Calorie deficit

chereedoggett
chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
edited October 2014 in Health and Weight Loss
So, I am so confused right now. I don't know if I should be confused because I have been doing MFP for awhile now. I was going through my goals, profile, etc. I really just paid attention to the calorie deficit. I don't know what that means. I tried to read the comments and questions on the message boards and got even more confused. According to MFP I am supposed to have a daily intake of 1760 calories in order to lose weight. So my calorie deficit is 1060 calories what does that mean and what am I supposed to do with that number. Am I not supposed to go under that amount of calories

Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    k I am confused myself.

    IF MFP gave you 1760 calories to eat are you eating that many calories a day?
    HOw much weight a week are you trying to lose?
    Do you exercise? and if yes do you eat those calories back?
    Is the 1060 deficit what you have left some times?

    I did look at your diary and it's set for 1760 today..you have eaten just over 500 leaving almost 1200 left for Dinner and snacks...
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
    edited October 2014
    is this after you have worked out or before you have entered in all your meals and snacks?

    29509743.png

    As long as you are eating atleast 1600 calories a day you will be fine. With losing weight.
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    1060 calories is the amount below your estimated maintenance calories that you're eating. That would leave you with a little over a 2 lb/week burn. I'm assuming you have a very active job to have 1760/day standard and to be honest, I'm way jealous. LOL
  • slomo22
    slomo22 Posts: 125 Member
    edited October 2014
    Eat 1760 net calories (food-exercise) a day to loose weight. The 1060 deficit is based on your weekly weight loss goal (1lb/week, 2lb/week...). You can consume up to 1060 additional cals and still loose weight. Eat 1760+1060=2820 to maintain your current weight.
  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
    jrline wrote: »
    is this after you have worked out or before you have entered in all your meals and snacks?

    29509743.png

    As long as you are eating atleast 1600 calories a day you will be fine. With losing weight.

  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    k I am confused myself.

    IF MFP gave you 1760 calories to eat are you eating that many calories a day?
    HOw much weight a week are you trying to lose?
    Do you exercise? and if yes do you eat those calories back?
    Is the 1060 deficit what you have left some times?

    I did look at your diary and it's set for 1760 today..you have eaten just over 500 leaving almost 1200 left for Dinner and snacks...

  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
    Sometimes I eat my calories back after I exercise. I am trying to lose at least 2 pounds a week.
  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
    newdaydawning79 wrote: »
    1060 calories is the amount below your estimated maintenance calories that you're eating. That would leave you with a little over a 2 lb/week burn. I'm assuming you have a very active job to have 1760/day standard and to be honest, I'm way jealous. LOL

  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
    Well MFP gave me 1830 calories. But I gave myself 1760. Yes my job is very active. I work in Corrections so I stand and walk about all day long and I do work out as well. I want to lose about 2 pounds a week. But it is not going that way. Thank you for responding.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    chereedoggett wrote: »
    Well MFP gave me 1830 calories. But I gave myself 1760. Yes my job is very active. I work in Corrections so I stand and walk about all day long and I do work out as well. I want to lose about 2 pounds a week. But it is not going that way. Thank you for responding.

    1lb/week is far more sustainable. My goal has been 1lb/week (not based off of MFP numbers, but based off of a proper calculator) and I've lost over 20lbs in 4ish months, so it's been a bit faster actually than I wanted. ABout to increase my calories soon too.

    Lower the goal, calculate your net needs (I have calculators on my profile that are worth trying) and eat back all of your exercise calories. monitor for a month or two, lower consumption if needed. Btw the websites will give you maintenance needs, so subtract 20% to get 1lb/week losses.
  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
    But alot of time I work out in the evening after I get off work and before dinner so I don't know how many exercise calories I will have to eat. I guess I can estimate by planning my workouts. Do you think that is a good idea.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited October 2014
    So you told MFP that you want to lose 2 lbs per week and it gave you a calorie goal of 1760. That means you want to eat as close to 1800 as you can. Your deficit is already built into that. And you can eat back some of your exercise calories too, so you can eat a bit more than that if you want.

    As others have said, 2 lbs a week is pretty aggressive considering your goal weight, so honestly 1800 is the least you should eat. If you find yourself constantly hungry or sluggish, you should change your goal to 1 pound per week and eat more.

    :drinker:

    Edited to add: Don't feel like "it isn't working" if you aren't losing 2 pounds per week. 2 pounds a week is hard! Plus, weight loss isn't linear... some weeks you lose, some weeks you don't.
  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
    Ok. Thank you. Actually MFP gave me 1830 I think I just gave myself 1760. I guess I am over thinking things. I have a bad habit of that.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    chereedoggett wrote: »
    But alot of time I work out in the evening after I get off work and before dinner so I don't know how many exercise calories I will have to eat. I guess I can estimate by planning my workouts. Do you think that is a good idea.

    If I work out in the evening, then I just.. eat afterwards. You won't NOT lose weight by eating in the evening.

    What I do is basically separate my net intake (around 1900, going to increase how much I net though now that I'm closer to my goal) into 3 meals because I find that this works best for me, and then once I've worked out I log it and will eat whatever I have left throughout the rest of my day. If it's an issue for you to eat a few hundred calories then just choose something like cheese and crackers, or peanut butter. something higher calorie.

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