The RL diet: What is a calorie deficit?

Drew Darbyshire 04 Jan 2020 11:00 AM

The rugby league diet is our new feature where we give you an insight in to the eating habits of your favourite professional players, in partnership with Heaven ‘N’ Health.

Heaven ’N’ Health co-owner Josh Adamson is our latest guest…

What is a calorie deficit?

“The average calorie intake for men is 2,500 per day and the average calorie intake for women is 2,000 per day.

“Rugby players need to have around 3,500-4,000 calories a day because they train near enough every day.

“In simple terms, a calorie deficit is not eating enough calories as your body requires during the day. To lose weight, you have to be in a calorie deficit which means you have to burn more calories than you eat or in other words, eat less calories than you burn.

“A deficit can be created by reducing calories consumed or by increasing output without an increase in input. You can train more but eat the same or just eat less.”

How many calories should people aim to cut down if they want to lose weight?

“If you are trying to lose weight then I would suggest trying to cut down 300-400 calories of your daily amount and then up it to 500 if it seems to get easier.

“There will be some water weight which you can just shed as well. Bodybuilders and fighters tend to dehydrate themselves before they go on stage to get them down to a specific weight but then after that they can load back up on water and hydrate themselves once they come off stage. It is just about burning more calories than you consume during the day.”

What type of foods are best for losing weight?

“The more natural your food is, the better. If it is a full fish then that’s great for you whereas processed food like ham with breadcrumbs around the side isn’t the best.

“People worry too much about whether they have to eat ’this, this and this’ but as long as 80% of your food for the day comes from natural sources then it’s fine. People often think too much about how healthy food has to be.”