What is the biggest deficit you can tolerate more or less comfortably?

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  • wi_maint_man
    wi_maint_man Posts: 99 Member
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    Depression = eating more for me
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
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    I did a 1000 calorie deficit early on, for my first 25 lbs of loss, now I have probably a 750ish and I think 1000 would be really hard. As I get closer to goal, it's harder to eat less.
  • DebSozo
    DebSozo Posts: 2,578 Member
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    longstocking wrote: »
    I mean, what is the biggest deficit that you can function normally on? I mean especially, energy-wise but also cravings-wise? Also, if you have experimented with deficits, how well do you function (energy, mood, mental performance) on different deficits?

    I'm not sure if BMI has anything to do with it, but it seems that heavier people tolerate bigger deficit better, so if you are okay with it, please include your BMI in you response.

    As the body fat percentages go down, then the weight loss slows down as the deficit gets smaller and smaller. Ultimately this leads eventually to no deficit at goal and on to maintenance for the long term.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »
    2200 is a comfortable amount of calories for me, but that's only my goal (deficit of 500) on my two most active days per week. :/ I struggle more now with just being straight up hangry than I did before. I still stick to a 500 calorie deficit on the other days of the week the majority of the time, but it feels like I'm playing some high-stakes game of food Tetris and ideal meal/snack timing each day (the goal of which is to go to bed with a happy stomach and never an empty one).

    Love this :D
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I can go pretty severe on the deficits to the point of a complete water fast and be comfortable, provided my average weekly deficit is reasonable for my weight. It's weird, but as soon as I inch above a 700 calorie average deficit, even if I'm being very active and eating more than 2200 calories daily to achieve that, I get this insane hormonal hunger that makes me insatiable no matter what or how much I eat. On smaller deficits, say a daily average of 200-300 calories (like having 1 fast day a week and eating maintenance or above for the rest of the week), I can handle a complete fast day and not even feel the slightest bit out of sorts with only a few minutes of vague mild hunger that waxes and wanes around meal times.

    Edit: oh and my BMI is 34
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    I ran a 3 day stint of ERFL which gave me an approximate deifict of 3000 calories a day. Not sustainable but a very interesting experiment.
  • Bojemoy
    Bojemoy Posts: 12 Member
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    ronjsteele1 wrote: »
    I started at 1200, went to 1300, then 1400 then 1500. I recalculated using TDEE-20% and am at 1700 cals (TDEE calcs put me just over 1800 to lose). I'm doing really well on 1700. I struggled at the lower cals. I'm having no struggle now and I'm losing consistently. I got stuck going up and down a pound for 6 weeks...

    TDEE - 20% (25% at Most) will help you "safely" lose at least 1lb/wk.

    When you hit a plateau with weight loss, try adjusting your calorie intake to your "new" weight.

  • Danika
    Danika Posts: 11 Member
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    @arditarose Ditto the above comment! I've always lurked on your profile and comments (same starting weight and height) and find your journey really inspirational.

    I hope life gets sunnier soon. x
  • kristen6350
    kristen6350 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    I've never tried more than 250. I never thought I needed to go bigger.

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