Caloric deficit of 1000 vs 500

ange9482

Hey yall!

I wanted to get your opinion on how large you think my caloric deficit should be. Im 206lbs and want to get down to 145lbs. Would also appreciate your story on how you went about loosing the weight, experiences, benefits. ect.

Thanks in advance!!

-Ange

TavistockToad

1-1.5lbs per week

BobbyTone

I would suggest starting off at 500 first.

Your metabolism will start adapting to the deficit and the weight loss will start to taper off or even plateau.

When that happens, you can try something different.

RoxieDawn

When in doubt always do the method that allows you to eat more and lose weight in a sustainable and healthy way. The 1 pound or 1.5 max is what I would do. Also do not forget to change your calorie goals in MFP at every 10 pounds loss.

To aggressive a deficit then have higher potential for losing valuable (lean mass) muscle along side fat and water. You always want to concentrate of muscle sparing..

trigden1991

With 60lbs to lose I would go for 1000 cal deficit. Then as you get closer to goal, reduce it. Don't forget that your maintenance calories will be significantly lower at 145lbs.

amusedmonkey

trigden1991 wrote: »

With 60lbs to lose I would go for 1000 cal deficit. Then as you get closer to goal, reduce it. Don't forget that your maintenance calories will be significantly lower at 145lbs.

I'm not sure that would be a good idea. I weigh 209 and MFP has my maintenance at 2080. Doing 1000 would have me (and most probably her) netting under 1200.

RoxieDawn

trigden1991 wrote: »

With 60lbs to lose I would go for 1000 cal deficit. Then as you get closer to goal, reduce it. Don't forget that your maintenance calories will be significantly lower at 145lbs.

Out of curiosity why do you suggest the aggressive approach?

beccie1789

I'm 136lb and need 3lb to goal. I need 1200 to lose and 1400 to maintain. It's trial and error. 1500 and gain.

TavistockToad

beccie1789 wrote: »

I'm 136lb and need 3lb to goal. I need 1200 to lose and 1400 to maintain. It's trial and error. 1500 and gain.

that's interesting, i am the same height and losing 0.5lbs per week on net 1550 cals

jemhh

ange9482 wrote: »

Hey yall!

I wanted to get your opinion on how large you think my caloric deficit should be. Im 206lbs and want to get down to 145lbs. Would also appreciate your story on how you went about loosing the weight, experiences, benefits. ect.

Thanks in advance!!

-Ange

I'd suggest a pound a week (500) or 20%. If you were a man I might suggest more because you'd have more calories to play with from the start. But I tend to use 75 lbs as the cutoff between 1 and 1.5 lbs for women.

Seffell

500

The bigger the deficit, the harder to sustain.

nosebag1212

beccie1789 wrote: »

I'm 136lb and need 3lb to goal. I need 1200 to lose and 1400 to maintain. It's trial and error. 1500 and gain.

That doesn't sound right at all, unless you're literally bedridden

CasperNaegle

I stay at 20% deficit when cutting and it works well. I'm not sure I'd do more than that.

unnichaacko

nosebag1212 wrote: »

beccie1789 wrote: »

I'm 136lb and need 3lb to goal. I need 1200 to lose and 1400 to maintain. It's trial and error. 1500 and gain.

That doesn't sound right at all, unless you're literally bedridden

I agree. I am only five feet and my maintenance calorie is 1845-2010 depending on my weekly schedule.

conniehv40

great post! great responses! Good luck--just log everything you eat, drink that water, and stay positive! The 500 cal a week seems to be easier to maintain. See how that goes--

trigden1991

RoxieDawn wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

With 60lbs to lose I would go for 1000 cal deficit. Then as you get closer to goal, reduce it. Don't forget that your maintenance calories will be significantly lower at 145lbs.

Out of curiosity why do you suggest the aggressive approach?

Because with 60lbs to lose and a start weight of over 200lbs, the OP is obese. The general "rule" that is often banded around here is that you can lose 1% of your bodyweight per week. This in the OP's case would be 2lbs.

Also a vast majority of the population want to see results fast and with such a long way to go it can be disheartening to see small/no drops on the scale. Personally that is what I would advise and have done myself. Getting lean quicker is always better.

trigden1991

amusedmonkey wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

With 60lbs to lose I would go for 1000 cal deficit. Then as you get closer to goal, reduce it. Don't forget that your maintenance calories will be significantly lower at 145lbs.

I'm not sure that would be a good idea. I weigh 209 and MFP has my maintenance at 2080. Doing 1000 would have me (and most probably her) netting under 1200.

This may have been an oversite on my behalf; without doing the maths I assumed that someone over 200lbs and active would have a higher TDEE than 2000 calories. However with 60lbs to lose and being obese, the benefits of getting down to a healthy bodyweigh and bodyfat percentage are numerous. I should maybe have added that one should not go below minimum recommended values without medical supervision.

RoxieDawn

trigden1991 wrote: »

amusedmonkey wrote: »

trigden1991 wrote: »

With 60lbs to lose I would go for 1000 cal deficit. Then as you get closer to goal, reduce it. Don't forget that your maintenance calories will be significantly lower at 145lbs.

I'm not sure that would be a good idea. I weigh 209 and MFP has my maintenance at 2080. Doing 1000 would have me (and most probably her) netting under 1200.

This may have been an oversite on my behalf; without doing the maths I assumed that someone over 200lbs and active would have a higher TDEE than 2000 calories. However with 60lbs to lose and being obese, the benefits of getting down to a healthy bodyweigh and bodyfat percentage are numerous. I should maybe have added that one should not go below minimum recommended values without medical supervision.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75lbs to lose 1.5lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40lbs to lose 1lb/week is ideal
If you have less than 25lbs to lose .5lb/week is ideal

this is helpful too..

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/61706/guide-to-calorie-deficits/p1

solieco1

Consistency is the key. For me 1000 is too hard to stay consistent. I would set MFP for 1 lb per week and be in it for the long haul more confidently and comfortably.

cwolfman13

I was all about losing weight as painlessly as possible...also, having a smaller deficit helped me stay consistent which is ultimately the most important thing. Almost everyone I've known who tried to lose weight aggressively has struggled with consistency and thus things just take a lot longer...more falling off the wagon, etc. A 500 calorie deficit is pretty easy and I was never hungry.

ryry_

I'm 31. I've been trying to lose the weight I put on after college since I was 22 ish. Smaller deficits were never acceptable to me because they take too long and I need to lose it fast. I was always in a hurry and needed to try an extreme diet / deficit to get to my goal. My thought was if I could just finish I would be fine. And they worked, for a while until I got burnt out and quit and regained some or all of what I lost.

This year I've been going slow, losing 1 pound a week. Sometimes its more, sometimes its less, and sometimes I eat at maintenance. But I'm the lowest I've been since I was 22, and the dieting aspect has been a relative breeze. No burnout, no mental fatigue. No big weight rebound because I don't feel the need to stop tracking and eat everything in sight like I normally do.

It's a very sobering thought that if I would have just been following this convservative deficit method from the start or even only went for .5 lb a week goal, I could have been at my goal 7 or 8 years ago.

So with all that said the takeaway is I know the larger deficit is tempting but the risk for burnout and dropout is HIGH. A smaller deficit is much more manageable, sustainable, and enjoyable.

OcalaFL

As side advice and almost as important find a way to accurately measure those calories for example a food scale vs measuring cups. I started eating pre measured foods like health choice steamers or whatever cuase being off a few calories here and there adds up. All watch your sodium intake and other macros. As having proper calories but to little protein or too much carbs or sodium can off kilter.

ashjongfit

We are basically the same weight. I have between a 750-500 cal deficit. 1000 is far too little for me. My TDEE is around 2600, I eat around 1850-2000 calories a day. I think the goal should be eating as MUCH as you can while still losing at a steady pace!

nowine4me

Keep it simple, set MFP to lose 1 pound a week and do exactly what it says. Once you get in a good groove adjust accordingly.

ange9482

Great responses thanks guys!!

Just for the record my TDEE is 2650. Ive been tracking everything with a scale and counting my cals and macros. Ive been eating between 1500 to 2000 calories a day including my cheat meal on sundays.

When in close my diary it say youll be ay 197lbs in 5 weeks.... that always makes me want to stick to the higher deficit at 1000 to get down a little quicker and then adjust when my weight goes back down.

I literally gained 15 lbs in 1.5 months... i was 195lbs at the beginning of august..

-Ange