Am I calculating my caloric deficit correctly?

SRenaS14

Hello - really trying this time. Determined to finally figure this out. Am I calculating my caloric deficit correctly?

Total Daily Calories - (BMR + Move Cal from Apple Watch)
1672 - (752+1663) = -743 Caloric Deficit

Thanks!!

NotForJustNowForever

The way I do it is Total calories consumed - (Resting Energy + Active Energy from iWatch).

Keep in mind that your Resting energy continues to accumulate a little while you sleep. So when I do it, I tend to watch either the trend (you can see it in Health for the past 7 days).

mkculs

I'm bookmarking this discussion to see what I learn.

I don't use my Apple watch for calories consumed. I just use the calculators here on MFP. I recall reading some time back about some issues with Apple watch calculations—but don't quote me. A fuzzy memory. So I'm just going to see if any experts jump in with anything to add.

SRenaS14

Thank you!! :)

NotForJustNowForever

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48684561#Comment_48684561

From what I can see, the Health app basically pulls the calories consumed from MyFitnessPal (at least in my case: I've given all the authorizations to sync everything, water seems to be the only thing that isn't synced). So looking at MFP works as well.

I actually used an app called HealthFace that did the math for me, but then I would start worrying at around 6pm that I was still over by 300-500 calories… Except that when I calculated the next day I'd burned more (that's why I pointed out the fact that we still burn calories at night, including when we sleep).

I also encourage looking at both the Resting Energy + the Active Energy. I am at maintenance now for example. And I actually aim to eat within 100 of my TDEE (basically energy spent and needed to stay alive, healthy, and keep all organs etc. functioning) + workout. I use to look only at Resting Energy to plan how much to eat to maintain (or my "minimum" when aiming to lose weight) but didn't factor in that my non-exercise movements (days when I could not fit in a single actual exercise per say) along the day are counted in Active Energy (still have active energy adding up).

I also encourage looking at the trend for Resting Energy (not counting the current day because it's not full yet) because most days I'm a little below 1500 but then randomly I'll have 1150 or something. Maybe that day I spent most of my day stressing on my computer while waiting for an email. Or slept in… Still. It's not constant.

That's been my experience in my efforts to guesstimate my TDEE. My goal right now is to increase muscle mass so I pay a lot of attention to making sure I eat enough while not gaining weight. 😊

ETA: I also want to add that something else I use to calculate my calorie deficit is my weight loss trend (or lack thereof).

I weigh myself daily, mostly to observe the trend (and strangely to be less obsessed with weight fluctuations…) I use an app that calculates my weight trend and that was recommended here on this forum (several apps are available: Happy Scale, Libra, both available for iOS & Android if I'm not mistaken).

I kept calculating a deficit of 300 at most. Over a month though, my weight loss trend showed a different deficit. So I adjusted, and this helped me get to maintenance or the closest thing to a near standstill in my case.

AnnPT77

Curious why you're calculating it . . . well, estimating it, really, since the BMR and any fitness tracker figures are just sophisticated estimates.

Do you sync your tracker to MFP, and have negative adjustments enabled in MFP? That should, in theory, do the math to tell you how much to eat. As NotJustNowForever points out, there can be late-in-day calorie adds sometimes, but it's fine to eat those calories on another near day.

The very best estimate of effective deficit comes from 4-6 weeks' average weight change experience. Someone averaging a pound a week loss has roughly a 500 calorie daily deficit, or 550 calories daily if losing half a kilo per week.

Results from personal experience are closer to a measurement of average deficit vs. purely an estimate. Admittedly, there's some approximation cooked in because the calories per pound/kilo can vary a bit in practice, plus logging is approximate no matter how meticulous we are. One apple is sweeter than the next, product labels are allowed substantial calorie wiggle room under regulations (at least in the US), and that sort of thing.

No matter how you project what your estimate may be, plan to check your average results over 4-6 weeks - whole menstrual cycles for those who have them - and adjust calorie goal if necessary based on actual experience.

Most people are close to MFP and fitness tracker estimates, because they're based on population averages for demographically similar people, pretty much. But some people will find they aren't average, possibly for reasons that aren't obvious. MFP and my good brand/model fitness tracker - one that others here have found estimates close for them - both mis-estimate my calorie needs by several hundred calories daily. That's based on comparing with nearly 10 years of calorie and weight logging experience. That's rare, but it can happen.

Fun fact: Looks like you started here in 2015, assuming your Community start date corresponds with when you started using MFP to track. That's the year I started, too, but in July.

Best wishes!