Increase deficit

sky379

According to my profile, I burn 1620 calories from daily activities and my daily caloric goal is 1200, which gives a deficit of 420. What should I do to increase my caloric deficit to at least 1lb, if not 1.5lb per week, since now my deficit is 0.8lb per pound. I also have cardio work outs 4/week for average of 90 minutes.
Should I custom change my goals and lower my calories or increase more working out. or just leave it as it is? Is there a way to see what my daily deficit was for each day (not just my projected deficit on my goals)? THanks

Lady_C_the_1st

If you have not got much to lose then more than 1lb a week may be pushing it for your body.

fergmelk

Are you *logging* your cardio workouts? Because the way the calorie counter works is that it gives you "bonus" calories for your exercise.

So assuming you have 4 cardio workouts a week for 90 min each, you're probably burning an extra 2000-3000 calories per week (depending on the intensity of your cardio activity) that you may not be factoring into your bigger calorie deficit picture.


For example, I freaked out when I saw my daily caloric goal of 1340 calories (for 2lb a week), because I knew that for sure my body would go into starvation mode with that great of a deficit given my activity level. So I changed my goal to 1lb a week for a caloric goal of 1840 calories a day, BUT, after a few days of food and exercise logging, I realized how the calorie calculator works and switched back to a 2lb a week goal. And to be honest, I almost *never* use up all of my "bonus" calories. I find if I'm eating right, I struggle to come CLOSE and am full and have no desire to eat more.

edited to add: to sum up, if you log your exercise, MFP adds your burned calories into your caloric goal for the day -- so any deficit between what you ate and your goal can be added to the standard deficit in your profile....