What does eating at a deficit mean?

NaomiMc_Ra

HI,

I now what all the words mean just don't undertsand what it is. I see lots of people post 'I ate a a 20% deficit' but don;t know how this refers to me calorie intake per day

KarenJanine

Eating less than your maintenance (aka TDEE - total daily energy expenditure).

christa279

It means they are eating 20% less than their TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). Basically they figure out how much energy (calories) they would burn in a day and eat below that.

weber22c

The deficit is in reference to your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). A 20% deficit would mean that the number of calories you're eating per day is 20% lower than your TDEE. Let's say that your TDEE is 2000 kcal/day. 20% of 2000 is 400 kcal, so in order to be at a 20% deficit, you'd be eating 2000 - 400 = 1600 kcal/day.

There are several online calculators you can use to determine your TDEE, which depends on your individual height, weight, age, and activity level.

neandermagnon

it means they're eating 20% fewer calories than they're burning off. There are calculators that can estimate how many calories you're burning each day.... eating at a 20% deficit means subtracting 20% from this number, and eating that many calories.

NaomiMc_Ra

Thanks all - this was really helpful!!