Calorie Deficit - Seems to be a hot but confusing topic.

Alinnn

At the first sight, you should eat more especially if u exercise so you stay healthy and basically loose from your body fat and not from your muscles,coz you ll eventually shrink a bit when your body ll had to burn the glycogen from you muscles to maintain homeostasis. If u wanna add let's say 500 kcals on a daily basis but u don`t feel the need to eat,u could do the next things:
1. add a dinner!!!!!!
2. dived your meals in more than 3 per day.
you should keep in mind that loosing weight must be a safe long term process and the most important thing should be your safety and health.

jeffpettis

There really isn't anything complicated or confusing about a calorie deficit...it's just that people like to overcomplicate things. You need XXXX calories to maintain....you cut 500 calories from that to lose about 1 Lb per week...it's pretty much like 5th grad math. Maybe why they had that show, "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Apparently a lot of people aren't.

When I didn't exercise I needed about 2400 calories to maintain...which means to lose about 1 Lb per week I needed to eat around 1900 calories. I did that for quite awhile and finally started getting my fitness on. That activity wasn't accounted for in my activity level with MFP so those 300 calories I burned needed to be tacked onto those 1900 calories...so I grossed roughly 2200 calories. Note that my new maintenance with exercise would also now be 2700 calories...so at 2200 calories, I'm still at a 500 calorie deficit from maintenance.

See...5th grade math.

Edit: as others have noted, you have to be careful not to overestimate burn...if you're probably not burning 700 calories in an hour. I burn about 600 calories in an hour of cycling non-stop at about 15ish MPH...it's a pretty good clip and there's no stopping...I see people logging those kinds of burns all of the time for what amounts to a joy ride with their kids...most people don't burn as much as they think they burn. If it seems too good to be true then it probably is. I used to eat back about 80% of what my HRM told me I burned for an aerobic event to account for estimation error. If you're using a database, you likely will need to account for more error due largely to the fact the people tend to overestimate their level of effort because they are "tired" when they're done.

^^^^ Well Said!^^^^ :drinker:

calliekitten9

There really isn't anything complicated or confusing about a calorie deficit...it's just that people like to overcomplicate things. You need XXXX calories to maintain....you cut 500 calories from that to lose about 1 Lb per week...it's pretty much like 5th grad math. Maybe why they had that show, "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Apparently a lot of people aren't.

When I didn't exercise I needed about 2400 calories to maintain...which means to lose about 1 Lb per week I needed to eat around 1900 calories. I did that for quite awhile and finally started getting my fitness on. That activity wasn't accounted for in my activity level with MFP so those 300 calories I burned needed to be tacked onto those 1900 calories...so I grossed roughly 2200 calories. Note that my new maintenance with exercise would also now be 2700 calories...so at 2200 calories, I'm still at a 500 calorie deficit from maintenance.

See...5th grade math.

But I think a lot of individuals reason....hey, if I can lose 1 lb by only eating X% less than my maintenance weight...then I could certainly lose a lot more if I consume even less calories. You are right..this isn't complicated, however we end up complicating matters by trying to "under" eat our calories.

cwolfman13

There really isn't anything complicated or confusing about a calorie deficit...it's just that people like to overcomplicate things. You need XXXX calories to maintain....you cut 500 calories from that to lose about 1 Lb per week...it's pretty much like 5th grad math. Maybe why they had that show, "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" Apparently a lot of people aren't.

When I didn't exercise I needed about 2400 calories to maintain...which means to lose about 1 Lb per week I needed to eat around 1900 calories. I did that for quite awhile and finally started getting my fitness on. That activity wasn't accounted for in my activity level with MFP so those 300 calories I burned needed to be tacked onto those 1900 calories...so I grossed roughly 2200 calories. Note that my new maintenance with exercise would also now be 2700 calories...so at 2200 calories, I'm still at a 500 calorie deficit from maintenance.

See...5th grade math.

But I think a lot of individuals reason....hey, if I can lose 1 lb by only eating X% less than my maintenance weight...then I could certainly lose a lot more if I consume even less calories. You are right..this isn't complicated, however we end up complicating matters by trying to "under" eat our calories.

True...and what those individuals fail to realize is that they're racing towards a finish line that doesn't exist. They haven't grasped the concept of "lifestyle" and living a lifestyle that is fitness oriented and nutrition driven. Once you truly embrace that concept, arbitrary "finish lines" disappear and are replace by ever more challenging goals.

highervibes

Why do you suppose it's hard for you to reach 1200 calories without feeling like you're eating all day or really full? What is different? Are you trying to eat different foods because they're "better" for you? This is what I initially did in the beginning but now that I eat foods I LIKE it's hard to rein in it lol. Try adding some foods you like but think you shouldn't be allowed to have and you'll reach a normal calorie goal in no time, and you might learn moderation too Good luck.