Daily Calorie Goal

seanrussellwilson

Does the daily calorie goal already include a deficit based on our BMR? myfitnesspal says my BMR is 2416 but has given me a goal of 2020. Is this a built in deficit that I should aim for or should I aim to subtract 500 calories from this to have a calorie deficit?

Thanks!

kami3006

Deficit is built in but doesn't include exercise. If you exercise, you can eat more and still be in deficit.

seanrussellwilson

So, to be clear, if I eat the exact number of calories listed as my goal and miss a workout, I am still losing weight correct? Adding to the already built in deficit will lead to greater weightloss more quickly. Is my thinking correct?

Thanks @kami3006 for the reply!

kami3006

Yes. That is your goal without exercise. With exercise, the deficit will be bigger. Though you should eat some of it back to keep your workouts fueled and your deficit from being too large.

babybluentexas

I feel like it's tough to eat more on the days I exercise... I guess I'm worried I won't lose by adding more calories.

kami3006

I get that but if your exercise calories are accurate, you'll still lose. I eat 75-100% of mine back and hit my goal easily. I didn't use exercise as a way to increase my calorie deficit. I just wanted to improve my fitness.

When I don't eat at least some of them my lifts suffer. Plus, I like eating as much as I can while hitting my target.

veganbaum

As has been said, so long as you told MFP you want to lose weight, the number it gives you has your deficit. But, it is not based off of BMR. BMR is not the base number from which to calculate your deficit.

As to your other question about exercise adding to your deficit for faster weight loss - yes, exercise makes your deficit larger. But, for most people, weight loss probably isn't what they want. What they actually want is fat loss. The larger your deficit, the more likely it is that more of that weight loss will come from muscle than if one had a smaller deficit and exercised and ate back their exercise calories (or 50-75% to account for inaccuracies). Just something to think about.