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Nutracheck Member's Top 5 Questions

Nutracheck Members' Top 5 Questions

(1 of 2 pages)

Here are the five most recurring questions received from Nutracheck members using the online food diary system to lose weight.

Q 1. If I don't use all of my daily calorie allowance, can I carry calories over?

A. Yes, you can carry over calories. If you feel satisfied on less calories, then there is no need to eat for the sake of eating. However, as ever Nutracheck doesn't recommend that you go below 1,200 calories a day for all health and good sense reasons.

As general advice, it is much better if 'under eating' your calories comes first so you have spare calories to spend later - rather than spending calories you can't afford and then having to pay them back later, when it simply may not happen.

And just to explain, the minimum target the Nutracheck system will set you is 1,400 calories per day. This is at the advice and experience of leading weight management specialist, Dr Campbell. The key to success is sustaining your diet, and while a lower calorie target may result in a quick weight drop initially, the question is how long can you sustain it for? A very low calorie diet (under 1,200 calories per day) is extremely difficult to live with for very long, and when you do return to old habits, the weight piles on more quickly. Slow but sure is the best way to shed weight and keep it off for good.

Q. 2 I generally stick to my calorie allowance but am way under on fat. Does this matter?

A. To explain, the figure given for your Nutracheck target is based on the recommendation that no more than 33% of your total daily calories should come from fat. It's not a requirement that you must eat all the amount stated - think of it is a maximum limit. If you do find yourself eating less, that's fine but stick around two-thirds of the target, don't eat less than half.

Diets that are classed as 'low fat' tend to reduce fat intake to between 20 - 25% of total daily calories. So based on a daily target of 1,400 calories, this equates to 31g - 39g fat per day. There is no official minimum figure, but it is not recommended to go below 25g fat per day as this starts to restrict you from having a balanced diet. Also fat - the good type - is essential for the healthy functioning of your body.

Choose good fats - these are found in vegetable sources such as nuts and seeds.
Avoid unhealthy saturated fats - tend to be found in higher fat dairy products, the visible fat on meat and processed meat products such as sausages, pies and pates.
Also steer clear of unhealthy trans fats - found in many processed products and take away foods.

You are probably aware that fat is the most concentrated source of calories at 9 cals per gram - that's twice the number of calories in 1 gram of carbs and protein. So it makes sense that sensibly reducing your total fat intake, is a very effective way of lowering the number of calories in your diet.