Relating my daily calories to a calorie deficit?

kayychristina
kayychristina Posts: 1
edited January 23 in Food and Nutrition
I've been trying to look up all this stuff and it all just sounds like jibberish to me. Like deficits, BMR, BMI, daily targets, exercise - deficit and the termonology. or whatever. I just don't get. Can someone please explain this to me as if I was a 5 year old?? Thanks in advance.
Ps. Myfitnesspal says I should eat 1240 calories a day according to my age (23), sex (F), height (5'1), weight (130) and activity (moderate). How do I relate the number 1240 (my daily calories) to a 'deficit'?

Replies

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Here is an easy method
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy


    But to answer about MFP, that 1240 already has you at a deficit. MFP does the math, you just follow it. How big depends on what you selected as a weight loss per week goal (usually - 500 calories per 1 lb per week). If you eat that, you should lose weight.
    However, MFP doesn't account for exercise so it expects you to log your exercise and eat those calories. So if you exercise and burn 200, your goal will be 1440. You are still at a deficit if you do this.

    Or you can figure it so that your exercise is included and your goal is always the same (the link above explains that)
  • moliva4
    moliva4 Posts: 29
    BMR - the amount of calories your body will naturally burn off just by basically being alive
    BMI - Body Mass Index - tells you basically how healthy you are based on height, weight, age... Sometimes inaccurate in some ways and other things should probably be considered
    Daily targets - What you should aim for calorie and macro wise

    When you calculate your TDEE (similar to BMR) it'll tell you how much you would typically burn daily based on your activity as well... If you aren't very active your TDEE would be ~1672. If you're eating at a 400 calorie deficit you'd be eating ~1272. But as 3dogs said - MyFitnessPal already calculates what they think you should eat based on the weight you would like to lose.
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