Nutracheck Member's Top 5 Questions

Here are five of the most commonly asked questions by Nutracheck members using the service to lose weight.

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 fewer calories, then there is no need to eat for the sake of eating. However, at Nutracheck, we don't recommend you drop below 1,200 calories a day to make sure you aren't severely underfuelling you body.

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 consistency, and while a very low calorie target may result in a quick weight drop initially, the question is how sustainable is this? A very low calorie diet (under 1,200 calories per day) is extremely difficult to live with for very long, not to mention being too low to properly nourish our bodies. Plus, when you do return to old habits, studies show you are far more likely to gain the weight back (and more!). Slow but sure is the best way to lose weight and keep it off for good.

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 35% 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 as a maximum.

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 we wouldn't recommended dropping below this lower end, to avoiud throwing your diet out of balance. Unsaturated fats are essential for the healthy functioning of your body, so it's vital not to cut these out.

Choose good fats – these are found in vegetable sources such as nuts, seeds, vegetable oils and avocadoes, as well as oily fish.
Try to moderate your intake of saturated fats – these tend to be found in animal-based foods such as higher-fat dairy products, butter, lard, pastries, fatty cuts of meat and processed meat products such as sausages, pies and pates. It's also found in high quantities in coconut oil – so don't believe every health fad you see!
Also minimise your intake of trans fats, found in highly-processed products and takeaway foods.

Fat is the most calorie-dense nutrient, supplying 9 calories per gram – that's twice the number of calories supplied by carbs and protein. So it makes sense that sensibly reducing your total fat intake could be an effective way of lowering the number of calories in your diet.

3) My daily calorie allowance is higher than I would have expected. Will I still lose weight at this level?

A. Everybody's energy needs depend on several different factors, including your height, weight, sex, genetics, and how active you are. Larger bodies burn more calories throughout the day than smaller bodies, as there are more cells that require energy to fuel all the essential processes that keep you alive. This also means the number of calories that a larger body needs to lose weight is higher than that needed for a smaller person.

It is generally recognised that one pound of fat tissue stores 3,500 calories. So, reducing our daily calorie intake to 500 calories below our maintenance level equates to a deficit of 3,500 calories across a week – enough to lose 1lb. To lose up to 1.5lbs a week, your calorie deficit would need to be increased to 750 calories each day. And to lose up to 2lbs, a deficit of 1,000 calories per day is required.

Nutracheck uses your personal details to calculate how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. Then, once you've chosen how fast you want your weight loss to happen, your calorie target to create a deficit is set. The higher your maintenance calories are to begin with, the higher your weight loss target will be too.

4) If I don't burn the extra calories in my exercise target, does it mean I have to reduce my calorie allowance in order to lose weight?

If you are on a calorie target of over 1,400 calories per day, the exercise target of 200 calories per day is to encourage you to burn this number over and above your normal daily routine. So for example, if you already take a daily walk as part of your existing lifestyle, the target of an extra 200 calories is to encourage additional activity that your body isn't generally used to, in order to promote weight loss.

However, if you don't manage to exercise, this doesn't mean you need to deduct 200 calories from your target. Your target should already be enough to see weight loss, however bear in mind it may be at a slightly slower rate, which is still fine!

5) How often should I be updating my profile and changing my targets?

We recommend that you initially set your weight loss target in smaller steps – up to 10% of your current body weight. This is far more motivating than just focusing on your final goal weight which can seem quite a distant and daunting challenge, particularly if you have a lot of weight to lose. You should see percentage weight loss in the drop down list of goal weights alongside the actual weight figures to help guide you with this.

When you reach a weight loss milestone of around half a stone to 10lbs, we recommend updating your profile. We prefer to give Nutracheck members the flexibility over when to do this instead of doing it automatically, as some people prefer to leave it for longer before resetting.

To reset your target, head over to your profile and manually enter your new starting weight. It is quite likely that this will have the effect of changing your goal weight date, unless your initial weight loss has followed exactly the rate you set, for example 2 lbs per week. In reality, your weight loss may have deviated slightly from this exact pattern, so your goal date may move.