Calorie Deficit

keepupwithjack

I am 1 week into this, and I want to be sure I know what a calorie deficit is. I have a recommended calorie intake of 1700. I've been eating about 1400-1450 and I've been pretty satisfied. Is that deficit (1700-1400=300)? Is this ok? I'm 5'9" and 270 and a 44 year old woman.

My hubby is doing weight watchers through his work and together we've lost 11 pounds in the early going!

Ninkyou

Your calorie goal that MFP gives you already has your deficit worked in. So if MFP tells you to eat 1700 calories, then you eat 1700 calories. And if you exercise, guess what? You get to eat more. You don't need to create a bigger deficit by eating less than your goal. Often-times this causes a more aggressive loss, which isn't necessarily healthy. Your body does still need nutrients from food and you want to preserve as much muscle as possible, so smaller deficits are more beneficial to you (though your rate of loss will be slower).

So if your goal is 1700 calories, eat up! Or if you're feeling full, maybe add in some nut butters or some dessert after dinner! I almost always have ice cream or a piece of candy etc. after dinner. Moderation helps with sustainability in my opinion!

erinc5

When you input your goals into MFP how many lbs per week did you say you wanted to lose? The number that MFP gives you already has the deficit built in.

cwolfman13

If you told MFP you wanted to lose weight, your deficit is built into your target...lets say you said you wanted to lose 1 Lb per week...MFP figures an estimate of your maintenance level of calories and then deducts 500 calories to arrive at your target. That target is the calories required to lose weight...you don't have to shoot under it...the calculator has already calculated everything for you...the only thing you need to do is hit it, watch the trends, and adjust as per your real world results.

xcalygrl

Ninkyou wrote: »

Your calorie goal that MFP gives you already has your deficit worked in. So if MFP tells you to eat 1700 calories, then you eat 1700 calories. And if you exercise, guess what? You get to eat more. You don't need to create a bigger deficit by eating less than your goal. Often-times this causes a more aggressive loss, which isn't necessarily healthy. Your body does still need nutrients from food and you want to preserve as much muscle as possible, so smaller deficits are more beneficial to you (though your rate of loss will be slower).

So if your goal is 1700 calories, eat up! Or if you're feeling full, maybe add in some nut butters or some dessert after dinner! I almost always have ice cream or a piece of candy etc. after dinner. Moderation helps with sustainability in my opinion!

Yep.

MFP is created to give you a deficit based on your activity level. If you selected sedentary for example, MFP is telling you to eat 1700 to lose weight. MFP is set up so that you don't have to create your own deficit or workout (unless you want to). Eat the 1700 MFP gives you and some or all of your exercise calories (some people can eat all, some can only eat a portion because MFP can overestimate exercise burns).

StaciMarie1974

When you set up your MFP profile, you entered your gender/height/weight/age. And you selected an activity level, such as sedentary or lightly active. From this MFP can estimate how much energy your body uses in a day. You then said you wanted to lose weight - lets say it was 1 pound per week? MFP, in the background, calculates you will use 2200 in day, and to lose weight you need to eat 1700 per day for a 1 pound per week average.

So 1700 will mean eating at a deficit, assuming you set your goal to lose weight.

Sometimes I wish MFP would show these calculations.