daily calorie deficit question

labrennan

I am getting back to MFP after being on weight watchers for awhile. After inputting the my info I am at 1450 calories a day to lose 1 pound a week. The daily calorie deficit shows 500. Can someone tell me what the daily calorie deficit is?

FredSetToGetFit

That is 500 cals below your tdee (total daily energy expenditure) This is the 500 cals that you are eating less than what you are burning, resulting in the 1 pound a week weight loss.

DrJenO

500 calories a day x 7 days = 3500 calorie deficit for the week = 1 pound of fat loss

CA_Underdog

500 calories a day x 7 days = 3500 calorie deficit for the week = 1 pound of fat loss

+1. So, if you eat 1450 calories/day, you'll lose a pound a week.

TheWorstHorse

MFP calculates a calorie deficit based on your daily metabolic rate (determined by how active you are, your age, your weight) and the amount of weight you want to lose each week. So MFP Is telling you that you need 1950 calories to maintain your weight and that if you eat 500 calories a day less than that, you will lose roughly one pound a week. Some caveats:

These numbers do not include your exercise. MFP uses the "eat back your exercise calories" method. So if you do an hour of cardio and burn an additional 300 calories you need to eat enough to make up for them or 1450+300=1750.

You need to chose the right activity level to get a good estimated daily metabolic rate. Most people set it too low and end up with a net calorie target that is too low.

Your mileage may vary. Heart rate monitors and other devices that estimate calories burned often over-estimate. Human beings and other devices that estimate calories consumed often under-estimate. So the best thing to do is use the numbers as a guideline, watch how your weight changes over the course of three or four weeks and make adjustments based on the results.

AmyRhubarb

Yup - what they said.

So basically your goal of 1450 cals a day is 500 calories less than what your body burns all day long - and this is without exercise. So you could eat all 1450 calories every day, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. When you log exercise, those burned cals will be added back into your goal - you are supposed to eat them back (at least a portion of them), and you'll still be in a sensible, sustainable calorie deficit, and lose fat.

labrennan

Thanks everyone! Now I get it!:happy:

waltaire

Hi, so I have a similar question :-). My target calorie intake in order to lose weight without exercising is 1200 per day. Today, for instance, I have logged over that amount in food and there is a "deficit" called out in red. My understanding is that this red deficit is the amount I need to exercise in order to lose weight - is this correct? My confusion is that I thought the deficit was an amount of calories I still needed to eat. I am just returning to MFP after several months and experiencing some confusion.

Sued0nim

The figure in red means that is how much you've gone over your target calories

You can choose to increase activity or eat less another day to compensate

Or you can draw a line under it and move on