calories deficit question
beatrixkiddo23
Posts: 14
Hi Everyone!
okay so i have a question...so i'm doing 1200 calories a day right? and when i exercise, whatever calories i burn are then added back to my calories remaining...my question is, if I eat those calories, aren't i just burning off what i ate, and not creating a deficit?
okay so i have a question...so i'm doing 1200 calories a day right? and when i exercise, whatever calories i burn are then added back to my calories remaining...my question is, if I eat those calories, aren't i just burning off what i ate, and not creating a deficit?
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Replies
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Your deficit already exists, so you don't need to create one. Not eating them back would be increasing your deficit.0
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No.
1200 is already at a deficit. And it doesn't include exercise. If you chose 1 lb a week, your deficit is 500 calories. At 1200 goal, that means your body needs 1700 calories and you are only feeding it 1200. If you exercise and burn off 300 calories, your body then needs 1700 plus 300 = 2000. If you only eat 1200, your body only gets 900 calories.
So you are supposed to eat back those 300 calories which puts you at a calorie intake of 1500 but a net of 1200 (1500 eaten - 300 burned = 1200).
There are a lot of reasons why people suggest keeping a modest deficit. Eating too little over a long period of time can have a lot of negative side effects, including plateauing and making it difficult to maintain once you get to your goal.0 -
What is the Daily Calorie Deficit anyway? Mine is projected at 500 calories... what exactly does that mean. My daily goal is 1290 calories per day. How do those 2 work together?0
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MFP deducts 500 calories from your projected energy needs (not including exercise) if you choose "I want to lose 1 pound per week".0
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I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.0
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I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.0 -
What is the Daily Calorie Deficit anyway? Mine is projected at 500 calories... what exactly does that mean. My daily goal is 1290 calories per day. How do those 2 work together?
MFP gives you a 500 calorie deficit for every pound per week you ask to lose. So 1 lb a week is -500, 1.5 lbs a week is -750 and 2 lbs a week is 1000.
2 lbs a week is only appropriate for those with 75 or more pounds to lose. For those with less, it isn't a realistic goal and will often give you too few calories to eat.
If your goal is 1290, and your deficit is 500, MFP figures that your BMR (basal metabolic rate - what you need just to live and organ function i.e. not even getting out of bed) plus your daily activity which would include walking to the car, sitting, and your job (not exercise, it is not calculated in MFP's calculations until you log them) is equal to 1790. That means if you ate that number and did no additional exercise you would neither lose or gain weight.0 -
The deficit is the difference between how much you need to eat to maintain your current weight and what they recommend you eat to lose. For example for half a pound loss you need to eat 250 a calories less. If you wanted to gain weight you would eat more than your requirements. A reason people recommend eating no less than 1200 calories is it's really hard to get enough nutrients on low calories. So if you exercise and eat the calories, you can fuel your body with more good stuff. Or the occasional treat
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I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.
but they do that on the biggest loser...0 -
I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
:huh: Good luck sticking to that and keeping the weight off. This is terrible advice!0 -
I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
:huh: Good luck sticking to that and keeping the weight off. This is terrible advice!
Thanks. I've been sticking to it and keeping the weight off for over six months.
Some people do things differently than you do and it works for them. The only thing that is terrible here is your judgemental attitude.0 -
No.
1200 is already at a deficit. And it doesn't include exercise. If you chose 1 lb a week, your deficit is 500 calories. At 1200 goal, that means your body needs 1700 calories and you are only feeding it 1200. If you exercise and burn off 300 calories, your body then needs 1700 plus 300 = 2000. If you only eat 1200, your body only gets 800 calories.
So you are supposed to eat back those 300 calories which puts you at a calorie intake of 1500 but a net of 1200 (1500 eaten - 300 burned = 1200).
There are a lot of reasons why people suggest keeping a modest deficit. Eating too little over a long period of time can have a lot of negative side effects, including plateauing and making it difficult to maintain once you get to your goal.
this was a really good breakdown..i never fully understood until now..thank u so much..sometimes i'm scared to eat too much cause i feel like it will defeat the purpose0 -
ok... still trying to understand.. so, in order to lose 1 lb. per week, I really need to stick to the daily calorie goal of 1290 that mfp has set for me, without any regard to the deficit? Or, can I go over, up to the 1790 and still see myself losing, just not necessarily at a rate of 1 lb. per week?0
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I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
:huh: Good luck sticking to that and keeping the weight off. This is terrible advice!
i definitely want to do this the healthy way and keep it off..that's been my problem for years..loosing, and then gaining it right back..thanks to everyone though for all the clarification!0 -
You mean, where they do nothing but train for a majority of the day? Where a sizable number of participants regain their lost weight after they leave the show? That "Biggest Loser"?I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.
but they do that on the biggest loser...0 -
ok... still trying to understand.. so, in order to lose 1 lb. per week, I really need to stick to the daily calorie goal of 1290 that mfp has set for me, without any regard to the deficit? Or, can I go over, up to the 1790 and still see myself losing, just not necessarily at a rate of 1 lb. per week?
You eat the 1290 PLUS the amount earned when you exercise. Because MFP's energy need calculation doesn't include exercise, you need to add fuel for that. It is set up so that you would lose weight if you did no exercise.0 -
ok... still trying to understand.. so, in order to lose 1 lb. per week, I really need to stick to the daily calorie goal of 1290 that mfp has set for me, without any regard to the deficit? Or, can I go over, up to the 1790 and still see myself losing, just not necessarily at a rate of 1 lb. per week?
If MFP gave you a calorie goal of 1290 to lose 1 lb per week, then it has calculated your maintenance calories as 1790. So you should lose weight eating anything less than 1790. It's all an estimate so you may need to play around with it a bit to find out what your maintenance calories really are.0 -
I'm confused about this as well. I just changed my goals to 1 pound a week instead of 1 1/2. MFP says I should net 1540 calories a day. If I exercise and burn 300 calories, should I be eating 1840? I don't understand this, what's the point of burning calories just to put them right back in? Also, 1840 seems ridiculously high. Since I've joined MFP I have stayed under my calories all week, exercised nearly every day, and drank tons of water. Today it's been a week since I joined and I've gained 3 pounds! Is this normal? I'm doing everything MFP is telling me too for the most part, except for going over my sodium a few times. I don't want to give up, but it is very disheartening to see that I've gained three pounds in my first week. I know I shouldn't expect results right away but still....0
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I'm confused about this as well. I just changed my goals to 1 pound a week instead of 1 1/2. MFP says I should net 1540 calories a day. If I exercise and burn 300 calories, should I be eating 1840? I don't understand this, what's the point of burning calories just to put them right back in? Also, 1840 seems ridiculously high. Since I've joined MFP I have stayed under my calories all week, exercised nearly every day, and drank tons of water. Today it's been a week since I joined and I've gained 3 pounds! Is this normal? I'm doing everything MFP is telling me too for the most part, except for going over my sodium a few times. I don't want to give up, but it is very disheartening to see that I've gained three pounds in my first week. I know I shouldn't expect results right away but still....
Once again..... MFP calculates your energy needs based on what you need just to exist to fuel your organs (this is called BMR, basal metabolic rate, it is the amount they would feed you in a coma) and what you need for your regular daily living, working, taking care of children, etc. It DOES NOT INCLUDE THE ENERGY YOU NEED FOR EXERCISE. So when you do exercise, you need to add fuel for that. This is set up so that you would lose weight through diet alone, without exercise. When you do, it adds that fuel for you to eat.0 -
I'm confused about this as well. I just changed my goals to 1 pound a week instead of 1 1/2. MFP says I should net 1540 calories a day. If I exercise and burn 300 calories, should I be eating 1840? I don't understand this, what's the point of burning calories just to put them right back in? Also, 1840 seems ridiculously high. Since I've joined MFP I have stayed under my calories all week, exercised nearly every day, and drank tons of water. Today it's been a week since I joined and I've gained 3 pounds! Is this normal? I'm doing everything MFP is telling me too for the most part, except for going over my sodium a few times. I don't want to give up, but it is very disheartening to see that I've gained three pounds in my first week. I know I shouldn't expect results right away but still....
My Husband has had the same results as you. He is getting unmotivated too because he is not losing.0 -
I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.
but they do that on the biggest loser...
There's a lot of stupid stuff on TV.0 -
bump! I have always wondered about this - thanks for the topic and I will read on...0
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ok then, if my daily calorie goal is 1290 (with a projected wt. loss of 1 lb. per week) but I eat 1490 calories a day and burn 200 calories through exercise, I should be able to lose approximately 1 lb. per week? Do I even need to worry or be concerned with the Daily calorie deficit? I never even saw it until today when I changed my goal on the desktop version.0
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All you have to do is eat fairly close to the "Your Daily Goal" number.0
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Something everybody is neglecting to mention, is to lose a pound, you need to burn ~ 3,500 calories more than you eat. This is why MFP proposes a 500 cal / day deficit to lose a pound a week ... computed as 3,500 / 7 = 500 / day deficit.
To try to lose 2 pounds / week which is not usually recommended, you would target a 1,000 cal / day deficit ... computed as 7,000 / 7 = 1,000 / day. The 7000 is 2 x 3,500 calories per pound.
Comprende?0 -
Then I don't need to feel guilty if I eat, say 1690 calories on a 1290 daily goal, even if I only burned 200 calories, because I have the 500 daily calorie deficit, which basically takes into account an estimate of additional calories burned from "living"? Since I am still under 1790, I should lose some weight, but best would be to keep it under 1490 when I burn the 200 calories?0
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I think mfp's calculator is kinda weird so I use this website to calculate my caloric needs http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm based on my current weight and activity level. I eat the recommended "Fat Loss" calories without eating anything back on days I work out. I have had good success with this strategy. Hope this helps.0
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it is best to eat what u burn or close to it. Start mixing it up with cardio and then some weights because building muscle burns fat.0
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I think a lot of people need to understand the calorie goal your looking for is the NET calories. So you have 1500 to begin with, you eat 1400, so you have 100 remaining, then you burn 300 at the gym, now MFP says you have a NET of -400 calories that you can eat to reach your goal of 1500 calories total for the day.
All of the math is done, all you have to do is eat what MFP tells you have left to eat.0 -
I eat 1200 a day (well I try to). I don't eat back my exercise calories. That way I have a bigger deficit. This way I have been losing about 3.6 lbs a week.
Not a good idea long term.
but they do that on the biggest loser...
There's a lot of stupid stuff on TV.
YES this! Biggest Loser is a Big Fat Loser...
Their diet and exercise program is NOT sustainable. It destroys the metabolism of many contestants... Oprah has even done a program on this.
Eat your calories...eat at least half your exercise calories and if you stall eat ALL of them...stop thinking less is better, it is not for your health and it is not for your weight loss.
Eat healthy, drink water, exercise hard, de-stress, sleep and have fun...that is what brings weight loss.
TURN OFF THE FREAKING TV...watching fat people be screamed at and toss off the island when they don't lose fast enough is not going to do YOU any good...
ok I will get off my soap box (I HATE that show...it is from he||)0
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