Calorie Deficit - yay or nay?

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  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
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    Losing fat without a calorie deficit, with the exception of liposuction, is literally the only way you can lose weight.

    Fat doesn't just evaporate.
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Good gtief
  • KezzRezz
    KezzRezz Posts: 8
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    They got me with talk of hormones that are not produced if you eat too little, hormones that regulate insulin and cause the body to store fat and slow the metabolism down. Not so much that it would make you fat as such, just that it's not the best way to go about denting. Hence why I wanted to get the opinion of people who have been there, done that to see if there's any truth in the claims.

    Websites such as:


    http://charlotteord.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-500-calorie-deficit-myth.html


    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/the-calories-incalories-out-myth/

    Some of those are a little convincing, when other things come into to complicate matters. Either way, I'm going to calorie count well and see how it works for me. From what people have said, the problem is with sticking to the deficit and not with the deficit itself.
  • KezzRezz
    KezzRezz Posts: 8
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    Oh, I'm sorry if I've offended anyone! I was under the impression that forums were here to give and recieve advice/chat/share information ;)

    There are my examples, I would like to know if hormones do have a role to play, if they could slow down or prohibit a deficit from working effectively. Probably not, but hey, I like to be thorough and utilise all the tools available to me. Nothing better than advice from the people who have been through this and can tell me what worked for them.
  • jess6742
    jess6742 Posts: 146
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    I know what you mean. There are a ton of contradicting sites out there and loads of people (online and in person) who tell you different things.

    Just follow mfp and you'll do fine. Just remember mfp is designed for you to eat back your exercise calories.
  • jc31388
    jc31388 Posts: 11
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    Calorie deficient is the only thing that works when it comes to purely losing weight. It really makes sense when you think about it. Burning more then you consumes to remove the excess. I got extra pounds on me so let me go ahead and burn a bit more to tap into that. Now as for the whole starvation mode and stuff which I have also read can be countered as well. Switch up your calorie consumption add two weeks of increased calorie consumption. Now, I don’t mean over load I mean 200-400 calories pending weight etc. Just to throw a twist for your body to think everything is on the up and up. Then resume your calorie deficient. Again I’m no expert just my experience with my body.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
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    Yer insulin, ghrelin, leptin and all that are very interesting but when it comes down to it, it's the deficit that will drop the fat (and, inevitably, some muscle, so keep the protein up and the muscles working :)).
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    They got me with talk of hormones that are not produced if you eat too little, hormones that regulate insulin and cause the body to store fat and slow the metabolism down. Not so much that it would make you fat as such, just that it's not the best way to go about denting. Hence why I wanted to get the opinion of people who have been there, done that to see if there's any truth in the claims.

    Websites such as:


    http://charlotteord.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/the-500-calorie-deficit-myth.html


    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

    http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/the-calories-incalories-out-myth/

    Some of those are a little convincing, when other things come into to complicate matters. Either way, I'm going to calorie count well and see how it works for me. From what people have said, the problem is with sticking to the deficit and not with the deficit itself.

    The bolded article is not actually saying that calorie deficits are bad for weight loss. It outlines the problem with pairing huge calorie deficits and tons of cardio - something you often see dieters doing. It's actually a really good article about the extremes.

    I didn read the others.

    ETA - I did read the last one. It's interesting she says what doesn't work, but not what does, unless you buy her book.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Oh, I'm sorry if I've offended anyone! I was under the impression that forums were here to give and recieve advice/chat/share information ;)

    There are my examples, I would like to know if hormones do have a role to play, if they could slow down or prohibit a deficit from working effectively. Probably not, but hey, I like to be thorough and utilise all the tools available to me. Nothing better than advice from the people who have been through this and can tell me what worked for them.

    Hormones can, to some degree, change the calorie out part of the equation.

    However, if you are consuming fewer calories than you are actually burning, you are losing body mass. It's literally the only possible way to lose weight aside from cutting parts off.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I'd like to amend this with: "real lift calorie deficit" and "the calorie deficit an online calculator gives you" are two different things.

    You can be running a "calorie deficit" according to some online estimation tool and not lose weight.

    However, you can not run an actual calorie deficit and not lose weight.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    It appears that the articles you think are talking about calorie deficits being "bad" are simply saying that large calorie deficits are bad. That's why a lot of us eat a moderate calorie deficit of TDEE-20 or 15% instead of slashing as many calories as some other folks do and even up eating just 1200 or so. That's where the problem lies. People are cutting really too many calories out of their diet and then pounding their bodies with exercise. That is counterproductive.

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