Posted by Lewis Williams
on October 02, 2026
Week One Is Done. Now What?
Welcome back! If you did the homework from Part 1, you're sitting on seven days of honest tracking. That's gold. You're now working from what you actually eat, which is rarely what you thought you ate.
Lets pull three things out of your week:
- Your average daily intake — add up the seven days and divide by seven. One big Saturday doesn't define you, and neither does one saintly Tuesday.
- Your average weight — same deal. Ignore the individual weigh-ins and take the weekly average.
- Your patterns — look at where the calories came from. For most people the meals are fine. The damage is in the drinks, the cooking oil, the 3pm handful of something and whatever happens after 8pm! For me, its the last little top up before bed.
Nearly everyone gets a surprise in their first week, so don't beat yourself up over it. I'd much rather you find an ugly number now than spend three months wondering why nothing is moving.
Practical first step: Find the three biggest calorie sources in your week that you wouldn't really miss. Your deficit comes from those first, well before you touch the foods you love.
Setting Your Numbers
Time to turn that data into targets. You need two numbers. Everything else is a bonus.
Calories. Run the calorie calculator from Part 1 to estimate your maintenance, then compare it with your tracked average. If your weight held steady for the week and the two numbers are close, you've found your maintenance. If your tracked average is well below the calculator and your weight didn't budge, you're almost certainly missing things in your log. Go looking for oils, sauces, drinks and the bites you take while cooking.
Then take 300–500 calories off. If maintenance is 2,400 calories, your target is 1,900–2,100. Resist the urge to go lower. A bigger deficit feels productive for about ten days, then it starts costing you training, sleep and patience.
Protein. Part 1 gave you 1.6–2.2g per kg of bodyweight. For an 85 kg person that's 136–187g a day. Start at the bottom of the range. If you have a lot of weight to lose, calculate off your goal weight instead, or the number gets silly.
Bonus: fibre. 25–35g a day. If your tracking week came in under 20g, add a serve of vegetables or legumes to two of your meals and you're most of the way there.
One tip for reading Aussie food labels: they're in kilojoules. Divide by 4.2 to get calories, or let your tracking app do it for you.
Week-Two Traps Worth Dodging
"I trained, so I've earned it." Fitness trackers are generous with calories burned, and a 30-minute session is easily undone by one snack. Your deficit is already set. Don't eat your exercise back.
"Weekends don't count." Five days at a 500 calorie deficit banks 2,500. Go 1,250 over on Saturday and again on Sunday and you're back to zero for the week. You can still have the dinner out. Just don't have the whole weekend out.
"The scale went up, so it isn't working." Salt, carbs, hormones, a hard training session and a late dinner all move water around. Every gram of carbohydrate you store holds about three grams of water with it. This is why you only track the weekly average.
"I've blown it, I'll start again Monday." One meal over target is a rounding error. Four days of writing the week off is a real setback. Get the next meal right and carry on.
"It's healthy, so it doesn't count." Olive oil, nuts, avocado, granola and smoothies are nutritious and very calorie-dense. A single tablespoon of olive oil is well over 100 calories. Weigh these for a couple of weeks until your eye is calibrated.
Building Meals That Make the Deficit Easy
- Anchor every meal with protein. Three meals at 30–40g each plus one high-protein snack gets most people to their target. 150g of chicken breast, a tin of tuna with two eggs, or a tub of high-protein yoghurt with a scoop of protein powder all land in that range.
- Fill half the plate with vegetables. This is the volume eating tactic from Part 1. Big plate, small calorie cost, and it does most of your fibre for you.
- Portion the carbs, don't ban them. A fist-sized serve of rice, pasta or potato fits comfortably in a deficit. Have more of them around training if you like, but the daily total is what counts.
- Stop drinking your calories. Soft drink, juice, milky coffees and alcohol add up fast and do nothing for hunger. This is usually the least painful cut you can make.
- Repeat yourself. Two or three go-to breakfasts and lunches means fewer decisions and far less tracking. Save the variety for dinner.
What Progress Actually Looks Like
The first week or two in a deficit often shows a bigger drop than you'd expect. Enjoy it, but know that a fair chunk is water. After that, expect things to settle at around 0.5 kg a week.
Compare weekly averages, never single days, and give any change two to three weeks before you judge it. If the average hasn't moved in that time and your tracking is honest, trim another 100–200 calories or add a daily walk. Small adjustments only. No slashing.
The scale is also just one measure. Keep an eye on:
- Your waist measurement, taken once a fortnight
- How your clothes fit
- Whether your training feels easier or stronger
- Your energy and sleep
A bit of hunger before meals is normal and you'll get used to it. Being ravenous all day means the deficit is too steep or your protein and fibre are too low, so fix that before you push on. And if daily weigh-ins start messing with your head, drop back to two or three mornings a week. The trend still shows up.
This Week
- Set your calorie target and your protein target. Write them down somewhere you'll see them.
- Plan the protein for each meal before the day starts.
- Cut or swap the three calorie sources you picked out earlier.
- Check your phone for your average daily steps and add 2,000. This is the NEAT from Part 1 and it's the easiest energy you'll ever burn.
- Keep your two training sessions and make at least one of them resistance work. Weights, bands or bodyweight all count.
- Keep weighing in and log this week's average next to last week's.
You don't need a perfect week. You need one you can repeat, because twelve decent weeks in a row will beat two perfect ones every time.
In Part 3 we'll look at what to do when progress stalls, and how to eat out without undoing your week. See you then!
General information only, not medical advice. Check with your GP or a dietitian before making big changes to your diet, especially if you have an existing health condition.
