Deficit

KenSmith108

What is your calorie deficit?

I use TDEE - 1000
That leaves me with 1639 calories to enjoy for the day.

or

Sunny_Bunny_

According to my Apple Watch my TDEE is about 1750 calories on an active day for me.
I don't count calories anymore but when I did I had goals anywhere from 1200 to 1400. I found I had to increase it as I lost body fat because I was too hungry on the lower end. In the beginning, I found that many days I was totally satisfied with as little as 900 and sticking to 1200 was a breeze. Eventually, i had to make a real effort to stay under the 1400 goal and lots of days, I had to apply that will power to stay under TDEE.
I feel like strictly applying IF is my best tool to keep calories and hunger under control. I've not been very good at it lately because I've been allowing myself to eat whenever I "thought" I was hungry since I started lifting weights, but I think I fell for some mental hunger tricks instead, and I've messed up my fasting rhythm.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

I go about 330 / day. My RMR should be around 1,650 and that is what I set for my goal calorie intake with a sedentary activity level. Fitbit will adjust automatically for exercise and I eat those calories back. Sometimes I'm over as even eating low carb leaves me hangry most days at that calorie level.

kpk54

Beginning weight of 203: calorie deficit of ~500 so ate ~1300 calories.
As weight decreased towards 140 goal: calorie deficit of ~300 so ate ~1200 calories.

The bigger picture:
I always set to MFP/TDEE calculators to sedentary though I was a bit more active so burned some extra calories which I did not eat back unless super hungry. I monitored/estimated "calorie burn" via free on-line gadgets and apps out of interest and for guidance.

In the end, it turns out my COMBINED deficit... through eating less than sedentary TDEE which ranged from 1800 calories at highest weight and 1500 calories at lowest weight + not eating exercise calories burned...seemed to/must have/could have AVERAGED a total daily deficit of ~600 total calories throughout the 53 week period.

63 pounds lost x 3500 calories in a pound = 220,500 calories not eaten and/or burned

220,500 calories/371 days (53 weeks) of weight loss = 594 calories per day deficit WHEN COMBINING CALORIES NOT EATEN AND CALORIES BURNED VIA EXERCISE.

bowlerae

I've always had a hard time figuring out with activity level I should set my calculator at. Right now I'm trying to do 3-5 days a week of 35+ minutes of strenuous HIIT cardio doing intervals on the bike machine but, on the other hand, I have a completely sedentary job. Soon all start strength training again with weighted machines and also dumbell/kettlebell/bodyweight circuits.

I'm not sure if I should set my activity at sedentary or lightly active or what. So all of these calculators say my TDEE is anywhere between 1400-1995. I went to the doctor and had my RMR tested by breathing into a tube for several minutes to measure my expired oxygen. That told me my RMR was 1282 and with exercise, lifestyle and activity it gave me a TDEE of 1800 though I think the doctor did not have the right age so not sure how accurate it is.

Anyways, I eat around 1550 which, depending on what number is correct, could either be a good deficit or not enough for .5 lb/week weight loss.

If anyone wants to help me calculate, I am 27 years old, 143 lbs, female, 5'6", and 26% BF. Also, still very confused on the eating back calories thing! lol

kpk54

@bowlerae

bowlerae wrote: »

If anyone wants to help me calculate, I am 27 years old, female, 5'6", and 26% BF. Also, still very confused on the eating back calories thing! lol

Add your weight to the above and go to fitnessfrog and enter your data. Select sedentary and monitor a few weeks minimum to see what your average weight loss is during that period then adjust accordingly. I like fitnessfrog (though look at others) because it doesn't include BF% in the calculation which for the majority is nothing more than a guess. We KNOW our age, height, weight and gender. LOL.

If your calorie burn is consistent and you want to lose slowly, select a higher activity level if you feel sedentary is too restrictive and see how that pans out over a few weeks, then adjust accordingly.

cstehansen

When I was losing, I had a deficit around 750 to 1000 a day. Even set at sedentary, when the exercise is added in based on Fitbit calculations, I was burning between 3500 and 4500 calories a day. I never logged the weight lifting I do or any other exercise. I just let it count based on motion/steps. Now that I am in maintenance, I have found I actually need to have it show a deficit around 100-300 to actually stay even. I have reduced my activity level a bit to burn between 3000 and 3500 most days which still puts me at or over 3000 calories a day generally.

What I have found is moving to a 16/8 IF schedule where I do not eat anything until at least 11 am and don't eat anything after 7 pm seems to have made a big difference in my body composition. Times may seem early, but I get up at 4:45 to go to the gym M-F.

Staying at the same weight with that schedule and calorie intake, but that last little flab around the middle is pretty much gone and muscle definition is vastly improved to the point of getting comments at work and church from friends.

Also, changing the timing of the calories may have been part of the help with the bulk of them coming near the beginning of the eating window. That has also helped my morning BG readings. Anything you eat close to bedtime that doesn't get burned will likely get put into storage.

Cadori

I eat 500 deficit for sedentary TDEE and don't eat back exercise calories. So I'm at ~1500 per day.

SuperCarLori

My tdee minus five hundred is eighteen hundred....I've been staying around my bmr, 1650. I know I should raise it...

Gallowmere1984

Depends on which stage I am in. Maintain at roughly 2000 (right now), got fat on a bulk at 2500-2700 (past two months), and once I finally get pissed enough at my current bodyfat, I'll run a couple of weeks of PSMF, which will have me on around a 1500 kcal/day deficit.
That last one isn't recommended unless you have insane willpower, and know what you are doing. It's easy to *kitten* up.

ccrdragon

I went to the fitnessfrog.com site that kpk54 and used their calculators and these were my results:
TDEE - 2976 (I used the mid-range activity level since I workout hard 5 days a week)
BMR - 1920

Calorie intake range -> 1300-1600, occasionally as high as 1800, but most days around 1400.

RowdysLady

I just checked out that website @ccrdragon. My TDEE for sedentary which I am most often is 2064. For light activity it's 2365 which I do have some weeks when I do actually get off my butt. My BMR is 1720 and because it was available my BMI is 31. Getting closer to a normal BMI!

I have my cal goal set at 1544 but I've not logged food for several weeks now - so very lazy of me and I'm hoping to improve on that soon. When I was logging I was always at or under the 1544.

ccrdragon

@RowdysLady, I went back and calculated my sedentary TDEE and its 2296 and my BMI is currently 33. I started with a BMI of 43, so I am making real progress with that!

RowdysLady

Awesome! I'd not been to that site before; it is a nice find. Thanks for the tip.