New with questions about caloric deficits

tarynchatfield
tarynchatfield Posts: 43 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I apologize if any of this sounds silly. I'm brand new to this and completely lost.

I began going to the gym regularly (4 - 6 times a week) early March and was seeing slight results, but hadn't been paying much attention to my diet. I ate out nearly every day due to being a full-time student and working forty hours a week. After doing a juice cleanse for a week early April, I started eating healthier, cooking at home and only having one or two cheat meals, and eyeballing how many calories I was eating. I decided May would be the month I start really counting calories and did it for the first time today. Which is when the confusion set in.
I have read multiple places that losing weight means a deficit of 500 calories a day or 3500 calories a week. MFP calculated I should be eating 1200 calories per day. However, I log my exercise after my food and it ups my remaining calories?

Female
Age: 19
Height: 5'4

CW: 131 lbs
GW: 123 lbs
UGW: 118-120 lbs

BMR: 1433
BMI: 22.5

I suppose my question is, when calculating the deficit, do you account for BMR? Or should I only base it off of how much I burn when I exercise? And why is MFP upping my remaining calories if there's supposed to be a deficit for me to lose weight?

Replies

  • Orient_Charm
    Orient_Charm Posts: 385 Member
    up....
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
    The deficit is already calculated - exercising gives you more calorie burn, so you should be eating more otherwise you have too large a deficit. Exercising is good to be able to 1. eat more, 2. feel healthier (endorphins are great), 3. retain muscle from weight training and obviously 4. BE healthier and fitter.

    Check my diary out for an idea - I have a NET of 1600, which means when I exercise 400calories off I EAT this back, totalling about 2000 calories intake a day :) Remember, macros are important too (macros = carbs,fat, protein)

    I don't know about your stats, I am 5'7 started at 150lbs, now about 140lbs and goal is 130lbs or so (I judge in kilos so this is a rough guess in pounds). I used to eat 1200, but found it wasn't enough so upped it to 1400 and now 1600. I feel so great at 1600 - full of energy, but definitely still seeing changes in my body. Progress is slow-ish, however I have a small amount to lose so don't expect it to be that fast.

    edit: just saw your stats are there. You have a small amount to lose so expect slow progress. More than a pound a week would likely mean a lot of muscle loss, so don't aim for that high. If you plugged in 2lb a week loss then of course MFP will give you a very low calorie count HOWEVER this won't mean you will lose faster - everyone has a unique body which reacts differently and you are likely severely under eating at 1200cals + exercise without eating cals back! YOU MUST be eating over your BMR
  • ssl444
    ssl444 Posts: 88 Member
    The calorie allowance MFP gives you already has your defecit built in to the figure, (this figure is based upon your tde which is your total daily expenditure ie your bmr plus calories you burn from your day to day activities - all your bmr is, is the calories your body burns if you sat on your bum all day) MFP calculates from the info you enter what your tde is and then gives you an allowance which will be less than ths figure so that it as created your defecit, so if you exercise and earn an additional 200 calories MFP adds this on to your daily allowance as you already have your defecit, please try to eat the figure MFP gives you or you run the risk of having to large a defecit and halting your progress as you will slow your metabolism down.

    Don't over think it, MFP has done the maths for you, just make sure you are accurate when filling out your food diary, log everything and measure everything to get exact amounts don't guestimate.

    Good luck in your journey.

    For example, if I click on goals I can see that MFP estimates I burn 1840 calories from my daily routine, MFP gives me a daily allowance of 1200 calories creating a defecit of 640 calories = 1.3pounds a week loss. If I enter I have burnt 200 calories MFP will add this onto my daily allowance as my daily calorie burn has just increased to 2040 calories so if I eat 1400 calories (my daily allowance plus exercise calories), 2040 - 1400 I have still kept my defecit of 640 calories. Do not be tempted to not eat your exercise calories to give you a bigger calorie defecit to lose weight quicker a this will be a quick fix solution not a long term weight loss.

Categories