A very interesting and informational read on deficits...

So... what I'm getting from this is that I should have moderate deficits (I'm at 1,200 calories for MFP because I'm short and work a desk job, I'm assuming this is ok?) and work to maintain muscle through strength training and a protein rich diet. Is that what anyone else is taking away from this?

That's it.

It's the figuring out reasonable deficit that is the kicker. Decent protein macro levels are all over the place to find, just not MFP's default.

For instance, do you increase your deficit to unreasonable levels by NOT eating back exercise calories?

Did you select the recommended 1 lb weight loss goal, or less if little to lose?

I got the impression that it depends on the person, particularly in terms of body fat %. So yes, in my case (and possibly in your case? I don't know your stats) 1200 calories might be ideal*. (Lowish TDEE, highish body fat %). But for a leaner, taller person it might be too much of a cut. It might be a case of finding a "sweet spot" (where you lose weight at an acceptable rate, while avoiding losing muscle) and for "fatter" people this will usually mean a bigger deficit than for "leaner" people.

(*Ideal according to this article. I prefer to have a smaller deficit, myself).

Exactly - how much stress can your body take before it adapts and you lose your deficit.

So to the low bodyfat % you could add other stresses that would indicate less of a deficit should be taken if you want success.

Huge amounts of exercise, or frequent intense exercise. That's stressful on your body.

Some foods may cause stress to body, may not be full blown allergy, but not system friendly to you. Hence the results of clean eating is many times successful, removes a stress that may have even been unknown or didn't matter when it was the only stress, but now stress of a diet makes it show up.

Always a lack of sleep because of schedule and responsibilities.

Other life stresses that can't be minimized.

Medical issues, like weak immune system, sick, ect.

Genetic and learned body responses to stress (someone doing weight loss first time to someone that has yo-yo dieted their whole life away). Or genetically "good stock" and just tough as nails no matter what.

All things that make the difference between what might be 2 equally matched people in gender, age, weight, height, see very different responses to the exact same deficit being taken, whether that be by block of calories (500 or 1000 daily) or by % (30 or 20% daily).

And the bummer part is, generally you start too low, it's the bad side of the range. At least starting too high you can lower.

It's always interesting on studies of weight loss, if they comment on selection of participants and what factors mattered - they almost always mention not having been in a diet or had any weight changes for 3 months is what I've generally noticed. So even study comments may not pertain to those already stressed in a diet.

tag

thanks for posting

to read later

saving...

I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

Well, I just read this, and it makes a lot of sense, and kind of clears up a lot of things for me that I may not have understood, and yep, no more 1200 calories for me!

I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

The original article didn't answer your question and the e-book that had information about the adjustments is "out of print" pending a new edition in December. My first thought is that as long as you still have weight to lose, and are losing, not to mess with success. Second, due to the fact that you've lost weight, your BMR has gone down. (TDEE maybe not so much because you're probably more active now than you were in the beginning.)

What I would do is before you see your doctor next, to use MFP (or a similar site) to calculate your TDEE given your current weight and activity level. Compare that maintenance level with your 1200 calorie diet and discuss it with your doctor.

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I wish he would have explained what those in my situation should do... I started out with a lot to lose and eating 1200 calories per my doctor. I am still losing but I only have 17 lbs left before I hit my goal...i will reevaluate at that point to determine if i want to lose anymore. He said you will need to decrease calories as you go but he also said those with a higher percentage of body fat can have a higher deficit. Now that I've lost and don't have as much body fat, do I continue eating 1200 since I'm still losing or should I start increasing calories even though I'm still not to my goal?

The original article didn't answer your question and the e-book that had information about the adjustments is "out of print" pending a new edition in December. My first thought is that as long as you still have weight to lose, and are losing, not to mess with success. Second, due to the fact that you've lost weight, your BMR has gone down. (TDEE maybe not so much because you're probably more active now than you were in the beginning.)

What I would do is before you see your doctor next, to use MFP (or a similar site) to calculate your TDEE given your current weight and activity level. Compare that maintenance level with your 1200 calorie diet and discuss it with your doctor.

I'm not under a physicians care anymore. She just got me started. I'm pretty tall so my TDEE and BMR are fairly high, at least based on online calculators. The lowest TDEE was 2432.. less 20% would be 1963. Of course that includes my exercise so to better compare, i gross about 1400-1600 calories a day. I also have a cheat meal at least once a month. The BMR calculators put mine around 1570. My son is going to a weight loss specialist. They do metabolic rate testing there. I could get mine tested next time I take him to get a more accurate number. They charged $277 for his since he's a patient but said I could have it done for around $75.

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That was very interesting. Thanks for the info!

Article is not bad, but there is nothing new in what it puts forward.