Calorie Deficit

TeresaMarie46

How do I tell if I am at a Calorie Deficit?

One poster told me if I am losing, then I am. I am losing, but slowly, lose a pound, gain a pound...continual fluctuating. I am doing 30DS as well as plenty of other activity. Say I am looking at the top of my home page...Calories Remaining, Exercise, and Net...if the Net Number has a MINUS sign in front of whatever number,,, is that how I will know if I am at a deficit?

Thank you :happy:

kirkor

Depends on what you have your goals set at ... usually the Goal amount of calories already includes a deficit.

TitaniaEcks

You find out how many calories you use up in a day with your usual level of activity, and then if you're eating less than those calories, you're at a deficit. Deficit just means you're using up more calories than you're consuming.

If you put yourself at a 500-calorie deficit per day you'll lose about a pound a week. (3500 calories = 1 pound of fat). Large people with a lot of mass (esp. men) use up more calories just by existing, so they can afford a larger deficit. Generally you want to increase your deficit at least partially by adding exercise instead of just subtracting food. A very small woman trying to create a 500-calorie deficit with diet alone may not even be able to eat 1000 calories a day, which can leave her with nutrient deficiencies, so instead she should look to add more exercise to increase the amount of food she can eat.

TeresaMarie46

Depends on what you have your goals set at ... usually the Goal amount of calories already includes a deficit.

I apologize, I forgot to add my goals in my post.....My Goals are...

NET CALORIES 1880
CALORIES BURNED WEEKLY 870 ( I do 20 min workouts 5X a week ,plus regular walking, and various other activities)
DAILY DEFICIT 500
1 POUND A WEEK LOSS...(which isn't happening)

Right now these numbers are red, do they change color once I have met these goals, if not, how can I tell that I am meeting them?

Thanks again

TitaniaEcks

Depends on what you have your goals set at ... usually the Goal amount of calories already includes a deficit.

I apologize, I forgot to add my goals in my post.....My are...

NET CALORIES 1880
CALORIES BURNED WEEKLY 870 ( I do 20 min workouts 5X a week ,plus regular walking, and various other activities)
DAILY DEFICIT 500
1 POUND A WEEK LOSS...(which isn't happening)

Right now these numbers are red, do they change color once I have met these goals, if not, how can I tell that I am meeting them?

Thanks again

Your numbers are red when you've eaten MORE than your daily quota. You're going over. Either eat less or exercise more. When you stay under your daily quota the numbers are green.

TeresaMarie46

You find out how many calories you use up in a day with your usual level of activity, and then if you're eating less than those calories, you're at a deficit. Deficit just means you're using up more calories than you're consuming.

If you put yourself at a 500-calorie deficit per day you'll lose about a pound a week. (3500 calories = 1 pound of fat). Large people with a lot of mass (esp. men) use up more calories just by existing, so they can afford a larger deficit. Generally you want to increase your deficit at least partially by adding exercise instead of just subtracting food. A very small woman trying to create a 500-calorie deficit with diet alone may not even be able to eat 1000 calories a day, which can leave her with nutrient deficiencies, so instead she should look to add more exercise to increase the amount of food she can eat.

My long term goal weight is 150....

I am 5'1 and have 99 pounds to go to reach that.
Apart from walking daily (either with dog, or pushing stroller), as well as using stairs several times a day, I am doing 30 Day Shred. I believe my diary is public, feel free to look at it and let me know where I need to improve or change.

Thank you

TeresaMarie46

Depends on what you have your goals set at ... usually the Goal amount of calories already includes a deficit.

I apologize, I forgot to add my goals in my post.....My are...

NET CALORIES 1880
CALORIES BURNED WEEKLY 870 ( I do 20 min workouts 5X a week ,plus regular walking, and various other activities)
DAILY DEFICIT 500
1 POUND A WEEK LOSS...(which isn't happening)

Right now these numbers are red, do they change color once I have met these goals, if not, how can I tell that I am meeting them?

Thanks again

Your numbers are red when you've eaten MORE than your daily quota. You're going over. Either eat less or exercise more. When you stay under your daily quota the numbers are green.

Okay, I thought I was doing okay by staying under my calories. So what should I do, my daily calories are 1880, do I deduct 500 from that, and stay there?

pita7317

No expert by any means...my 6th week.
Calories on your diary fine...but sodium rather high.
I cut my sodium goal to 1500 a day and really helps with water retention.
Wow ! 13 glasses of water. That is awesome.

TeresaMarie46

No expert by any means...my 6th week.
Calories on your diary fine...but sodium rather high.
I cut my sodium goal to 1500 a day and really helps with water retention.
Wow ! 13 glasses of water. That is awesome.

I love water. I fill up the largest mug I have, and refill it about 3+ times daily.
I drink unsweetened Ice Tea at meals..

My sodium for today is rather high, but most often it is considerably lower.

Thank you

Mr_Knight

In the last 8 days, there appear to be two with incomplete logs and one with over 3300 calories. The logged days average out to ~1800 consumed calories per day.

EDIT: Just took a peak at your exercise diary - IMO you are vastly over-estimating the calories burned. I would drop the housework-related stuff altogether, the 30DS I would cut in half, and for walking, don't use MFP, use this formula:

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked

TitaniaEcks

Okay, I looked at your diary and it says it's allotting you over 2600 calories a day? And that you burned almost 800 calories today with extra exercise? That doesn't seem right based on what you said earlier in this thread, so I'm gonna try and see what's not adding up.

1) How old are you
2) How tall are you
3) how much do you weigh
4) please describe a typical day for you... all physical activities

And we'll calculate from there.

TitaniaEcks

In the last 8 days, there appear to be two with incomplete logs and one with over 3300 calories. The logged days average out to ~1800 consumed calories per day.

EDIT: Just took a peak at your exercise diary - IMO you are vastly over-estimating the calories burned. I would drop the housework-related stuff altogether, the 30DS I would cut in half, and for walking, don't use MFP, use this formula:

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked

I like that.

Also, I tend to agree that she's overestimating her burnt workout cals, and something tells me that where she's messing up is that she's eating back those already-overestimated workout calories very liberally. Just a hunch.

TeresaMarie46

Okay, I looked at your diary and it says it's allotting you over 2600 calories a day? And that you burned almost 800 calories today with extra exercise? That doesn't seem right based on what you said earlier in this thread, so I'm gonna try and see what's not adding up.

1) How old are you
2) How tall are you
3) how much do you weigh
4) please describe a typical day for you... all physical activities

And we'll calculate from there.

I am 5'1
Turned 49 years old Sept 19th.
Currently I weigh 238.2
Other than Asthma I am in excellent health.

A typical day for me would be both walking my dog about a mile, more weather permitting as it is extremely hot here.
I babysit my Grandbaby (4 months old). This involves going up and down the stairs several times a day, I put in 5 minutes because it is 2 flights of stairs (10 stairs each) because I do not know how long it takes me. I am up and down them constantly as her room is upstairs. I also take her for walks in her stroller (about a mile) not everyday. And about 4;30 or 5 AM I workout to 30 Day Shred. Monday I am beginning Level 3 which is 10 days. I am open to suggestions on next workout.

Oh, and I recently purchased New Lifting Rules for Women and I am waiting for it to arrive. My plan is to begin Lifting. I do not have a Lifting Plan set out yet...l. am open to suggestions on that as well. I will be doing this at home also because I babysit daily.

Thank you

TeresaMarie46

In the last 8 days, there appear to be two with incomplete logs and one with over 3300 calories. The logged days average out to ~1800 consumed calories per day.

EDIT: Just took a peak at your exercise diary - IMO you are vastly over-estimating the calories burned. I would drop the housework-related stuff altogether, the 30DS I would cut in half, and for walking, don't use MFP, use this formula:

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked

I like that.

Also, I tend to agree that she's overestimating her burnt workout cals, and something tells me that where she's messing up is that she's eating back those already-overestimated workout calories very liberally. Just a hunch.

Ok...MFP gives 294 for the Shred, by how much should I cut that. (EDIT) By half is 147 calories, does that sound right?
And I was told to eat back calories, thought it sounded off, but tried it anyhow.
And for walking I usually use MapMyWalk

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked....238 X3 X miles walked?

TitaniaEcks

In the last 8 days, there appear to be two with incomplete logs and one with over 3300 calories. The logged days average out to ~1800 consumed calories per day.

EDIT: Just took a peak at your exercise diary - IMO you are vastly over-estimating the calories burned. I would drop the housework-related stuff altogether, the 30DS I would cut in half, and for walking, don't use MFP, use this formula:

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked

I like that.

Also, I tend to agree that she's overestimating her burnt workout cals, and something tells me that where she's messing up is that she's eating back those already-overestimated workout calories very liberally. Just a hunch.

Ok...MFP gives 294 for the Shred, by how much should I cut that.
And I was told to eat back calories, thought it sounded off, but tried it anyhow.
And for walking I usually use MapMyWalk

OK, so based on what you told me, your BMR is about 1750 and based on your age, weight and activity level you're burning about 2700 a day (including exercise)... so what I would do is eat 1900-2000 calories a day to put you at a theoretical 700-800 cal deficit per day... this already includes exercise, so do *not* eat anything back! You should lose about 1.5 pounds per week with this method. If that still doesn't work, cut back a little more but do not go beneath your BMR.

Unless anyone has any objections, I think this is a good plan.

TitaniaEcks

Think of it this way: the calculator I use (the most reliable one IMO) says you're burning a total of 2700 a day, average. You ate 2600 today. If that is typical of every day for you, you're only creating a deficit of 100 calories a day... which means it would take you 35 days to lose a single pound. See what I'm getting at?

TeresaMarie46

In the last 8 days, there appear to be two with incomplete logs and one with over 3300 calories. The logged days average out to ~1800 consumed calories per day.

EDIT: Just took a peak at your exercise diary - IMO you are vastly over-estimating the calories burned. I would drop the housework-related stuff altogether, the 30DS I would cut in half, and for walking, don't use MFP, use this formula:

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked

I like that.

Also, I tend to agree that she's overestimating her burnt workout cals, and something tells me that where she's messing up is that she's eating back those already-overestimated workout calories very liberally. Just a hunch.

Ok...MFP gives 294 for the Shred, by how much should I cut that.
And I was told to eat back calories, thought it sounded off, but tried it anyhow.
And for walking I usually use MapMyWalk

OK, so based on what you told me, your BMR is about 1750 and based on your age, weight and activity level you're burning about 2700 a day (including exercise)... so what I would do is eat 1900-2000 calories a day to put you at a theoretical 700-800 cal deficit per day... this already includes exercise, so do *not* eat anything back! You should lose about 1.5 pounds per week with this method. If that still doesn't work, cut back a little more but do not go beneath your BMR.

Unless anyone has any objections, I think this is a good plan.

So stay at or as close as I can get to those numbers and is it best to stay at that and NOT under?

I apologize for picking your brain. I just feel that based on following "previous" info that I should have been closer to goal weight than I am. I want to get this right once and for all. I refuse to give up. After all this time of little to no progress, I felt the need to ask about my Calorie Deficit. I had a very strong feeling that I was way off somewhere, but did not know where to look, and knowing that I needed help in getting this figured out.

Thank you all so very much for all your responses. And feel free to check in on me to see if I have this right...and steer me in the right direction if I waver off road. PM me if needed, I am determined but obedient...lol

TeresaMarie46

Think of it this way: the calculator I use (the most reliable one IMO) says you're burning a total of 2700 a day, average. You ate 2600 today. If that is typical of every day for you, you're only creating a deficit of 100 calories a day... which means it would take you 35 days to lose a single pound. See what I'm getting at?

I definitely see what you mean, and you are right on target. My Grandbaby was born Memorial Day, I re-started this journey when she was a week old. She is 4 months old today, and I have lost about 5 pounds....that's crazy.

My journey originally started in 2012 I believe, I lost 40 pounds. My mom passed away November 10th, I struggled with that for a bit, regained 10 pounds, and now I am at it again.

Thank you

TitaniaEcks

In the last 8 days, there appear to be two with incomplete logs and one with over 3300 calories. The logged days average out to ~1800 consumed calories per day.

EDIT: Just took a peak at your exercise diary - IMO you are vastly over-estimating the calories burned. I would drop the housework-related stuff altogether, the 30DS I would cut in half, and for walking, don't use MFP, use this formula:

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked

I like that.

Also, I tend to agree that she's overestimating her burnt workout cals, and something tells me that where she's messing up is that she's eating back those already-overestimated workout calories very liberally. Just a hunch.

Ok...MFP gives 294 for the Shred, by how much should I cut that.
And I was told to eat back calories, thought it sounded off, but tried it anyhow.
And for walking I usually use MapMyWalk

OK, so based on what you told me, your BMR is about 1750 and based on your age, weight and activity level you're burning about 2700 a day (including exercise)... so what I would do is eat 1900-2000 calories a day to put you at a theoretical 700-800 cal deficit per day... this already includes exercise, so do *not* eat anything back! You should lose about 1.5 pounds per week with this method. If that still doesn't work, cut back a little more but do not go beneath your BMR.

Unless anyone has any objections, I think this is a good plan.

So stay at or as close as I can get to those numbers and is it best to stay at that and NOT under?

Stay right around them. 100 calories over or under should not make much difference. Just try to keep it right around that level.

Glad to be of service. Good luck!

TeresaMarie46

In the last 8 days, there appear to be two with incomplete logs and one with over 3300 calories. The logged days average out to ~1800 consumed calories per day.

EDIT: Just took a peak at your exercise diary - IMO you are vastly over-estimating the calories burned. I would drop the housework-related stuff altogether, the 30DS I would cut in half, and for walking, don't use MFP, use this formula:

calories burned = 0.3 x body weight in pounds x miles walked

I like that.

Also, I tend to agree that she's overestimating her burnt workout cals, and something tells me that where she's messing up is that she's eating back those already-overestimated workout calories very liberally. Just a hunch.

Ok...MFP gives 294 for the Shred, by how much should I cut that.
And I was told to eat back calories, thought it sounded off, but tried it anyhow.
And for walking I usually use MapMyWalk

OK, so based on what you told me, your BMR is about 1750 and based on your age, weight and activity level you're burning about 2700 a day (including exercise)... so what I would do is eat 1900-2000 calories a day to put you at a theoretical 700-800 cal deficit per day... this already includes exercise, so do *not* eat anything back! You should lose about 1.5 pounds per week with this method. If that still doesn't work, cut back a little more but do not go beneath your BMR.

Unless anyone has any objections, I think this is a good plan.

So stay at or as close as I can get to those numbers and is it best to stay at that and NOT under?

Stay right around them. 100 calories over or under should not make much difference. Just try to keep it right around that level.

Glad to be of service. Good luck!

I want to thank you again, I am so appreciative to you for all your time that you took to answer my endless questions. I just wished that I had asked a long time ago, only I did not know that was where I was going wrong. So come Monday I am logging 30DS at 147 calories, and using the calculations that the other gentleman gave me for walking. I was completely sold on MFP's calorie burned calculations, just to find out they are not accurate...all I can say is WOW!!.

BTW...one more question....once I begin lifting, do I keep my intake at 1900-2000?

TitaniaEcks

BTW...one more question....once I begin lifting, do I keep my intake at 1900-2000?

I'm not well-versed on lifting but from what I understand it's more for increasing muscle-to-fat ratio than knocking off calories... if you keep your calorie intake right around the same level as before you were lifting, then what will happen (from what I understand) is you will be trading current fat for the same amount of muscle... do NOT quote me on this, as I'm only good at diets. The fitness and exercise forum would be the ones to answer that question for you. :-)