Definition of Calorie Deficite

SteveOzburn

Good Afternoon,

When Utilizing the MFP App and at the top for Calories remaining;
if the goal is 1800 - 1800 in consumed food + 750 in exercise = 750 remaining,
the question is does this mean I am currently in a calorie deficit?

Or does that mean I have 750 calories available just to maintain current fitness projection.

Does the remaining mean the same as calorie deficit? It should not be that hard, though when reading on the definition of a calorie deficit, there are a few different ways this is explained and it is somewhat confusing depending on the source.

Thank you for your time.

Steve

tomcustombuilder

A calorie deficit is the difference between calories expended throughout the day and calories consumed. If the prior is larger than the latter then you're in a calorie deficit, for that day at least. Fatloss happen when you do that consistently.

There are many equations to calculate this however there are many factors in those equations that can be incorrect so the only true test wether you're in a consistent deficit or not is after 4-6 weeks reviewing your progress or lack of it. Adjust from there...

yirara

The calorie deficit mfp gives you is based on your day to day activity, thus work, household chores and the likes. It's not including exercise. If you exercise you're meant to log it and eat those calories back, and then you still have the same weightloss rate as without the exercise. However, exercise calories are often grossly inflated, and a good advice is to only eat a part of it back for now, for at least 4-6 weeks and then re-evaluate. If you lose too slowly then you're eating too much. If you lose faster than expected then eat more because losing fast is not good with regards to preserving muscle mass, and keeping this up until you reach your goal.

Lietchi

The 750 calories remaining relates to your calorie goal. Whether or not that is a deficit depends on your goal settings.
If your goal is set at losing 2lbs a week (=deficit of 1000kcal per day) having 750 kcal remaining is the equivalent of a deficit of 1750kcal.
If your goal is set at maintenance, it means a deficit of 750kcal.
Etc.
Theoretically of course, presuming your metabolism is average, you're logging accurately and your exercise burns are accurate.

If you have chosen a weight loss rate, you goal is to have 0 calories remaining.

tnmaydew

I’m confused by this as well. To truly be at a deficit I need to know my basal metabolic rate plus any additional active calories that I burn right? In MFP I could make any calorie number my goal. Doesn’t it make sense to make that your basal metabolic rate the same as your goal and then log your exercise to track whether you’re still in a deficit? That is if my goal is to lose weight.

Lietchi

MFP gives you a goal with a deficit included based on your personal stats, activity level and goal weight loss rate when you go through the goal settings.
If you do exercise, enter it into your diary on those days and you'll get extra calories (to keep your weight loss rate the same).
Pour off you have a fitness tracker synced, it will adjust based on your actual activity and exercise.

Follow this goal (0 calories remaining, give or take 50) for 4 to 8 weeks to see how it 'fits', since your metabolism may not be average, your calorie counting may not be accurate, etc.
If you lost faster than anticipated, you can eat a bit more, if you lost more slowly eat a bit less (1lb is the equivalent of 3500 calories, 1lb weight loss per week is a deficit of 500 kcal per day).

tomcustombuilder

Calculating what will put you in a calorie deficit is strictly a starting point in your quest to lose fat and that is not going to guarantee you’re in an actual deficit.

The only way to know is if you’re losing after 4-6 weeks go by and you’ve lost, or not.

AnnPT77

tnmaydew wrote: »

I’m confused by this as well. To truly be at a deficit I need to know my basal metabolic rate plus any additional active calories that I burn right? In MFP I could make any calorie number my goal. Doesn’t it make sense to make that your basal metabolic rate the same as your goal and then log your exercise to track whether you’re still in a deficit? That is if my goal is to lose weight.

Not exactly.

Yes, MFP will let you set your calorie goal manually to any value you want.

But if you put your personal demographic data into your MFP profile (guided setup), MFP will give you a starting calorie estimate based on research findings, basically the average for people similar to you. If you tell it (in your profile) that you want to lose X pounds or kilograms per week, it will subtract calories from your goal to trigger weight loss.

You'd then test-drive that recommendation for 4-6 weeks, average your actual weekly weight loss over that whole time, and compare it to the loss rate you asked MFP to give you. You can then adjust to personalize your goal. Use the assumption that 500 calories a day is a pound a week; 1100 calories a day is a kilogram a week; and you can use arithmetic to adjust for partial pounds/kilograms.

If you're female and have menstrual cycles, go for at least one full cycle before adjusting, so that you can compare bodyweight at the same relative point in two different cycles to calculate average loss, since hormonal water weight shifts can be pretty weird for some women otherwise.

Generically, a person wouldn't want to set goal to basal metabolic rate and add exercise, because that's not the whole story. For most of us, basal metabolic rate is the largest component of our daily calorie burn. But the second largest is daily life humdrum activity, like our job and home chores. For most people, intentional exercise is third largest. To plan a sensibly moderate, sustainable weight loss rate, it's optimal to consider all of those components, as well as the calorie deficit for loss. MFP does those estimates for you, via the guided setup.

Note that MFP does expect you to set your activity level (in your profile) based on your daily life humdrum activity, then log exercise when you do so (or sync a fitness tracker you wear 24 x 7), and eat the extra calories from that, too. That keeps the same deficit for the same weight loss rate.

I hope that makes sense.

cmriverside

To use BMR you'd need to do some kind of a lab test, like in a machine....bodpod or similar.

Just set up your Goals in the Goals section and use those numbers.

Keep It Simple.

In a month you'll have good trending data and you can adjust if needed.

This is the experiment we all have to run for ourselves, the starting numbers are all an educated guess (estimations based on population averages) - so are exercise calories and to a certain degree we all also make numerous food logging errors.

Just start. Don't major in the minors with weight loss - it's not a perfect process by any means.