How would you fix a deficit of 1500 cal?

Not all of us are on here to lose weight. I'm in the same boat. My daily goal is 2530 cal NET a day. I eat a ton, but eating clean is MUCH harder to fill all of those calorie requirements. Some days I have to eat 3500 calories to get to where I want to be. Often I find I have to eat something like 1800 calories for dinner. Any suggestions that people have for CLEAN calories would be greatly appreciated. I'm already eating:
Almonds
Quinoa
Pinto Beans
Chicken
Salmon
Greek Yogurt
Organic Granola
Shrimp
Kale
Spinach
Asparagus
Onions
Garlic
Egg Whites

Thank you in advance

^ Please ignore all that crap. If you don't eat back calories your deficit will be much too large. MFP's numbers already put you at a deficit, and not eating them back is just foolish. I recommend eating back at least 1/2 - 2/3 of what you burned...with the idea being the more you burn the more you should eat back.

not necessarily true. My BMR is about 1400 Calories. My recommended cal intake is 1200, which is ony a 200 calorie deficit. Having a 500 daily calorie deficit is recommended to lose 1 pound per week. Therefore is I eat 1200 calories and burn 300 during the day I have created the 500 calorie difference and can expect a weight loss of about 1 pound per week. Or am I completely off base? The math makes sense to me...

I'm just going to jump in really quickly and share my two cents.

The caloric deficit you're referring to isn't actually supposed to be calculated from your BMR. BMR is what your body needs just to operate, as in breathe, digest, think, etc. We should all be eating our BMR at the absolute, very minimum. Eating below BMR consistently actually will put your body into a sort of starvation mode, which can pose some pretty scary health risks and messes with your metabolism. It can actually cause you to gain weight, as your body is afraid it is dying. (I'm not kidding, I'm living proof. My BMR is 1452, and I ate around 1200 calories per day for quite some time, was sick all the time, hair falling out, etc.. and then I started to GAIN WEIGHT on only 1200/day while exercising.. scary stuff.)

When people refer to a caloric deficit they mean from your TDEE (today daily energy expenditure). Here's how it works:

To maintain your current weight, eat at TDEE
To gain weight, eat above TDEE
To lose weight, eat below TDEE


Recommended caloric deficits are around 10-15% depending on the person. You can calculate your estimated TDEE and BMR here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ This calculator will also allow you to see what your cut amount is at the varying percentages. You can play around with the numbers, but you'll see that it's always recommended to eat above your BMR, sometimes significantly.

Please, please always eat AT LEAST your BMR. I don't want to sound preachy or anything, I just know what it was like for me personally to struggle to maintain a low calorie diet and the awful effects it had on my body and I don't wish that on anyone.

I believe you I really do, but it just doesn't make sense to me. it makes me mad when I don't understand things straight off haha. In my mind I see myself eating 1400 calories because that's what my body will burn all on its own, but I don't know how eating above that then burning off calories doesn't just add to what is already on my body.

also sorry op I am completely thread jacking. To fix your deficit I would go for calorie dense food to keep your energy up from your run. Dried fruit and such will give your the calorie boost but wont stuff you. Which is funny becuase I have to give myself the exact opposite advice haha

To clarify:

I(am a guy btw ) am trying to lose weight. And I am set on eating back most of those cals(I want to do this as "right as possible").
Besides that, I am training my muscles a little bit(after losing weight, I am planning on tackling my muscles), and I am also training my fitness-level/stamina.

I know that my plan isn't fully-fledged good, but I think it's pretty okay. Still, thanks for the input.

The place you're getting confused is between bmr and tdee BMR = basal metabolic rate = what your body would burn if you stayed in bed 24/7 just to maintain where you are. The example given often is - this is what you'd burn in a coma. TDEE = total daily energy expenditure = the amount you actually burn in a day doing things like getting out of bed, walking to the bathroom, walking to the car to sit at your deskjob, walking through the grocery store, and other day-to-day energy expenses. Eating at your TDEE will maintain your current weight at your normal daily rate of expenditure.

So what does that mean? It means if you're eating at 1400 - which is your BMR according to what you said - you are already eatting at a deficet, because you're eating what you'd need to eat if you were in a coma. Your TDEE/actual daily burn might be 1800, 1900, 2100, 2300, etc.

To find out, go to http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ and look up your bmr and tdee. Remember, TDEE is what you're actually burning each day just by going through your daily life - not your BMR.

And don't worry, it confuses a lot of people when they get started! There are a lot of great resources around the forum for this.

The place you're getting confused is between bmr and tdee BMR = basal metabolic rate = what your body would burn if you stayed in bed 24/7 just to maintain where you are. The example given often is - this is what you'd burn in a coma. TDEE = total daily energy expenditure = the amount you actually burn in a day doing things like getting out of bed, walking to the bathroom, walking to the car to sit at your deskjob, walking through the grocery store, and other day-to-day energy expenses. Eating at your TDEE will maintain your current weight at your normal daily rate of expenditure.

So what does that mean? It means if you're eating at 1400 - which is your BMR according to what you said - you are already eatting at a deficet, because you're eating what you'd need to eat if you were in a coma. Your TDEE/actual daily burn might be 1800, 1900, 2100, 2300, etc.

To find out, go to http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ and look up your bmr and tdee. Remember, TDEE is what you're actually burning each day just by going through your daily life - not your BMR.

And don't worry, it confuses a lot of people when they get started! There are a lot of great resources around the forum for this.

You my dear are wonderful! THAT is what I was looking for. Thank you very much I really appriciate it

I dont ever eat back the calories that I burned. I always stay between 1100-1300 with my goal being 1390. Everything I burned I just see as extra towards my weight loss not towards my food.

^ Please ignore all that crap. If you don't eat back calories your deficit will be much too large. MFP's numbers already put you at a deficit, and not eating them back is just foolish. I recommend eating back at least 1/2 - 2/3 of what you burned...with the idea being the more you burn the more you should eat back.

For example:

My TDEE is 2500
My BMR is 1500

If I told MFP I wanted to lose 2lbs a week it would put me at 1500 cals a day. If I go any lower than that with exercise I'm creating an even larger deficit. If you're 100+lbs overweight that's fine, for a little while. If not, it's just not the healthiest or most sustainable thing to do. Not gonna kill you or anything but if you can treat your body better, be more kind to yourself and still lose, why wouldn't you?


And this....

I don't think guys should be eating back their cals either.

Big muscles and big belly.

NOt attractive.

At first I was :noway: and then I was :laugh:

not necessarily true. My BMR is about 1400 Calories. My recommended cal intake is 1200, which is ony a 200 calorie deficit. Having a 500 daily calorie deficit is recommended to lose 1 pound per week. Therefore is I eat 1200 calories and burn 300 during the day I have created the 500 calorie difference and can expect a weight loss of about 1 pound per week. Or am I completely off base? The math makes sense to me...