Same dificit, different intake and TDEE?

oat_bran

Having the same daily deficit do you find it easier to burn more and eat more or burn less and eat less?

Like, say you burn 1900 calories total and eat 1300 calories, which gives a deficit of 600 cals for that day. Whould you feel the same if you ate 1800 and burned 2400 by adding exercise or simply being more active (again 600 calorie deficit).

I'm asking in particular about the difference in energy and hunger levels. A lot of people say that eating more gives you more energy. But then others say that exercise makes them much hungrier.

What about you?

dark_sparkles37019

Exercise makes me more hungry. I'm on my feet working all day in a factory(8-12hrs) so I am causing a deficit just by doing that.

CafeRacer808

For me, it depends on the type of exercise. Steady state cardio doesn't make me hungrier (in fact, it tends to decrease my appetite), but intense cardio or strength training tends to increase my appetite. All of that said, I personally find it much easier to burn more and eat more. YMMV, of course.

Ready2Rock206

I would have to spend way too many hours in the gym to make enough deficit to bother with so I just need to eat less.

TimothyFish

I find it easier to burn more and eat more. Part of that is because the time I spend exercising is time that I don't spend grazing. Also, you can burn more calories in an hour and you can digest. If you could exercise 24 hours per day and also eat 24 hours per day, the calories you burned would exceed what you ate because you would reach a point where you couldn't stuff more in.

cwolfman13

Depends on whether it's just regular exercise or training. I have no issues controlling calories when I'm just getting in some light to moderate exercise on the regular...I'm ravenous when I train. I don't diet when I'm training for things.

sijomial

When I was losing weight I found I was far more satiated exercising a lot and eating (relatively) a lot too.
Food isn't just fuel and nutrition - it's also enjoyable plus frequently a social event. Feeling restricted from that pleasure makes it harder for me.
Also for me I actively enjoy all my exercise so would be silly to cut back.

Agree with other posters that types of exercise make a difference with hunger.
I did a two hour slow cycle ride on Friday and it made no difference to my hunger levels. Strength training or high intensity cardio does make me hungrier out of proportion to actual calories expended.

Even exactly the same calorie burn but achieved in different ways has different impacts on hunger signals.
Example:
170 watts steady state on a indoor cycle for an hour, feels easy and no resulting hunger.
High/low intensity six minute intervals for an hour that averages out to the same 170 watts feels far harder and also makes me feel starving hungry.

trigden1991

Another vote for high activity, higher calories. I aim to walk a minimum of 15k steps a day and really push for 20k when possible. This boosts my TDEE significantly and allows me to eat more which is definitely a winner.