Calorie deficit

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chereedoggett
chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What do they mean by calorie deficit. Is that the number of calories I need to burn in order to lose weight?

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  • kangaroux92
    kangaroux92 Posts: 188 Member
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    no to create a calorie deficit you need to find your bmr calories burnt at rest. for example mine is 1550 or something like that. so if i want to loose weight you need to eat less than that, and to gain you eat more. and if you exercise you can add calories burned on top of that. so my calorie goal is at 1200 low you dont have to go that low its individual for everyone. today i walked briskly 3.5 for 4.5 miles burned roughly 400 cal so it brings my calorie up to 1600 ish, i will probably eat 1400 creating a deficit of 600 calories.
    1400- 400 burned. my example is aggressive wouldn't recommend that for you but its just an example.
  • junior717
    junior717 Posts: 7 Member
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    Calorie Deficit is eating less and exercising more. If your intake of calories is for instance 2000, and you only eat 1500 calories then you have a remaining 500 calories left . Meaning if you don't use all your calories, you will go into calorie deficit and then it puts you in a fat burning mode where you will start losing weight. I never really eat all my calories is part of, how I lose my weight.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited October 2014
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    chereedoggett wrote: »
    What do they mean by calorie deficit. Is that the number of calories I need to burn in order to lose weight?

    Your body is burning calories 24/7 - if you eat less than this number - you have a calorie deficit. You can create the deficit by eating less and/or moving more. Your choice.

    MFP (My Fitness Pal) gives you a deficit BEFORE exercise, based upon "I want to lose XX pounds per week." MFP expects you to log workouts & eat calories back**. Be warned exercise calorie estimates are pretty generous.

    TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is maintenance .....the number if calories you burn calories 24/7 and should include exercise up front. You then take a cut from this number.....use a percent....or 500 (for example) would be 1 pound a week (500 x 7 = 3,500...1 pound).

    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    Both methods work....it's up to you.
  • ThePhoenixIsRising
    ThePhoenixIsRising Posts: 781 Member
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    rouxkayla wrote: »
    no to create a calorie deficit you need to find your bmr calories burnt at rest. for example mine is 1550 or something like that. so if i want to loose weight you need to eat less than that, and to gain you eat more. and if you exercise you can add calories burned on top of that. so my calorie goal is at 1200 low you dont have to go that low its individual for everyone. today i walked briskly 3.5 for 4.5 miles burned roughly 400 cal so it brings my calorie up to 1600 ish, i will probably eat 1400 creating a deficit of 600 calories.
    1400- 400 burned. my example is aggressive wouldn't recommend that for you but its just an example.

    TDEE, you wanted to type TDEE right?!?!?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Think of it this way: calories are the currency of energy. Your body is always using energy, to keep you alive, to move, to exercise. How much your body 'spends' in a day compared to how much you consume in a day determines whether you gain or lose weight. Or maintain. If you eat less than you burn, you lose weight.
  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
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    junior717 wrote: »
    Calorie Deficit is eating less and exercising more. If your intake of calories is for instance 2000, and you only eat 1500 calories then you have a remaining 500 calories left . Meaning if you don't use all your calories, you will go into calorie deficit and then it puts you in a fat burning mode where you will start losing weight. I never really eat all my calories is part of, how I lose my weight.

  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
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    So basically I can leave at least 1060 calories out of my calorie count.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
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    rouxkayla wrote: »
    no to create a calorie deficit you need to find your bmr calories burnt at rest. for example mine is 1550 or something like that. so if i want to loose weight you need to eat less than that, and to gain you eat more. and if you exercise you can add calories burned on top of that. so my calorie goal is at 1200 low you dont have to go that low its individual for everyone. today i walked briskly 3.5 for 4.5 miles burned roughly 400 cal so it brings my calorie up to 1600 ish, i will probably eat 1400 creating a deficit of 600 calories.
    1400- 400 burned. my example is aggressive wouldn't recommend that for you but its just an example.

    This is incorrect. Your TDEE is your total daily energy expenditure, the amount of calories you actually burn in a day. As long as you eat under this amount, you have created a deficit. You can eat at or above your BMR and still lose.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    The deficit equates to how much less you consume than you burn.
    An overall deficit of consuming 500 less calories than you burn per day equates to the theoretical loss of 1lb over a week.
  • ruffnstuff
    ruffnstuff Posts: 400 Member
    edited October 2014
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    chereedoggett wrote: »
    So basically I can leave at least 1060 calories out of my calorie count.

    Um, not sure exactly what you mean by this, but no. If you have gone through the goal set-up on MFP, it is already putting you at a calorie deficit. If, for example, it tells you to eat 1746 cals a day, that has a built in deficit, so you should eat to that amount. In theory, if you exercise you get to eat back some of those burned calories. But be careful...MFP is known for overestimating calorie burns so if it says you burned 400, maybe play it safe and only eat back 150-200 of those cals.

    Anyway, don't know how much weight you have to lose, but if it's substantial I can tell you that as you go through this you will learn for your body and exercise level what numbers work and just use that. A few months into my logging I was able to really see patterns of average calorie consumption and how that affected weight loss for me. Sometimes you have to play with the numbers a bit to find what works for you. Just remember, it all depends on how honest, consistent, and accurate you are with logging your food intake. Weigh foods on a food scale and measure out liquids. If you aren't being as accurate as possible, you'll be back in 6 weeks whining about how you're starving and still not losing (we see it a LOT around these parts ;)

    Good luck! :p
  • mcibty
    mcibty Posts: 1,252 Member
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    3,500 calories = 1lbs - Burn the extra through working out or create a deficit in your calorie intake in your eating habit, or, like most here, create a mix of both.
  • aliciagetshealthy
    aliciagetshealthy Posts: 946 Member
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    In the simplest terms, a deficit is any number less than how many calories it takes to maintain your current weight.

    i.e., if you eat 2000 calories a day, and your weight is consistent, this would be a maintenance calorie target. To lose weight, you'd eat less...to gain, you'd eat more.

    If you've set up your MFP account, with the goal of losing weight, your deficit is already built into the number of calories given (before exercise).

  • chereedoggett
    chereedoggett Posts: 57 Member
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    Oh. Okay as long it is included in my MFP set up and I am good. I think I was worrying about it to much. So as long as I don't go over my calorie limit I will be good. Thanks everyone for the help.
  • mrskayswooley2013
    mrskayswooley2013 Posts: 28 Member
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    chereedoggett wrote: »
    So basically I can leave at least 1060 calories out of my calorie count.

    any thing under 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    mrskayswooley2013 wrote: »
    chereedoggett wrote: »
    So basically I can leave at least 1060 calories out of my calorie count.

    any thing under 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode

    ^ nope…myth

    try again ...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    think of it this way OP ..

    A person needs 2000 calories to maintain their weight
    they eat 1500 a day < this is their deficit number, which equates to a 500 calorie deficit.

    anything under said person maintenance is the deficit…

    hope that helps...
  • McBoffin
    McBoffin Posts: 76 Member
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    A defect is like having a credit card.

    You need to spend calories that you haven't eaten to force your body to borrow from the bank (ie any body fat you have to hand).

    (Without getting overly complicated about BMR, TDEE, etc. you'll figure those terms out as you go).

    Good luck.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    mrskayswooley2013 wrote: »
    chereedoggett wrote: »
    So basically I can leave at least 1060 calories out of my calorie count.

    any thing under 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode

    IXUO5zJ.gif

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