Jenna came to us with the goal to shed excess body fat, while retaining as much muscle as possible. Upon analyzing her intake form and food log, I knew she would be a perfect candidate for easy fat loss for a number of reasons. I calculated her Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) to be 1387 cals based on all the information she provided me in our initial consultation. This is the number of calories her body needs for vital functions such as breathing (aka the bare minimum for survival). Now add in daily activity and exercise and that intake needs to be much higher than her BMR in order for her body to be in a healthy and happy state. On average, Jenna was 2000 kcal/day, which is around maintenance for her daily energy output, meaning she was not in a caloric deficit (eating less than the body is burning. Staying in a deficit year round is an extreme stressor on your body that will eventually cause your hormone levels to become unbalanced, making it very tough to lose body fat, amongst many other negative effects.
Over the course of 4 weeks, we made very small cuts to her caloric intake (less than 100 cals/week) and adjusted her macronutrient breakdown to optimize fat loss. No crash diets, no increase in exercise, and no cutting out food groups. This is how easy it can be to transform your body composition IF you have earned the right to cut!
Before attempting to lose body fat, ask yourself if you have been eating enough food and engaging in stress reducing activities to remove your body from a constant state of stress in the past 12 months. If you are eating below your BMR, you cannot expect to further cut calories from there and see great results. Your body is very smart, and your hormones are more powerful than any exercise and diet plan - this means that if you subject your body to dieting for long periods of time, it will eventually get used to that and start burning less calories doing the same activities that used to burn more calories before. This is a coping mechanism that your body falls back on to keep you alive as you're not feeding it enough calories for daily vital functions.
Respect your body and feed it right and it will give you great results like Jenna's!