article re: increasing deficit calc as you lose weight

rocket_ace

Interesting points in this article (for ex: "THE FIX: [When starting at 203lbs, rather than the old school 500 calories a week deficit,] the simulator reveals that to lose 20 pounds in 20 weeks without additional exercise actually requires a daily deficit of 656 calories, which means a daily budget of 2,392 calories. When you hit your target of 185 pounds, you need to recalculate your baseline: Your new daily max for weight maintenance is now 2,835 calories. Other research by Hall suggests that if you're patient, you can lose 10 pounds painlessly. A 100-calorie-a-day deficit can do the trick. Half the weight will come off in a year, and 95 percent in 3 years.")

http://www.menshealth.com/weight-loss/new-math-calorie-counting

using the following calculator:

http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/

johned63

I played around with that calculator a few weeks ago and thought it was quite interesting. Some of the features did not seem to work, or I just did not understand how it was working.

rocket_ace

yeah - its giving me JAVA PLUGIN problems lol. I think my takeaway is just going to be over-estimating my required deficit. so instead of 1000 cals daily, I'm making it 1200-1300 (mostly from extra exercise).

myofibril

Other research by Hall suggests that if you're patient, you can lose 10 pounds painlessly. A 100-calorie-a-day deficit can do the trick. Half the weight will come off in a year, and 95 percent in 3 years.")

Whilst I think this is a great idea in theory I think that small a deficit is not practicably possible on a long term basis.

It seems our bodies have an utterly remarkable ability to self regulate around a certain weight range withing a very small range of calories. Our conscious ability to track calories with that level of precision is a pipe dream in my view. Incorrect food labeling with margins of errors, forgetting to weigh something, the biscuit you eat without thinking and doesn't get recorded. BOOM, deficit wiped out.

I think, in general terms, being generous with your deficit is a much better idea than being stingy with it...

SideSteel

Other research by Hall suggests that if you're patient, you can lose 10 pounds painlessly. A 100-calorie-a-day deficit can do the trick. Half the weight will come off in a year, and 95 percent in 3 years.")

Whilst I think this is a great idea in theory I think that small a deficit is not practicably possible on a long term basis.

It seems our bodies have an utterly remarkable ability to self regulate around a certain weight range withing a very small range of calories. Our conscious ability to track calories with that level of precision is a pipe dream in my view. Incorrect food labeling with margins of errors, forgetting to weigh something, the biscuit you eat without thinking and doesn't get recorded. BOOM, deficit wiped out.

I think, in general terms, being generous with your deficit is a much better idea than being stingy with it...

^ Agreed. Trying to actually maintain a 100cal deficit isn't likely to happen.

rocket_ace

Other research by Hall suggests that if you're patient, you can lose 10 pounds painlessly. A 100-calorie-a-day deficit can do the trick. Half the weight will come off in a year, and 95 percent in 3 years.")

Whilst I think this is a great idea in theory I think that small a deficit is not practicably possible on a long term basis.

It seems our bodies have an utterly remarkable ability to self regulate around a certain weight range withing a very small range of calories. Our conscious ability to track calories with that level of precision is a pipe dream in my view. Incorrect food labeling with margins of errors, forgetting to weigh something, the biscuit you eat without thinking and doesn't get recorded. BOOM, deficit wiped out.

I think, in general terms, being generous with your deficit is a much better idea than being stingy with it...

^ Agreed. Trying to actually maintain a 100cal deficit isn't likely to happen.

Not just that - but I personally don't want a freaking 5 year plan to lose all the weight (I have lost 47, have probably 40 to go)....I need this to end at some point so I can get into maintenance mode and live a normal life. I always find it ridiculous when they say just make small changes...how do you do that w/ such specificity (100 cals a day?) if you are not actually tracking cals...I don't plan on tracking cals my whole life...maybe 6 months into maintenance so I get the idea...

myofibril

yeah - its giving me JAVA PLUGIN problems lol.

Are you using Firefox?

Try a different browser which doesn't block some Java content (like IE...)

Tried the simulator and it was very groovy

Tilran

Other research by Hall suggests that if you're patient, you can lose 10 pounds painlessly. A 100-calorie-a-day deficit can do the trick. Half the weight will come off in a year, and 95 percent in 3 years.")

Whilst I think this is a great idea in theory I think that small a deficit is not practicably possible on a long term basis.

It seems our bodies have an utterly remarkable ability to self regulate around a certain weight range withing a very small range of calories. Our conscious ability to track calories with that level of precision is a pipe dream in my view. Incorrect food labeling with margins of errors, forgetting to weigh something, the biscuit you eat without thinking and doesn't get recorded. BOOM, deficit wiped out.

I think, in general terms, being generous with your deficit is a much better idea than being stingy with it...

^ Agreed. Trying to actually maintain a 100cal deficit isn't likely to happen.

Not just that - but I personally don't want a freaking 5 year plan to lose all the weight (I have lost 47, have probably 40 to go)....I need this to end at some point so I can get into maintenance mode and live a normal life. I always find it ridiculous when they say just make small changes...how do you do that w/ such specificity (100 cals a day?) if you are not actually tracking cals...I don't plan on tracking cals my whole life...maybe 6 months into maintenance so I get the idea...

Honestly it becomes habit. You shouldent be thinking of it as a diet...if its a struggle right now, thats a problem. You should find out what is "tough" about what you are doing and try to work around that. When you hit goal, you may not need to be as exact with your tracking, but I still recommend tracking.

STrooper

Not just that - but I personally don't want a freaking 5 year plan to lose all the weight (I have lost 47, have probably 40 to go)....I need this to end at some point so I can get into maintenance mode and live a normal life. I always find it ridiculous when they say just make small changes...how do you do that w/ such specificity (100 cals a day?) if you are not actually tracking cals...I don't plan on tracking cals my whole life...maybe 6 months into maintenance so I get the idea...

Actually it could be as simple (as it was in my case) to give up that daily carbonated soft drink or flavored coffee creamer AND sugar in the coffee (now that one was an eye-opener in more ways than one).

Although I did start my weight loss 5-years ago, I didn't get serious about it until 2010. I had managed to go from 248 down to 214 and then gradually back up to 232. I dropped from 232 to 200 in 3 months, 10 pounds in the next 6 months, and zero pounds for the next year (2011). It took tracking the food with the gradual recalc of calorie allowance, which MFP presents as an alternative as you drop weight, to finally fall to 168.

Maintenence is a little weirder than you might imagine, so 6 months of maintenance might not be enough. But I agree, tracking food will not last forever.

liftingbro

I think as a preson gets more lean they need to have smaller deficits where as a very obese person can run a deficit well into the 1500 per day range and be OK. Basically, the more fat you have the bigger deficit you can run and be OK. Now, 100 calories per day would be extremely slow and hard to pin down but 10-15% seems OK.