How Do You Calculate Your Own Appropriate Calorie Deficit?

KatNewby
KatNewby Posts: 26
in Health and Weight Loss
Apparently people are sick of other believing that 1,200 calories a day is healthy, but nowhere can I find a semi-understandable way to calculate how many calories I SHOULD be eating.

Should the deficit be 500 calories? Should I eat back all of the calories I burn off at the gym, or 60%?
I also don't know if I should be doing high intensity cardio intervals mixed with weight training, or lots of low intensity cardio, or just weight training. I honestly have no idea! This place is a treasure trove of conflicting ideas.

I already read the "Road Map" post, and it was too difficult to understand as a beginner.

If it helps, here's a little about me:

Gender: Female
Age: 21
Height: 5'4
Weight: 142lbs
BF%: No Idea
Goal Weight: 125lbs

I haven't decided on the level of activity I would like to take up, because I can't figure out what is best for me. But I assume that when I figure out which type of exercise I should be doing, I will probably exercise 4-5 hours a week.
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Replies

  • KatNewby
    KatNewby Posts: 26
    Bump.

    Please help me, fitness gurus! :)
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
    The bottom link is a Google spreadsheet that a Great guy(heybales) set up, it will help you figure your Body fat% and calculate your numbers, I would suggest reading through all the info first.

    Here is good info:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

    use this to figure your numbers if you want detail
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE
  • MumOfADuo
    MumOfADuo Posts: 294 Member
    msg helloitsdan he will tell you spot on.....
  • catfulford
    catfulford Posts: 62 Member
    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

    I used this to help me figure out my bmr. i am supposed to eat about 1500 a day and since then ive lost weight, and i dont feel like im starving.
    hope this helps :)
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Do you like to eat to a static number or vary it based on your workouts?

    How active are you in the day?
  • soniablack1650
    soniablack1650 Posts: 7
    At your age go with cardio and low weights and more reps. Your body will respond quickly. Plus more cardio will burn off fat faster. Building muscles helps to burn fat but it also adds more weight so it can be confusing. You might want to try all different kinds of activities, dance, martial arts, swimming, zumba, pilates, yoga, orbitz, etc., because when you find one you really like, you'll want to go more often.
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    In Place of a RoadMap (link posted by Railr0aderTon) is full of all the information you need. I used my FitBit to figure out what my average calories burned weekly (did the average of 6 weeks) divided it by 7 (days of week) to find my average calories burned daily. Then I subtracted 20% (which is roughly 500 calories) and ended up with 1700 calories a day to eat. I roughly burn 2200 calories a day (running days are higher while weekends are low). I keep an eye each week and how my deficit is and will be increasing my calories to 1850 soon as I increase my running times.

    If you don't have a device like FitBit / BodyMedia then just figure out your TDEE (In Place of a RoadMap explains it all) and take 20% off (more if you have 30+ to lose and less if you have 10 pounds you can lower it)
  • iulia_maddie
    iulia_maddie Posts: 2,780 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
    This should help you out. It's very easy to follow.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    At your age go with cardio and low weights and more reps. Your body will respond quickly. Plus more cardio will burn off fat faster. Building muscles helps to burn fat but it also adds more weight so it can be confusing. You might want to try all different kinds of activities, dance, martial arts, swimming, zumba, pilates, yoga, orbitz, etc., because when you find one you really like, you'll want to go more often.

    What does age have to do with it?

    Strength training is important to preserve muscle mass while dieting and has a slew of other benefits, including improved bone density. I would imagine that the OP is more worried about BF% than scale weight (I would hope anyway).
  • JenaePavlak
    JenaePavlak Posts: 350 Member
    I like this site when recommending calories... http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
  • fastfoodietofitcutie
    fastfoodietofitcutie Posts: 523 Member
    Honestly, it's trial and error. You can follow all the "Road Map's" and calculations but you're still going to have to find what works for you.
  • Rbacchiega
    Rbacchiega Posts: 52 Member

    use this to figure your numbers if you want detail
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE

    I was having the same problem until someone walked me through this. First, go to the above link and fill in all the fields that are in YELLOW. Then, input/change the numbers on MFP to what they are in green.

    I was getting really confused with the whole "to eat back or not" but since this already takes into account the ammount/how often you're exercising, you don't eat back your calories. I switched my "goal calories burned/week" to zero so it doesn't confuse me (I'm easily confused!)

    For example, after all my numbers were in my TDE was roughly 2600. That's because I exercise 7 days a week so am in the "very active category". -20% of that leaves me with roughly 2000 calories that I need to consume in order to lose fat but retain muscle. Entering all these numbers in gave me a deficit of 400+ calories/day and a projected weightloss of .8lbs a week, which seems like a much steadier pace.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Honestly, it's trial and error. You can follow all the "Road Map's" and calculations but you're still going to have to find what works for you.

    ^^very true
  • mikey1976
    mikey1976 Posts: 1,005 Member
    bump for later thanks op
  • KatNewby
    KatNewby Posts: 26
    Thanks so much for your help, guys!

    Apparently my BF% based on the calculator as per my measurements is 27%. I would be more comfortable getting down to around 21-22%. I expected this number to higher, honestly. I should probably have my BF% correctly read at my gym, but it costs money, which I think it wrong.

    My "Total Daily Eating Goals" should be 1,630 calories if I do 120 minutes of high intensity cardio and 120 minutes of weight lifting per week.

    This was said to equate to a 0.8lb fat loss per week. It said that that doesn't necessarily mean I will lose 0.8lbs in weight a week though. Idk how long it will take me to get to my goal self, but everyday I put off doing the right thing as a day less that I get to enjoy a body I can be proud of!

    I'm hoping to have made great strides by July 26th, my wedding day!

    Thanks again :)
  • Babsy_B
    Babsy_B Posts: 3
    Honestly, it's trial and error. You can follow all the "Road Map's" and calculations but you're still going to have to find what works for you.

    I think that this is the best advice I've ever read : )
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    If there is one area in which MyFailPal totally fails it's that the site does not offer members any information to help them decide how many pounds to lose per week. So many people - particularly women - are choosing the wrong deficits simply because they are unaware that we have limits to how much fat that can be oxidized in a 24-hour period.

    To answer your main question, which [again] isn't addressed by MyFailPal, we calculate our deficits considering how much total fat mass we have and how much fat mass we wish to lose. Think of it as a maximum deficit in which fat reserves will be used as fuel since we all have a limit to how much fat that can be burned daily. The closer one reaches this maximum deficit, the more lean body mass is lost. If one goes over this max deficit, then only lean body mass, and not fat, is utilized.

    Use this simple formula: 31 x lbs of total fat mass.

    For me, 31 x 16 lbs = 496 max deficit

    This means that my theoretical max deficit should be no greater than 496 calories since my body will not burn more than that amount in fat mass daily. However, based on real world practice, I choose no more than a 300 calorie deficit since I seem to lose excess lean body mass beyond that.
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
    Thanks so much for your help, guys!

    Apparently my BF% based on the calculator as per my measurements is 27%. I would be more comfortable getting down to around 21-22%. I expected this number to higher, honestly. I should probably have my BF% correctly read at my gym, but it costs money, which I think it wrong.

    My "Total Daily Eating Goals" should be 1,630 calories if I do 120 minutes of high intensity cardio and 120 minutes of weight lifting per week.

    This was said to equate to a 0.8lb fat loss per week. It said that that doesn't necessarily mean I will lose 0.8lbs in weight a week though. Idk how long it will take me to get to my goal self, but everyday I put off doing the right thing as a day less that I get to enjoy a body I can be proud of!

    I'm hoping to have made great strides by July 26th, my wedding day!

    Thanks again :)

    Plan your work and work your plan, you have the tools now use them, and congrats on your wedding.
  • KatNewby
    KatNewby Posts: 26
    If there is one area in which MyFailPal totally fails it's that the site does not offer members any information to help them decide how many pounds to lose per week. So many people - particularly women - are choosing the wrong deficits simply because they are unaware that we have limits to how much fat that can be oxidized in a 24-hour period.

    To answer your main question, which [again] isn't addressed by MyFailPal, we calculate our deficits considering how much total fat mass we have and how much fat mass we wish to lose. Think of it as a maximum deficit in which fat reserves will be used as fuel since we all have a limit to how much fat that can be burned daily. The closer one reaches this maximum deficit, the more lean body mass is lost. If one goes over this max deficit, then only lean body mass, and not fat, is utilized.

    Use this simple formula: 31 x lbs of total fat mass.

    For me, 31 x 16 lbs = 496 max deficit

    This means that my theoretical max deficit should be no greater than 496 calories since my body will not burn more than that amount in fat mass daily. However, based on real world practice, I choose no more than a 300 calorie deficit since I seem to lose excess lean body mass beyond that.

    Confused about this, to be honest. Gah, I feel like everything around here is confusing, and I'm typically not that dense lol. According to your formula, my max deficit would be 1,178 because apparently my total body fat is 38lbs so that would be 31 x 38. If that's the case, then my calories could definitely b at 1,200. I understand that "max" might be the operative word here, but how do I know what sort of deficit I can have and still be within a healthy range that won't cause me to plateau.

    My ultimate goal here is to consume the least amount of calories without plateauing so that I can have the largest amount of loss in the shortest amount of time. I want to be healthy about this of course, but my wedding is just under 14 weeks away, so time is of the essence here.
  • KatNewby
    KatNewby Posts: 26
    bump
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
    This should help you out. It's very easy to follow.

    This is the simplest explanation. Did you read it? Do you have specific questions still?
  • backpacker44
    backpacker44 Posts: 160 Member

    use this to figure your numbers if you want detail
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE

    I was having the same problem until someone walked me through this. First, go to the above link and fill in all the fields that are in YELLOW. Then, input/change the numbers on MFP to what they are in green.

    I was getting really confused with the whole "to eat back or not" but since this already takes into account the ammount/how often you're exercising, you don't eat back your calories. I switched my "goal calories burned/week" to zero so it doesn't confuse me (I'm easily confused!)

    For example, after all my numbers were in my TDE was roughly 2600. That's because I exercise 7 days a week so am in the "very active category". -20% of that leaves me with roughly 2000 calories that I need to consume in order to lose fat but retain muscle. Entering all these numbers in gave me a deficit of 400+ calories/day and a projected weightloss of .8lbs a week, which seems like a much steadier pace.

    MFP says I should eat 1264 cals while that spreadsheets says I should eat 1890. Quite a big jump
  • backpacker44
    backpacker44 Posts: 160 Member

    use this to figure your numbers if you want detail
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE

    I was having the same problem until someone walked me through this. First, go to the above link and fill in all the fields that are in YELLOW. Then, input/change the numbers on MFP to what they are in green.

    I was getting really confused with the whole "to eat back or not" but since this already takes into account the ammount/how often you're exercising, you don't eat back your calories. I switched my "goal calories burned/week" to zero so it doesn't confuse me (I'm easily confused!)

    For example, after all my numbers were in my TDE was roughly 2600. That's because I exercise 7 days a week so am in the "very active category". -20% of that leaves me with roughly 2000 calories that I need to consume in order to lose fat but retain muscle. Entering all these numbers in gave me a deficit of 400+ calories/day and a projected weightloss of .8lbs a week, which seems like a much steadier pace.

    MFP says I should eat 1264 cals while that spreadsheets says I should eat 1890. Quite a big jump

    QUOTE:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy
    This should help you out. It's very easy to follow.


    This is the simplest explanation. Did you read it? Do you have specific questions still?

    And then that guys calculations says it should be 2146.4....
  • Rbacchiega
    Rbacchiega Posts: 52 Member
    MFP says I should eat 1264 cals while that spreadsheets says I should eat 1890. Quite a big jump

    yep. And at first MFP had me on 1200. No way my body could maintain itself at 1200 calories when I'm burning between 800-900 a day working out. When you do the TDEE-20% or whatever it factors in your workout regime. So you don't eat back calories. Even working out minimally at 1200/day you will throw your metabolism and body way off. You'll loose quickly at first but will eventually plateau as your body starts to go into starvation mode. Note. There is a HUGE difference between starvation mode and being hungry, so frequency of meals doesn't really have much to do with it. I eat 3 meals a day and snack in between. That spreadsheet will ensure steady, healthy fat loss while keeping your muscles/lean body mass. Where as with only 1200/day you'll lose muscle mass too.
  • Rbacchiega
    Rbacchiega Posts: 52 Member
    when doing TDEE-20% (or whatever percentage) you DONT eat back workout calories.
  • greeshu_89
    greeshu_89 Posts: 139 Member
    bump
  • Yooperm35
    Yooperm35 Posts: 787 Member
    when doing TDEE-20% (or whatever percentage) you DONT eat back workout calories.

    BUT do you figure your TDEE-20% at sedentary or do you set your activity level to match your activity?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    when doing TDEE-20% (or whatever percentage) you DONT eat back workout calories.

    BUT do you figure your TDEE-20% at sedentary or do you set your activity level to match your activity?

    Ah ha!

    Very true.

    Both are valid methods. And so many doing both ways, you gotta clarify almost.

    exercise TDEE with deficit, no eating back unless you do more exercise than planned. (also skipping some if you miss planned workout).

    non-exercise TDEE with deficit, and then eat-back exercise calories with same deficit when actually done.

    Benefit to the second MFP style method over doing it MFP's way, is the deficit is more reasonable 20-10% deficit compared to MFP blocks of calories, which size block may not be appropriate for you (250,500,750,1000).

    Besides which, very few are probably as "sedentary" as they think. Those with FitBit's and BodyMedia's discover on non-exercise days their desk job is actually Lightly Active in MFP world.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    MFP says I should eat 1264 cals while that spreadsheets says I should eat 1890. Quite a big jump

    1264 base NET goal daily.
    Now add on exercise calories - now how many are you really eating almost daily?

    Plus, that 1264. Based on 2lb loss goal? Based on Sedentary outside exercise? Is either true or best for amount to be lost, and maintaining muscle mass and only losing fat mass?

    Spreadsheet is basing it on amount to lose, and type and time of the planned activity. And you don't eat back exercise calories on top of the 1890, they are already in there. With goal to maintain muscle mass and only lose fat mass.
  • snooj
    snooj Posts: 69 Member
    There's a bunch of ways to figure it out. This is how I figured out mine, and is more accurate than using calculators to guess your maintenance and guess how much you burn.

    While on a workout program, record how much you eat and weight. After a week or two, check your weight again. Did it go up? Decrease it. Did it go down? Increase it. Did it stay the same? Congrats, you found maintenance.

    To find a deficit: take 10-20% off of your maintenance to lose 1-2 lb a week. Losing weight too fast? Increase your calories. Losing too slowly? Decrease. Weight loss just right? You found an appropriate deficit.

    Doing this, you don't have to worry about figuring out what you burn, how many calories to eat back or anything. The only thing to consider is if you add more exercise, that'll increase your maintenance, so if you want the weight loss to be the same as before you'll need to up your calories. Or, you can use that to get a bigger deficit.

    Calculators are great to get a starting idea on how many calories you may need. They're just not perfect. I know for me they say I should be in the 1900s, but I've found it's more 1800 after playing around. Use one to know where to start at, and go from there.

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