitnessPal, and it used to work great for a number of years.

However, I have slowly gotten more and more frustrated with it and so have many others it seems.

So I decided to create my own calorie tracking tool that uses AI to analyze my eating habits and makes tracking easy and saves time. Check out busybody.io - we are releasing our mobile app soon.

How to use a food diary effectively?

Start by recording everything you eat and drink, including portion sizes, at the time of consumption to ensure accuracy.

Note the time of day and your hunger level before meals to identify eating patterns and triggers.

Review your diary weekly to spot trends, such as nutrient deficiencies or times when you're more likely to snack, and adjust your eating habits accordingly.

Stick to the plan. The longer you stick to the plan the better the results will be!

If you liked this list DM me on Twitter or reply to this email with what else you want to see in these newsletters.

Overwhelmed by all the information? BusyBody helps you create meal plans, exercise routines, and supplement stack tailored to you and your lifestyle with help from your personalized AI health coach.

Go to busybody.io and enter your email to be able to participate in our exclusive, free beta phase.

A Mobile App with an AI Calorie estimator (from a single picture) is coming soon…

Article of the Week

Tips on how to hit your daily macros on holiday

It is hard to hit macros when on holiday.

I used to account for that week as a cheat week, however, with years I learnt a few tricks that help me hit my macros and not overeat while on holiday.

The gist is:

Stay active, Choose protein.

1. Research restaurants and choose protein
   
   Look up local restaurants and their menus online to find places that offer macro-friendly options.
   
   Many restaurants now provide nutritional information for their dishes.
   
   If in doubt, always choose an option with lean protein and veggies.
   

2. Limit liquid calories
   
   The easiest way to go over your calories and mess up your macros is to drink your calories.
   
   Alcohol, juices, soda… each 100-200 kcal and it adds up easily.
   
   Instead, opt in for 0 calorie options or water.
   

3. Skip a meal

   
   I usually skip breakfast.
   
   If you are a sucker for eggs, bacon and waffles skip lunch instead.
   
   Skipping a meal saves you calories for dinner or drinks instead and it is easy to do.

Make sure to use the hotel gym as well!

This Week’s Recipe

Vote below to choose the diet for next week’s recipe

Lemon and Berry Protein Cheesecake (makes 8 servings)

Ice cream is great but sometimes I fancy a cake.

High protein cheesecake with berries is an amazing choice for the summer.

It is packed with protein and rich in antioxidants from the berries.

This recipe was created in 2 minutes with the BusyBody App. Click the button for free access to the app.

Macros per serving

• Total Calories: 220 kcal

• Protein: 15 g

• Carbohydrates: 25 g

• Sugars: 8 g

• Fat: 6 g

The Ingredients

• 200 g (about 3/4 cup) Greek yoghurt (low-fat)

• 100 g (about 1/2 cup) cream cheese (reduced fat)

• 30 g (about 1/4 cup) vanilla whey protein powder

• 50 g (about 1/4 cup) granulated sweetener of choice (e.g., stevia, erythritol)

• Juice and zest of 1 lemon

• 5 g (about 1 1/2 teaspoons) gelatin powder (dissolved in about 2 tablespoons hot water)

• 200 g (about 1 1/2 cups) mixed berries (fresh or frozen)

• 100 g (about 1 cup) almond flour

• 30 g (about 2 tablespoons) melted coconut oil

The Instructions

1. Prepare the Crust: Mix almond flour with melted coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of sweetener. Press the mixture into the bottom of a lined springform pan. Chill in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.

2. Make the Filling: In a large bowl, blend Greek yogurt, cream cheese, whey protein powder, lemon juice, lemon zest, and the remaining sweetener until smooth. Dissolve gelatin in hot water and then blend into the cream mixture.

3. Assemble: Pour the filling over the crust and smooth the top with a spatula. Scatter the mixed berries evenly over the top.

4. Chill: Let the cheesecake set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or until firm.

5. Serve: Once set, remove the cheesecake from the springform pan, slice, and serve chilled.

A light and refreshing option for hot summer days.

Vote for the next week’s Recipe by clicking the button below

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